TIFF 2017: Public Schooled

Q&A after film with director Kyle Rideout, co-writer Josh Epstein

and cast members Andrew Herr and Andrea Bang

Public Schooled is a fun coming-of-age story in which Daniel Doheny plays Liam, a high-school kid who has been home schooled by his mom Claire (Judy Greer), entering public school for the first time and facing the challenge of learning about how teenage society works. Liam is very smart and really nice, a little nerdy, and extremely socially stunted due to having no friends, and being completely enveloped in the closest mother/son relationship possible without being creepy. He sets his sights on a pretty blonde girl with a prosthetic leg while dodging the school bully, all while taking the place of a girl named Maria Sanchez who is apparently out sick. The setup is a bit hokey, but the main characters are lovable and you care what will  happen to them. Russell Peters also has a small role as a lecherous guidance counselor that didn't quite hit work for me.

The film doesn't aim to take sides in the debate about home schooling; that's just a device to set up both the close relationship between mother & son, and the disorientation of Liam as he enters the real world. It brings to mind a comparison to Brendan Fraser in Blast From The Past, although Liam is just awkward, not naive.

This is a good, fun Canadian comedy that deserves to be seen more than it probably will be. Both Doheny and especially Greer deliver fantastic performances, and it was thoroughly entertaining.

TIFF 2017 Overview