74. Status Update; movie review

STATUS UPDATE
Cert 12A
106 mins
BBFC advice: Contains moderate bad language, sex references

For the second time in a week, I had a cinema auditorium to myself.
This time it was at Derby Odeon for a late afternoon screening of Scott Speer's Status Update, a movie in which social media dictates the plot.
It reminded me of the late 90s TV series Early Edition in which the hero is told what is going to happen via a very personal newspaper delivery.
Here, teenager Kyle Moore (Ross Lynch) is the new kid at school and is being given a hard time by the established popular kids.
He is at the end of his tether when a Seth Rogen-alike with crazy hair offers him a new app which is guaranteed to change his life.
And, so it transpires. It turns out that status updates become true, however crazy they may seem.
Therefore, Kyle's car is suddenly delivered to his new home, he becomes a classically-trained singer and...., well, you get the picture.
No surprise, however, that Status Update's moral becomes 'be careful what you wish for'.
The characters is Speer's film have been seen many times before....
Firstly, there is the good guy (Lynch) who befriends the nerd (Harvey Guillen) who has no friends and the sweet girl (Olivia Holt) who is ignored by the most loud and popular crowd at school.
Then there is the unbearable sports star (Gregg Sulkin) who bullies those lower down the pecking order much to the appreciation of his shallow girlfriend (Courtney Eaton).
This is a formula which has been very well worn through the years with its only significant update being the know-it-all app.
To be fair, it did elicit a couple of laughs and the cast are pretty likeable.
But I couldn't escape the irony that I have seen movies of this ilk so often I could predict what was going to happen 10 minutes before it did.
And I didn't need a special app.

Reasons to watch: easygoing high school comedy
Reasons to avoid: very predictable

Laughs: two
Jumps: none
Vomit: none
Nudity: none
Overall rating: 6/10

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