The Beautiful Ordinary (2007)

User Rating:

5.9/10   

Director:

Jess Manafort

Writer:

Jess Manafort (writer)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama

Plot:

A glimpse into the teenage wasteland of suburbia 1999 that takes place over 24-hours, and the teenagers who make their way through the last day of high school in the last year of the past millennium. |

Plot Keywords:

Marijuana Joint | High School | Fight | Lesbianism | Mushroom

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Amber Heard	...	Julia Ford
Alexa Vega	...	Holly
Luka Apt	...	Boy 3
Katrina Begin	...	Sylvia
Charles Chen	...	Thomas
Melonie Diaz	...	Brianne
Sunny Doench	...	Mrs. Turner
Caroline Dollar	...	Kiki
Shahine Ezell	...	Eddie
Lyndsy Fonseca	...	Dawn
Robert X. Golphin	...	Boy 2
Duncan M. Hill	...	Mod's Classmate
Aaron Himelstein	...	Riley
Max Hoffman	...	Zack
Thomas Holmes III	...	Ponte

Also Known As:

Remember the Daze (USA) (new title)

MPAA:

Rated R for pervasive drug and alcohol use, strong language and some sexual content - all involving teens.

Runtime:

101 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital | Dolby SR

Certification:

USA:R

Filming Locations:

Wilmington, North Carolina, USA

Company:

Persistent Entertainment

Movie Connections:

Referenced in On Location with Remember the Daze (2007) (V)

Soundtrack:

I'm Still Gonna Dance Without You

Great movie for the right audience

This movie was phenomenal for the audience who can understand it on a deeper level (Think "The Fountain"). Yes, on the surface it seems like another "Dazed and Confused", but its very accurate to its 1999 time period, and the sex and drugs are a key element to what the movie's about, because the sexual desires and drugs are what bring everybody's different social groups together. The reason why some people might hate this movie is because it isn't plot driven. It's instead character driven, and the interesting thing about it is that it doesn't really have lead characters, it just has an outstanding ensemble cast of some rising stars like Khleo Thomas, Melonie Diaz, Lyndsy Fonseca, Amber Heard, Alexa Vega and Chris Marquette, and some newcomers like Charles Chen, Shahine Ezell, and Katrina Begin. I agree with the other commenter that they did an excellent job with the casting, which is very important in a character-driven film. I disagree however, with the comments that Jess Manafort's script tries too hard to be filled with "funny" stoner jokes. There's so much going on in this film, there's so many different characters leading different lifestyles that end up colliding, that for each thing you may hate about the film there will always be something you love. Amber Heard and Melonie Diaz stole the show for the female casting, and Chris Marquette and Charles Chen had to be my favorite male characters. Like I said in the beginning, if you watch this movie on the surface it may seem stupid and old. If you watch it with more concentration to find a deeper meaning, it becomes an excellent teenager film about the key to blending the high school cliques so everybody fits in. I highly recommend it.