Watching the trailer for the Walt Disney flick “Prom” reminded me of all those great late ’90s, early ’00s teen movies. Remember the prom scene from “She’s All That” when Usher leads the whole senior class in a choreographed dance? So realistic! Or how about when Drew Barrymore reveals she’s not just another high school student, but an undercover reporter (who also has the hots for her teacher), at the prom in “Never Been Kissed?” Drama!
My personal favorite teen movie is the little-known “Whatever It Takes,” starring Shane West and a young but still awesome James Franco. In that movie’s prom scene, a troublemaker opens up the gym floor and everyone falls into the pool below, mirroring the prom theme, “Titanic Dreams.”
Will “Prom” be for pre-teens and teenagers today what these other movies were for me? Maybe not, but it still looks cute.
The film follow various couples and their journey to prom. There’s the potential Prom King and Queen, the mismatched couple, etc. Look out for poor Lloyd (Nicholas Braun), who decides to creatively ask girls out to the prom — like hanging a big sign over an overpass and cutting out magazine letters for a note a la serial killers — without success.
Even though my favorite teen flicks aren’t truly reflective of a real high school, they do include two elements about prom that teenagers face nowadays: drinking and sex. I’m not sure if and how “Prom” will tackle these issues, considering it’s a Disney movie, so I don’t know how “real” this high school movie will be either.
Either way, it looks like a fun film for teens (let’s be honest here, for teen girls) who are obsessed with prom and believing it’ll be the biggest, best night of their lives — and still haven’t realized that they probably won’t give a passing thought to it 5 years down the road.
Call for your limo and buy that corsage — the “Prom” is scheduled for April 29.
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