A Canadian film about an awkward, home-schooled kid who goes to high school because he is interested in a girl. Sounds like Adventures in Public School though Growing Op is a very different film.
Quinn (Steven Yaffee) is the misfit in a marijuana-dominated family. His parents (American actors Wallace Langham and Rosanna Arquette) are serious marijuana growers. His sister Hope (Katie Boland) runs drug sales at the local high school, even though they are home schooled.
Quinn wonders about fitting into society. A new family moves in across the street. Enter their teenage daughter Crystal (Rachel Blanchard).
Quinn doesn't adapt to go school all that well. His interest in Crystal is at odds with Philip (Jon Cor) who is attractive, a bully, and somehow the potential valedictorian.
While Quinn's parents are laid-back and secretive, Crystal's parents are conservative and uptight (Alberta Watson and Daniel MacIvor).
The biggest difference is that Adventures in Public School is one of the best written films we've seen in years. Growing Op is a terribly written film.
The secondary characters at school are one-dimensional. This feels like notes from producer said to make it like a lame American film but this film falls short of even that goal.
Michael Melski wrote and directed the 2008 film. Melski has Crystal hounding Quinn for trust and intimacy issues in a way that feels false. Quinn understandably can't trust anyone but can't or won't fight back against Crystal.
The other family members could have been very boring characters. Melski gives us really interesting people in his life. Hope is the most interesting character in the entire film and she mostly pops in and out when the script needs some flavour. A film about Hope would have been way better with maybe Quinn as the B plot.
The film underuses Arquette as well as Canadian treasures Watson and MacIvor. This is a reminder of the terrible shame that Arquette and other actors were blacklisted due to rejecting sexual advances. Jon Cor has to be a good actor to read such terrible dialogue as Phillip. Yaffee does a decent job in the lead but his character is boring, even when he finally finds a way to fit in within the school.
Canadian film review: Adventures in Public School
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There is a twist. No spoilers but when struggling in watching a film, there is a sinking feeling with a twist that makes you feel like you wasted the previous hour. If you have to watch this film, try to bail before the twist.
Growing Op is a frustrating film. You have some decent characters and wonderful actors in a film that doesn't know what it wants to be. The ending is decent but these characters deserved better dialogue and a more interesting journey.
Growing Op is available in the United States on Tubi.
video credit: YouTube/OdCzapyZestaw
photo credit: Growing Op film
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