movies: st trinian's

I will say that I really, really, really wasn't expecting very much from the new version of St Trinian's... so much so that we very nearly didn't go and see it, but we were out of "good stuff", so Trinian's it was...

I've never seen any of the original movies in their entirety, but I think I've caught various bits on teevee over time, so I have a general sense of what they were aiming for...

Of course, it always helps to go in with very, very, very low expectations... that way, anything decent you get is actually a bonus.

But I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised. There were some genuinely funny bits... the plot moves along at a good pace, and while it isn't going to win any points for originality (outsider comes to new school which she wants to escape from, but it turns out that she fits right in and helps save the day... etc, etc), you do get caught up in the moment.

And having Rupert Everett playing two roles, one frocked up as the Headmistress (I'm sure he's channelling several female members of the royal family) and the other as the Headmistress's brother was fun... if only to see Rupert getting every opportunity to chew the scenery.

It was also quite amusing since he's playing against his The Importance of Being Earnest co-star, Colin Firth, and having seen that movie again very recently (it was on teevee yesterday), it just added to the amusement value.

They also seemed to be taking the mickey out of Firth's screen persona... there's a dog called Mr Darcy, the painting at the centre of the scheme is Girl with a Pearl Earring, his name is actually mentioned at one point, and there's a recreation of a "wet shirt" scene from Pride and Prejudice (which I didn't get, but Ma pointed out to me afterwards).

As I've mentioned with other English movies, there were definitely a lot of actors that I recognised, even if I didn't always know where I knew them from... Stephen Fry (I'd know him anywhere of course), Lena Headey (from The Sarah Conner Chronicles), Celia Imrie (from about half a billion things, including, interestingly enough the first Star Wars prequel), Toby Jones (who does the voice of Dobby in Harry Potter amongst other things) and Fenella Woolgar (last seen as a pregnant lesbian in Jekyll).

I did mistake "Head Girl" Gemma Arterton for Jemima Rooper from the teevee series Sincronicity though... they sounded very similar a couple of times, and given the very severe look that Gemma was sporting, it's not really surprising that I couldn't identify her right away.

The movie has a great soundtrack too... a lot of it is high energy stuff by female English artists (Lily Allen, Lady Sovereign, Sophie Ellis-Bextor, Sugababes), but I like that... and the Theme to St Trinian's performed by Girls Aloud is pretty groovy. It's also well worth sticking around in the cinema during the credits to hear Rupert and Colin sing Love is in the Air to each other in character...

I also have to give snaps to Rebecca Hale and Penny Rose (who did the three Pirates movies), the costume designers... I can definitely say that because of the pair of them this is quite possibly going to be the movie "most stolen from the video store or downloaded from the internet by teenage boys for the purposes of self-gratification"... particularly Talulah Riley's post-makeover outfits. Personally I was quite fond of Gemma's high-waisted skirt and belt combo, but then I like that high-waisted skirt look.

So all in all, it was a surprisingly decent movie... very campy and over the top, but enjoyable.

yani's rating: 2 hockey sticks out of 5