Title: Candy Jar
Actors: Jacob Latimore, Sami Gayle, Tom Bergeron
Director: Ben Shelton
Writers: Chad Klitzman
Genre: Teen, Romance
My Rating: 2.5/5
About Candy jar
Dueling high school debate champions who are at odds on just about everything forge ahead with ambitious plans to get in the colleges of their dreams. Bennett wants to get into Yale and Lona wants to go to Harvard.
Review
This was a typical teen high school movie. But without the bitch fights because they don’t have friends. Which is the message of this movie, I believe. Because Bennett and Lona are so focused on getting into the colleges of their dreams, that they forget to live a little. They don’t go to the proms, they don’t hang out with friends or just have in general. That was kind of sad. I did great in school and I had friends.
Of course, there is nothing wrong with chasing your dreams but that doesn’t mean that you don’t have to give up on everything. Their best friend was basically Kathy, who is a school counsellor. I think in the end they also realized that they missed out on a lot of things. And it was not even 100% if they would get into Harvard or Yale.
As a Dutch person, it is funny to see how American teenagers are so obsessed with getting into Harvard or Yale. Here in the Netherlands, every school is great. But apparently in America, everything is different. And to be honest, I always get this Hogwarts houses (Harry Potter) vibes from it. Every school has its own clothing line + colour. And to be honest I have no idea what kind of person I would be if I was an American. Would I also be obsessed with Harvard and Yale just like Lona and Bennett? I am happy that I grew up here in the Netherlands where it didn’t really matter which school you picked.
Okay, back to the movie. The acting was all right but some parts were so cringing. And also the moment when they realize that they never really had friends could have been better. It would be fun to see them going out and have fun for the first time of their lives. But if you really want to see a high school movie, this is not going to be my recommendation.
Have you seen Candy Jar on Netflix?