FILM REVIEW: LOL

I've literally just finished watching LOL and I still can't wipe the smile from my face. This film exceeded my expectations by far and I enjoyed it immensely. I can imagine that this is the sort of film that would receive more criticism that positive feedback, but personally, I thought it was brilliant. 

LOL is a coming of age film that is a remake of the 2008 French film, Laughing Out Loud. It revolves around a central character, Lola, and her life as she deals with family, friendship and boy drama. The story starts with Lola and her friends arriving at school on the first day back after the summer holidays. Very shortly, Lola and her boyfriend break up after she finds out that he cheated on her over the summer holiday. Her best guy-friend Kyle is there for her and the relationship between the two of them blossoms, but will it be too hard for two people who've been friends for so long to finally get together with all the other dramas going on in their lives? If you watch the movie you'll soon find out.

LOL was actually filmed in 2010 but released by Lionsgate in the United States on May 4, 2012, as a limited release in 105 theatres without promotion. I'm quite saddened that this is only a limited release as I think it is a film that teenagers would really enjoy. This film hasn't received that many reviews from critics which is probably a blessing as well as a curse. This is definitely one of those films that critics would rip into and the fact that it's a remake certainly won't help, but no matter what anyone else thinks, I still love this film.

The majority of teenagers will recognise the all the actors in this film and I was pleasantly surprised by this. Before watching the film, I had no idea who starred in it apart from Miley Cyrus, Douglas Booth and Demi Moore, but the majority of the actors have all starred in other popular teen movies before including: Ashley Greene (Alice from Twilight), Adam Sevani (Moose from Step Up), Austin Nichols (Julian from One Tree Hill) and many, many more. For a teen movie, I thought that the acting in this was pretty solid. There weren't any moments where I thought that the characters weren't convincing and I was completely drawn in by every second of this film. Miley Cyrus and Douglas Booth had incredibly chemistry and I was enthralled by their on screen romance. Douglas Booth is actually a British actor (Yay British!), so I was particularly impressed that he was able to pull of a decent American accent for the entirety of the film without any slip ups.

I'm not really a big fan of coming of age films because they're usually quite deep and indie (at least, they try to be), and require a high level of concentration from the audience. This film; however, was lighthearted and funny, whilst still conveying a decent portrayal of teenage life. A lot of people will probably disagree with me on the last point, but those people will probably be adults, not teenagers, so take my word on it. I have, personally, faced a  lot of the dramas that Lola has and so I felt that this film really called out to me and other teenagers. The narrator, Lola, speaks out to the audience of the film as well, which just makes it that little bit more personal.

I was going to dedicate an entire paragraph to me spazzing about how amazing Douglas Booth's voice is, but after a little bit of research I found out that it actually wasn't his voice, but that of Jonathan Clay and it was simply a voice over. Sad face. This is really disappointing, but I still love Douglas Booth all the same and I'm crazy in love with Jonathan Clay's music as well! I'm sure that anyone else who has seen this movie or is planning to will soon be scouring the internet for Jonathan Clay's song, Heart on Fire, but after an intensive search session, I found no trace of the full song on youtube, so the iTunes link is HERE. I very rarely actually buy songs off iTunes, but I was so desperate for this song that I just couldn't wait any longer so I bought it immediately after the film had finished. So I guess what I'm trying to say is .. the soundtrack for this movie is incredible. The songs perfectly fitted each scene and really helped to create an atmosphere. I found myself with my arms in the air swaying during several scenes because they made me feel so happy and alive.

All in all, LOL was a fabulous film that exceeded by expectations by far. This is proabably the best coming of age film that I've ever seen as it was truly relatable. I would highly, highly recommend this to all teenagers for some laugh out loud funny moments as well as some that are heartbreakingly sad. The soundtrack matches the film perfectly so I'll be downloading the rest of it shortly. I think I'll be obsessively fan-girling over this movie for a long, long time. (Yes, that grin is still on my face)