{"id":1007,"date":"2017-05-06T07:28:02","date_gmt":"2017-05-06T07:28:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/theblurb.com.au\/wp\/2017\/05\/06\/httptheblurb-com-aureviewsmiddle-school-the-worst-years-of-my-life-movie-review\/"},"modified":"2017-05-06T07:28:02","modified_gmt":"2017-05-06T07:28:02","slug":"httptheblurb-com-aureviewsmiddle-school-the-worst-years-of-my-life-movie-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theblurb.com.au\/wp\/httptheblurb-com-aureviewsmiddle-school-the-worst-years-of-my-life-movie-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Middle School: The Worst Years of My Life – movie review"},"content":{"rendered":"

Combining live action with animation and fantasy, Middle School: The Worst Years of My Life<\/em> is a feel-good early-teenage comedy.<\/p>\n

Rafe Khatchadorian (Griffin Gluck from Red Band Society<\/i>) has a last name that\u2019s difficult to pronounce, an epic imagination, loads of artistic ability and an ever-so-slight problem with authority. More kid with a cause than rebellious anarchist, he has nonetheless found himself heading toward his latest first day of classes at his third middle school (that is, as the name suggests, the institution between primary and high school). It is regarded as a last-ditch transfer that his hard-working single mother (Lauren Graham – Parenthood<\/i>) hopes will prove a good fit for her son. But at Hills Village Middle School, individualism takes a back seat to the institution\u2019s oppressive Code of Conduct, and no infractions go undetected by officious Principal Dwight (Andy Daly – Review<\/i>).<\/p>\n

\"\"Dwight strives to maintain his record as head of the best testing school in the district. He even has a shrub shaped into a \u201cone\u201d (as is number one) in front of the school. Rafe\u2019s first day goes from mediocre to awful when the Principal confiscates his beloved sketchbook. In it is every doodle, comic book scenario and creature that has emerged from Rafe\u2019s ingenious mind. Dwight finds the work in violation of Rule 26, which covers written material deemed inappropriate or offensive. Now, with battle lines drawn, Rafe teams up with his best friend Leo (Thomas Barbusca – Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp<\/i>) and they set about to expose Principal Dwight. They do so by creatively smashing every rule in the ridiculous Code of Conduct playbook.<\/p>\n

At the same time, Rafe has caught the eye of an attractive, socially aware classmate, Jeanne Goleta (Isabela Moner – 100 Things to Do Before High School<\/i>). Rafe also has to navigate his mother\u2019s sleazy, jack-of-no-trades, \u201cup himself\u201d boyfriend, Carl (Rob Riggle – 22 Jump Street<\/i><\/a>). He has a nine-year-old sister, Georgia (played by Alexa Nisenson), who has a strong presence in her own right and dotes on the family\u2019s pet pug named Mr Giggles, for whom her mother\u2019s offensive beau has no time.\u00a0 Nisenson gets some of the film\u2019s best lines.<\/p>\n

Middle School: The Worst Years of My Life<\/i> is based upon the New York Times <\/i>bestseller by James Patterson. More than 2.5 million copies of the book have been sold in 28 languages in 59 countries. Peppered with several animation sequences and characters drawn from Rafe\u2019s comic and original perspective, the movie tips its hat to the canon of filmmakers such as Chris Columbus and John Hughes. It is directed by Steve Carr (Paul Blart: Mall Cop<\/i>).<\/p>\n

As in Patterson\u2019s book \u2013 which features illustrations by Chicago-based cartoonist Laura Park \u2013 reality doesn\u2019t always sufficiently convey Rafe\u2019s story. Part of the fun, part of the challenge of bringing the book to the screen for the creators was seeing how they could visually get into Rafe\u2019s mind. Animation constitutes about 10 per cent of the movie and working on incorporating these special sequences into the film fell to visual effects supervisor Christopher LeDoux. The animation director is Chris Sauv\u00e9.<\/p>\n