New Delhi: When a movie begins with an American teenager talking about her high school and walking out in slow-motion, arm in arm with her bffs – one can put their expectations to rest. This flick will have nothing new to offer.
‘LOL’ follows the American teenage movie norm to the last scene. Teenage heart breaks, drawing hearts with black markers on bathroom doors, hooking up in summer camp, battle of the bands, school trips to Paris, parties, pop and pot. Not necessarily in that order.
Directed by Lisa Azuelos and Karim Ainouz, ‘LOL’ is the remake of a 2008 French movie ‘LOL: Laughing Out Loud’. Starring Miley Cyrus, Demi Moore, Ashley Greene (Alice from Twilight), Adam G Sevani, Douglas Booth and Jay Hernandez – this movie is as American ‘slice-of-life’ as it gets.
Miley Cyrus is Lola, the ‘troubled’ teen with her equally troubled 40 year old mother Anne (Demi Moore). Lola tries to deal with the usual high school horrors of breaking up, being called a ‘ho’ (try urban dictionary for this one), falling in love with her best friend Kyle (Douglas Booth) and the ordeals continue. On the other hand, Anne struggles with trying to not hook up with her ex-husband, falling for a cop, being a ‘cool’ mom who goes to hug her daughter at the behest of a text (((hug))). American life is indeed traumatic.
So while the cute boys from school go on to win band competitions, despite parents trying to be strict about grades, they experiment with sex and ‘herbs’, lust after hot trigonometry teachers, make out in the boys bathroom – precisely – this movie is insanely predictable. The movie was described to be a ‘coming-of-age’ film – but any Hollywood film lover has seen all of this before. So when the paranoid mom happens to reads her teenage daughter’s diary – the events that follow show only marginal maturity in the mother and daughter. And maturity in ‘LOL’ means – learning to say sorry.
Except for some nice songs and covers by the school band, who call themselves – ‘No Shampoo’ – and a really cool mother-daughter relationship – ‘LOL’ is not too much fun. One can watch it on a girls’ night with other bff’s – and this just about it for this movie.
Miley Cyrus probably plays her life out in the movie - minus her red-carpet moments and Demi Moore makes a convincing enough mother figure who ultimately learns that she and her daughter - are really no different.
‘LOL’ has its happy endings, it is not a Valentine's day staple romantic comedy – no unrequited love – just a lot of I-phone texts and online chats on Macbooks. No laughter, no love. Give it a miss this Valentine’s week – we are almost positive there are better movies to watch.
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