My Old School movie review

MOVIE TITLE: My Old School

This interesting hybrid documentary from Magnolia Pictures will be available in select theaters and on streaming on July 22, 2022.

RATING: NR (documentary)

LENGTH: 1 hour 44 minutes

MOVIE REVIEW MOM GRADE: A

IN A NUTSHELL:

In 1993, 16-year-old Brandon Lee enrolled at Bearsden Academy, a secondary school in a well-to-do suburb of Glasgow, Scotland. What followed over the next two years became the stuff of legend. This creative documentary was directed by Jono McLeod, as well as written by him with co-writing help by Olivia Lichtenstein.

MY OLD SCHOOL premiered at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival. It later screened at the Dublin International and Glasgow Film Festivals, as well as the International Documentary Film Festival Docville in Belgium and Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival.

It’s funny, creepy, shocking, and entertaining at the same time.

THINGS I LIKED:

I’ve been a fan of Alan Cumming for many years, so his face on the movie poster caught my eye. I thought it was clever to use him to voice the real person who the story is about. Alan Cumming lip-syncs so well that you don’t even realize it’s not his voice.
I loved the choice of using animation to show reenactments of events that occurred during the school years.
The music of the band “Orange Juice” is featured in the movie’s soundtrack. The lead singer, Edwyn Collins, was also a former student at Bearsden Academy, where the movie takes place. The rest of the soundtrack is really fun too.
The school is somewhat famous because it was a frequent filming location for a sketch comedy show in Scotland called “Chewin the Fat”.
It was fun to meet some regular ole chaps from Scotland.
It’s the creative telling of the mysterious story that makes this documentary unique and compelling, complete with twists and turns.
We get to see before and after pictures of all the people involved in the true tale. I wondered if we’d ever get to see pictures or videos of the real person this film was about and we do!

THINGS I DIDN’T LIKE:

It’s kind of amazing they could film a feature-film length of a movie with this story.
Ultimately, it’s a sad story.
Some viewers may find it hard to understand those with thick Scottish accents. Even still, Americans are suckers for accents and will enjoy listening to the charming phrases we don’t understand.