FilmSnobReviews

Title: Dismissed
MPAA Rating: Not Rated
Director: Benjamin Arfmann
Starring: Dylan Sprouse, Randall Park, Chris Bauer
Runtime: 1 hr 27 mins

What It Is: A teacher (Bauer) who is nonplussed by his job and whose students seem even further apathetic about literature. That is until a new student Lucas (Sprouse) appears. Not only is he enthusiastic about literature he goes above and beyond on all his assignments… including a report on Othello in which he believes Iago is truly a noble character. This results in a B+ grade something Lucas has never seen on his record. This sets him on a course of action where he seeks revenge on his teacher in order to get him to change that grade.

What We Think: There’s a surprising bit a tension here all squandered by a nonsense screenplay. Character motivations aren’t adequately executed, nor are they inherently well explained. Dylan Sprouse was absolutely fantastic in this. That really needs to be said. Without his sinister charisma, this whole movie falls to pieces. There are, throughout this picture moments of head scratching stupidity that distract from an otherwise enjoyable experience. Arfmann does not help things with some less than stellar direction. It has a crisp indie style to the cinematography. Something I’m ALWAYS a fan of.

Our Grade: C+, With a bit more tightening up this for sure could’ve been a bit of a surprise. What we get instead is a fair to Midland independent feature. I can recommend this film…just slightly. If you get a chance to check this out on VOD near you I can implore you to do so. As a thriller, it could definitely use some work. As a film as a whole, it’s third act is so dangerously flawed that even a solid first and second act make this almost laughable. I say almost. Still, check it out.