Steph:
The film says a lot about free speech and corrupt people in positions of power and general high school awkwardness, and I was on board with the teenage angsty vibe, but the schtick got tiresome after awhile—there are only so many masturbation simulations a film can handle—and the Big Speech at the end felt pretty extra, which is probably why I loved it so much (when I was 15). ⏰⏰⏰
Josh:
Not for me, I guess, maybe just because there are too many over-the-top reaction shots, and mainly because I was already too old, in 1990, to accept HHH’s banalities as profound, but I’ll also point out that Mark treats his fairly reasonable and indulgent parents like crap, complains about a suicidal kid making him depressed, and responds to his one good teacher’s news that she’s been fired by sullenly walking away like her troubles are just the last thing he needs today, but I guess that level of self-involvement is what being a white, middle-class American teenager is all about. ⏰⏰
The Bare Minimum 