Struck By Lightning (2012)

 Roughly this time last year I was searching the internet in my usual nerdy way and looking at some of the movie festivals that were happening and the films that were being featured in them. One that particularly stood out for me was 'Struck By Lightning' which was featured at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York. After doing a bit of research it seemed like a pretty good film so I decided that should I ever have chance I would give it a watch. A year(ish) passed and the moment occurred where I was sat at my laptop when I remembered that I had decided to give this film a go. So I did.

Carson Phillips (Chris Colfer) is an overachieving high school student with big ambitions. With hopes to work at some of the biggest magazines and newspapers in America, his bar is set pretty high. However, his dreams are never realised as he is killed by a lightning bolt in his school car park (don't worry, this isn't a spoiler, it happens in literally the first scene). The rest of the film is a flashback of his final year alive and how he decided to black mail his peers with his friend Malerie (Rebel Wilson) to create a literary magazine to ensure him a place in his dream college, and everything else that occurred during this final year.

 For a pretty low budget indie film, this is really good, and for a film that is marketed as a comedy, it's also pretty heavy on the drama. The writing is pretty much perfectly in line with my sense of humour so I found it very funny. It is jam packed with sarcasm and cutting wit with a bit of physical and improvised comedy from the legend that is Rebel Wilson. To add to this, Chris Colfer's performance in the lead role is only bettered by Allison Janney as his mentally unstable mother. Janney is perfect in this role and the scene in which she discovers her son has died is incredibly moving to watch. With the rest of the cast rounded off with Christina Hendricks, Dermot Mulroney, Sarah Hyland and Polly Bergen, you can't really go wrong.

 The film also manages to skilfully avoid the trap of being a typical 'high school movie'. Whilst the essence of a teen school movie is still there with cheerleaders and school bullies, the directing and writing takes it down a different road. The film is without a doubt about living life to it's fullest whilst you can, and not focusing too much on the future when life is happening right now (sorry for the philosophical moment there) but puts this across without being cheesy or preachy. It's generally just a clever, touching and sharp film.

 As someone who is the same age as Chris Colfer, I feel like a lazy underachiever after seeing this movie. He starred in, wrote and produced this film and did all three incredibly well. This film makes you forget that he is 'that kid from Glee', which I wasn't expecting, and demonstrates that he is actually a good writer as well as a good actor.

 Overall, if you like films with an indie feel and comedies with a bit of heart then this pretty much fits the bill. Just be prepared to cry as well as laugh.