Director: Brett Simon
Stars: Mischa Barton, Reece Thompson, Bruce Willis, Michael Rapaport, Kathryn Morris, Melonie Diaz, Josh Pais, Luke Grimes, Patrick Taylor
At a high school SAT exams are stolen, so the popular girl and the newspaper reporter are tasked with finding out who did it. This leads to a bigger conspiracy that involves trying to undermine the current school president.
The Assassination is a homage to film noir set in a high school. It’s a black comedy that plays with some high school stereotypes as well. The lead character is a hapless reporter who gets in way over his head, and this leads to some entertaining situations. The supporting characters are played by good actors, meaning that even small roles have some depth and it makes the little community feel organic.
It’s not going to be for everyone though, as its not an outright comedy and if you’re not familiar with the genre conventions of film noir it’s going to lose a lot of its appeal. So it’s kind of a difficult one to recommend. Personally, I enjoyed it but it might be one where you have to watch a trailer or a clip from the movie to see if it’s something for you.