Battle royal

>>Teen rivalry rules in the
Montreal-made Prom Wars

by MATTHEW HAYS

Teen comedies are mighty treacherous terrain for filmmakers, and the results vary from the sublime (Clueless) to the calamitous (virtually anything else). Luckily, Prom Wars is in the hands of Montreal director Phil Price, whose previous comedic fare (Hatley High and the mockumentary series The Festival and The Business) put him in a good position to carry things off.

The set-up is as simple as it is silly: the students at a local chi-chi girls’ school realize they have a rare set of goods that the boys will go wild for. They decide, for the hell of it, to set up two rival boys’ schools up against each other, in a series of competitions of mind and body. Pupils at the winning boys’ school get to take members of the girls’ school to their graduation prom.

The rival schools are true to stereotype: one is overwhelmingly populated by snotty, upper-crust jocks, the other a gaggle of nerds. Understandably, neither likes the idea of a lass-free prom night.

By its synopsis alone, Prom Wars could so easily suck in a very, very bad way. But it doesn’t, precisely because Price has anticipated the lightning short attention span of his presumed audience, and keeps the action rolling at a breakneck pace. As well, he’s chosen his mostly-amateur cast very well. There are notable pros, like Alia Shawkat (Arrested Development’s Maeby), but most of the actors are newcomers who manage to muster a great deal of school spirit (Kevin Coughlin, in particular, as the leader of the jock pack, is a standout).

Price and screenwriter Myles Hainsworth mine this turf well. But it’s also great to watch Price develop as a filmmaker; he clearly does not feel bound by any formulaic restrictions or any sense of what a young, Canadian director should or should not be putting out.

Films like Prom Wars and shows like The Festival (and if you haven’t seen it, rent it—it’s hilarious) indicate a new confidence in the Canadian film milieu, an ability to take risks and move beyond what’s tired, tried and true. For what it represents as well as for what it achieves, Prom Wars is as refreshing as it is funny.

Prom Wars opens
this Friday, May 9

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