Film Review: Aimee Teegarden Discovers ‘Prom’ Isn’t So Bad

CHICAGO – There are many essential questions in life. What is my purpose? How do I find my place in the universe? Where did I put my mobile phone? But the most important of all, as Aimee Teegarden is about to experience, is who will I get to take me to “Prom.”

Rating: 3.5/5.0

Prom, a new film produced by Walt Disney Pictures, is old school. It’s not set in another time, it is set within a former teen movie framework. In the tradition of director John Hughes, Prom portrays high school as a character challenge, with all the highs, lows, heartaches and the strange hope that a transition of life has been achieved.

Nova (Aimee Teegarden) is little Miss Perfect. She’s class president, scholarship student and of course, head of the Prom Committee. Her world is turned upside down when the meticulous decorations for the ‘Starry Night’ theme are destroyed in a school warehouse fire. This collides Nova with Jesse (Thomas McDonell), a moody, motorcycle-riding rebel who is ordered by the school principal to assist on rebuilding the event or risk not graduating. This launches the classic opposites-attract-because-they’re-not-so-opposite discovery.

The rest of the school gets ready for the big night. Mei (Yin Chang) and Justin (Jared Kusnitz) are the long-term couple, destined to be together until they’re not. Tyler (DeVaughn Nixon) and Jordan (Kylie Bunbury) are the popular shoo-ins for King and Queen of the Prom, but Tyler has eyes for the fetching sophomore Simone (Danielle Campbell), which may cause problems. Also a crush on Simone by fellow classmate Lucas (Nolan Sotillo), causes a rift between him and his best friend Corey (Cameron Monaghan). And finally there is Lloyd (Nicholas Braun), the senior who trying to get the courage to ask a girl, any girl to accompany him to Prom.

All these forces collide in anticipation of that unforgettable night where the ill-fitting tuxes suddenly seem tailored, the expensive dresses justify their cost and the date that you bring will determine if the Prom lives on as a long or fleeting memory.

Continue reading for Patrick McDonald’s full review of “Prom”

Prom-crossed Lovers: Thomas McDonnell (Jesse) and Aimee Teegarden (Nova) in ‘Prom’ Photo credit: Richard Foreman, Jr. for © Disney Enterprises

Continue reading for Patrick McDonald’s full review of “Prom”