St Trinian's [DVD] [2007]

St Trinian's is, without a doubt, one of the best films I've seen in a very long time. As soon as I saw the trailers I knew I had to see it, not least because of the lovely Colin Firth. Also starring Rupert Everett and Russell Brand, this film really is a riot.For those that haven't seen any of the other films, or read the books (I've done neither, but I will), St Trinian's is basically a school jam packed to the rafters with mad teachers and naughty girls. The pupils' biggest fear is being made to go to a normal school, where they will have to behave like young ladies, as opposed to the animals that they are. The humour in this film is how it's bang up to date with trends in today's teenagers. For example, groups of girls in the school include: Posh Totty, Emos, Chavs, Geeks and so on. And each group of girls has a character or two which play a main part of the action. It truly is hilarious.The new education Minister (played by Firth) is determined to reform the school system in England, and he intends to start with the worst schools. St Trinian's is easily the first one that springs to mind. Despite being an old flame of the headmistress, the Minister sets about bringing the school, and everyone in it, down. Cue much hilarity as he tries to spy and find out what exactly is going on behind closed doors.As if things weren't bad enough, the school is also in a financial crisis and the bank is threatening to close them down. The girls decide to take action themselves rather than relying on the grown ups. They plan to steal a famous painting from the National Gallery in London, and sell it to make enough money to save their school. So they draft a cunning plan using their feminine wiles and total lack of shame to get what they want.I can't really say too much else without giving the game away, but this really is a hilarious film. It's rated a 12. There are some jokes in there that only older viewers will 'get' and it does make being criminal look 'cool' so I definitely wouldn't let anyone younger see it. This really is a gem of a film. The acting is absolutely top notch, even Russell Brand who I'm not a big fan of, was fantastic. If you have a sense of humour, you will find this a scream. I can't recommend it enough.

Watched was a good film to watch with the kids

Having loved the four Black & White movies (which have all received mixed reviews over the years - haven't all movies e.g. Jaws?) I was ready to see the modern day take on them but also ready to accept the older films might not be paid any homage!! Indeed the new version is bang up to date and yet the modernity of this film does hold true with the original idea of the St Trinians comic drawings, you just have to be ready to accept the idea of the social castes, mobile phones and the like. In the background things go on and you have to be able to see them whilst the film is still going on in the foreground!Okay the casting might not be perfect on the male side but I felt the girls gave the film their all and true performances came from Gemma Aterton and Talulah Riley and all the other focal girls.A super way to spend an afternoon after the more thought provoking I Am Legend. Some laugh out loud moments and good visual gags. Yes the jokes are more important than the "plot" but the same is true of the original films and I really enjoyed them too.The loss of one star due to the slightly poor male side to the cast but everywhere else the film ticked the boxes and was very entertaining.

Never going to be as good as the Alistair Sim originals. Bought it as a Girls Aloud fan TBH

I didn't have high hopes for this film but was, on the whole, pleasantly surprised.On the plus side the story was well-paced, kept things interesting and had some good characterisation in places. Also, there were some good performances (most notably the headmistress, Rupert Everett aka Miss Frinton).It was mildly amusing and entertaining throughout, but never really laugh-out-loud.What I didn't like though was the attempt to modernise or trendify the film to appeal to a younger audience. Some scenes were particularly cringe-worthy such as the girls having a make-over and when they were walking towards an art gallery to steal a painting - these scenes were more like adverts for hair products than what I'd expect to see in a comedy film.Also some modernisation included drug use (which seemed a bit over-stated and at times a little tasteless), though the different social groups of today (such as Goths and Trendies) added a bit of diversity to the girls.Some of the lesser characters with small parts I found their performances were rather dull and under-developed (compared to the supporting characters in the original films).The Brit comic Russell Brand was notable for doing very little for the role he played, arguably anyone could have been in that part and it would have made little difference on screen. (Perhaps Ali G would have been a better choice for playing this part ?).There were some attempts at parodying other recent films, such as Entrapment and Oceans 11, but whereas films like Scary Movie use this to good effect this film seemed to miss the opportunity.Also I noticed that visually it wasn't very exciting and this was largely due to unimaginative direction and photography. For example, there was one scene that involved a hockey match with a rival school. This could have been so much better with a little imagination - e.g, bits could have been slowed down and done in black and white with the music from Raging Bull playing as the carnage is unleashed and looks of terror on the rival girls faces - but no.Someone like Barry Sonnenfield who did MIB and the Addams Family films could have made this film a real treat.Overall then this was arguably saved by the story and some strong performances outweighing the many small weaknesses and flaws.Was it a disaster ? No.Could it have been better ? Yes, much !!

this is such a great film for young girls, very empowering and lots of fun for all the family, some bits that aren't completely safe for work so maybe don't show it to kids too young or you may end up with very rebellious kids XD

Excellent