I admit it. No, not that I watched "The Perfect Score," but that as I sat like a loner in the theater with a notebook and pen, I found myself laughing a few times with all the teenagers around me.
But I should also point out that one couple in their mature 20s walked out right before the film's "climax," which may indicate cinematic predictability.
"The Perfect Score" didn't win the ball game, but it did put a few blinking digits on the scoreboard with its sophomoric humor.
What starts off as two white guys desperately trying to get into college, turns into two white guys desperately trying to get into college, two white girls they totally mack with at the end, a black basketball star and an Asian pothead.
While MTV paid special attention to ethnic diversity, somebody important neglected to focus on an original storyline.
The film tells the story of six high school students who all need to do well on their SATs for one reason or another, and decide to steal the exam.
One of the girls' dads owns the building where the testing company operates, so the kids have a reasonable way in.
Alas, the sextet discovers the SATs have been moved to another room.
But wait! The group realizes there is another copy of the SAT in a nearby office.
Wait again! The copy is embedded in a computer hard drive, protected by a daunting password!
Pull out a Snickers. The pothead is a natural hacker and gets inside.
Relationships blossom as the group breaks up into teams of twos, divvying up the SAT's math and verbal sections and looking out for guards.
Personally, I couldn't take the continual plot twists.
Similar to basic TV sitcoms, "Score" contains flaky emo scenes, unconvincing ethical discourse and failed attempts to raise social issues, in this case the unfairness and stereotyped vulnerabilities intrinsic to standardized testing.
The film lacks subplots and seems vested in advancing its campaign against standardized testing, which at most points, breaks through the surface of subtlety and becomes didactic.
But the non sequitur behavior and carefree personality of the stereotypical stoner provides some comic relief.
Leonardo Nam plays Roy, one of the high school's potheads.
Ninety-nine percent of the movie's humor is derived directly or indirectly from Roy's character.
Nam carries the responsibility well, though, and provides the film with great one-liners and lasting idiosyncratic impressions. One grows to love Roy.
But the stoner could not save the entire film.
Watch the film if you like sitcoms, happen to revert back to your teen experiences, or are just curious about what becomes of Roy.