À vos marques, party! (2007)

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Siskoid
À vos marques, Party! is a teen drama/comedy from Québec about a bitter outcast girl who gave up competitive swimming, and the boy she loved, after an injury. Will she make a comeback in her senior year? It's a bit Mean Girls, and while some of the more comedic subplots should have been trimmed (especially the silly high school principal obsessed with a pop star stuff, which takes you out of the movie every time it shows up), the drama holds up fairly well and gives the characters some depth. Mélissa Désormeaux-Poulin provides an effective and emotional performance in the lead. the soundtrack almost kills any of my good will, however. Mario Sévigny not only scores every scene with pointed comedy or drama cues instead of allowing the performances to do the work, but also writes and performs a full album of lame pop-rock tunes with over-obvious lyrics relating to any given moment. The musical crassness reaches its apogee in the climax, when pop star Andrée Watters comes on stage at the prom for her music video (yes, included on the DVD). Not very ambitious or original, with wall-to-wall bad music, but thanks to some solid performances, I think a fair entry into the teen flick genre. 8 years 10 months ago