Barely Standing

Author(s): George
Location: Atlanta

“Barely Standing"

Directed by: Steven Soderbergh
Written by: Terry George
Music by: Philip Glass

Principal Cast:

Malcolm David Kelly as Tom
Alex Pettyfer as Michael
Minka Kelly as Anne
Phyllis Somerville as Ms. Washington
Jake Gyllenhaal as Mr. Arnold
Daniel Radcliffe as Mark

Tagline: "Nobody Sees Me... Nobody Cares"

Synopsis: Tom is a regular kid, in a regular high school, in a regular town, in a regular world. He is not the most popular kid at school and doesn't even have a cell phone or iPod. He is a quiet freshman and speaks only to his one friend, Michael. Michael is very popular and is only hanging around Tom to make Tom feel better which only brings Tom into a deeper depression. His life in school is based on three rules before he speaks or does anything. What will they think? What will they say? What will they do?

He is on the tennis team to his father's deep disappointment and is fairly good, but not amazing. He even has a crush on a beautiful senior, Anne. He is to afraid to say anything because he doesn't know what people will say about him. His real passion is movies. He absolutely loves them. He love musicals even more. One of his favorites is MOULIN ROUGE, which he knows every song and sings them to himself. He really has a good singing voice, but is to scared about what people will think to try out for school plays. He also doesn't talk about how much movie trivia he knows to people, fearing they will not like him.

In school he is pretty smart, but his parents want him to do all the "smart" classes to get ahead. He just can't seem to keep up though, and is always having to do extra work to stay in the class. Once he catches up, he's bogged down by the textbooks and he is always tired. There is only one problem. He wants to let go. To say what he wants without fear of what they will think. To be the one who is able to keep up, not fall behind. He is to angry to keep silent. To angry to keep running like this and to sad to do anything about it.

Once his teacher, Mr. Arnold sees this, he sends him to counseling lessons with Ms. Washington who is always trying to get answers out of Tom. His counselor is patient, but Tom is not. Why should this woman suddenly be able to look into my life, he wonders. Why should I care what she says? What makes her so special so that she can look into my life and give me analysis on my behavior! His counseling room starts to look like a prison and Tom can't bear it any longer. He wants to scream, to break something, to yell at the world. But he still has the nagging question in the back of his mind. What will they think? So he just stays.

That day at tennis practice, the team starts to talk about their favorite movies. Mark, the oldest senior and an enemy of Tom's, brings up MOULIN ROUGE. They say they love it and start trying to sing the songs. Tom looks up and sees them. This is his chance, he says. This his shot to break. To not care what people will think of him. He's tired. He's tired of the textbooks bringing him down, his parents bringing him down, his teachers bringing him down, everyone ignoring him, and he's barely standing. Barely able to keep up. He wants so badly to sing the last part of "Come What May" from the film and he is still thinking about what will people say. Then, finally, with all his courage, he booms out with his beautiful voice: "Come What May, I Will Love You 'Till My Dying Day!"

He's beaming at the sky, and is happy for the first time in a long time. He doesn't care about what people will say, or what they will think. Because now he's happy. Because now, he's standing tall...

What the press would say:

Steven Soderbergh is not known for teen drams, but it should go on to his resume. Barely Standing is a true look into the life of an average high schooler. It is not the glossed over version of it, like in High School Musical, but a place where not everyone comes out on top. Malcolm David Kelly proves he can act remarkably, and is truly amazing as the depression-stricken Tom. He really is the only character in the film with development but other people like Pettyfer and especially Somervill provide good performances. The whole film takes place at the school, and Tom's feeling about his parents are expressed to Pettyfer and thoughts of screaming and what people will think are echoed in his head. The screenplay is the driving force of the film, making heart-breakingly original and true. George provides a script with so much depth, that you would swear this was actually happening. Maybe it is. Maybe there is a kid in high school just like Tom. I bet there is somewhere. Barely Standing is strikingly original, and what could have been a documentary study on the way teenagers think, comes out as an amazing portrait of one adolescent kid trying to find himself...

Nominations:
Best Picture
Best Actor (Kelly)
Best Supporting Actress (Somerville)
Best Director (Soderbergh)
Best Screenplay (George)
Best Score