Heart of America: Homeroom

Heart of America: Homeroom (2003)

Genres - Drama  |   Sub-Genres - Juvenile Delinquency Film, Social Problem Film, Teen Movie  |   Release Date - Feb 13, 2003 (USA - Unknown)  |   Run Time - 87 min.  |   Countries - Canada, Germany  |   MPAA Rating - NR
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Review by Donald Guarisco

To many cult movie aficionados, the name Uwe Boll is synonymous with bad big-screen adaptations of video games. However, he has also tried to do more than just commercial schlock. Case in point: this film, which is a serious attempt to come to terms with the Columbine tragedy. Unfortunately, Heart Of America: Homeroom is every bit as trashy and unintentionally funny as his better known work. Boll is able to give the film a crisp, commercial look but is hopeless lost when it comes to its content: the depiction of high school life is ludicrously unconvincing, the sex and violence content is presented in a heavy-handed and exploitative style and the finale hinges on a high-concept plot twist that cheapens the sincerity of its attempts at delivering a social message. There are plenty of familiar names in the cast but they seem to have been thrown in at random and given little direction: the very German Jurgen Prochnow acquits himself as well as he can but is absurdly miscast as a middle-American school principal and Maria Conchita Alonso gives a stiff, totally lost performance as a guidance counselor. The teen actors fare better but do anonymous work that never really gets the viewer invested in their plights. In short, Heart Of America: Homeroom works better as a camp classic than it does as a serious drama.