ADVENTURES IN PUBLIC SCHOOL: A Fuzzy Blanket Teen Comedy

‘Dark and off-centre’ seems almost a stylistic necessity in Canadian cinema. From the violent magical realism of Closet Monster to the disorienting intimacy perfusing Werewolf’s social drama, Canadian films – in recent years – have delighted in roughing up the cheesecake quirkiness characterizing the Sundance darling with refreshingly barefaced grit. Though perceptibly closer to the cheesecake end, Adventures in Public School demonstrates this tendency once more, placing ordinarily dark concepts of sheltered children and overbearing mothers into a flighty, albeit slightly inconsistent teen comedy.

This second feature from director/writer duo Kyle Rideout and Josh Epstein opens upon Liam Heap: a bright, yet mousy space fanatic played by a lovably floppy-eared Daniel Doheny. After a life being homeschooled by perfectionist mother Claire (though Judy Greer is truly two parts cool sister to one overbearing mother), Liam is primed for a bright future at Cambridge University, where he is to “study with Stephen Hawking and become the second most famous astronomer of all time.” Conveniently, the plan goes awry when Liam fails his entry exam after noticing the charming, one-legged Anastasia (a suitably down-to-Earth Siobhan Williams), for whom he decides to attend public school while he waits to retake his exam.

The Leading Pair Carries This Warm, Snuggly Coming Of Age

From then on, Rideout embraces very much the world of fumbled chat-ups and drinking parties proliferating the coming-of-age genre, though its familiar sweary grossness is for the most part omitted. There’s a touch of Michael Cera fragility in Daniel Doheny’s joking-but-not exchanges as Liam navigates the social jungle of public high, but we’re a little too wrapped up in tonal fuzzy blankets to fully descend into that anarchic teen sphere.

Thankfully, there are two major hooks preventing the sweetness from becoming sickly. One is that Liam can only attend public high under the enrollment of currently absent Maria Sanchez, completing her classes, homework and extracurricular activities while classmates and tutors facetiously call him ‘Maria’. This preludes Liam’s predictable, yet beguiling involvement with after-school dance rehearsals and “I’m not really Maria” conundrums.

With all the winsome naivety he displayed in June’s Alex Strangelove (though Adventures is by far the more interesting of the two), Doheny plays Liam’s absorption of Maria’s academic identity with absolute seriousness, and manages to morph an initial platform for ridiculing him into an inspiring demonstration of the protagonist’s determination despite what others might think.

The other is that Liam’s mother compensates for her inability to homeschool her son by educating him on how to be a proper teenager. “Sex”, “Drugs” and “Swearing” form her written list of “outlets teens use to rebel”, and together the duo crosses them off in expertly-controlled bursts. This clinically-structured view of teenage rebellion could easily have bordered creepier territories if it were not for Judy Greer, whose adeptly-timed delivery makes the pair’s scheduled hotboxing and restrained swearing feel like endearing bonding moments.

Cool Mom, Uncool Tropes

As Liam’s adolescent life-coaching continues, the airy, innocuous narrative opens into an uplifting (if rather inconsistent), message about teenage independence and familial bond. Through the pair’s chaste sparring, we learn that each is the other’s best friend, and there are moments which – often rather poignantly – invite us to question whether being best friends with your mother is really such a bad thing.

Judy Greer does the best she can with a hit-and-miss script from Rideout and Epstein (who also stars in the film), working continually to work their cool-but-tough-mom type into something more nuanced and sympathetic. Sometimes, it works in her favour (Claire’s desperate hold over her son is made poignantly innocent by Greer’s consistently childlike performance), but her apprehension over Liam’s desired independence (she literally shrieks at the mention of public school) tends to project an overbearing mother caricature that contradicts her youthful, maverick approach to parenting.

These conflicts underpin Rideout’s more obvious attempts to rail his film according to familiar coming-of-age beats. An unnecessary bully character wanders aimlessly around the burgeoning relationship between Liam and Anastasia, whose most significant contribution to the plot is to consolidate Claire’s initial view of public schools as precursors to county jail. Elsewhere, the dialogue is patchy, with too much emphasis placed upon oddball humour and inappropriate characterization; an early exchange sees an exam invigilator berating Liam for starting rumours, and the ‘Creepy Principal’ trope (played by Diary of a Wimpy Kid’s Andrew McNee) appears as dated and out of place as it did in this year’s Love, Simon.

Conclusion: Adventures in Public School

In a genre dripping with teenage iconoclasm and headbanging angst, Adventures in Public School makes at the very least for comforting viewing and offers a sweet view of respect, family and independence. Though its subscription to classic teen tropes doesn’t quite land, the small alterations made to the coming-of-age genre tend to smooth over the inconsequential gaps.

In a way not so often explored in teen comedies, Rideout presents a narrative where parents and kids astonishingly value each other’s particular view on the world, with an offbeat tone that really allows its lead pair to demonstrate their comedic chops.

What were your thoughts on Adventures in Public School? What are your standout Canadian films this year? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

Adventures in Public School was released on July 6 in the UK and February 7 in the U.S. All international release dates can be found here.