Prom Information

Prom is a 2011 American teen film directed by Joe Nussbaum written by Katie Wech and produced by Ted Griffin and Justin Springer. It was released on April 29, 2011 by Walt Disney Pictures. The film was the first major production shot with Arriflex's Alexa HD cameras to be released in theatres.

Plot

Class president Nova (Aimee Teegarden) has been planning the school's prom. She and her friends, Mei (Yin Chang), Ali (Janelle Ortiz), Brandon (Jonathan Keltz), and Rolo (Joe Adler) have created the perfect decorations, which they store in the school's shed. Nova, who has a crush on Brandon, hopes he will ask her to prom.

Meanwhile, Lloyd (Nicholas Braun), the "invisible" guy at school, is complaining about prom to his stepsister, Tess (Raini Rodriguez) because he has no date but she encourages him to just ask someone. Elsewhere at the school, Tyler (DeVaughn Nixon) is confronted by his girlfriend, Jordan (Kylie Bunbury), who assumes he is cheating on her due to the single gold earring she finds in his car. He assures her this is not the case, and Jordan believes him.

"Bad boy" Jesse Richter (Thomas McDonell) has been missing school lately and showing other "unacceptable behaviour", such as riding his motorcycle on school grounds. Principal Dunnan (Jere Burns) has a talk with him, but is not satisfied with Jesse's attitude. Mei learns she has been accepted into Parsons, which conflicts with the plans she made with her boyfriend, Justin (Jared Kusnitz), of going to the University of Michigan together. She is stressed about this and becomes irritable as prom approaches, which she agrees to go with Justin. Sophomore Lucas (Nolan Sotillo) is attracted to Simone (Danielle Campbell), his lab partner, who he tries to get with the help of his friend Corey (Cameron Monaghan).

That night, Tyler takes Jordan to the school's shed, which he has decorated with many candles, to ask her to prom, and she agrees. When they leave the shed, however, they forget to put out a single candle. The shed catches fire and burns down. The next day, a devastated Nova, with no decorations and only three weeks to prom, asks her friends for extra help to pull the dance off, which they all back out of, each listing their own reason.

Principal Dunnan, seeing her dilemma, has an idea, and forces Jesse to help her for Prom, or he won't graduate. Although Nova and Jesse both are unhappy with this situation, they comply anyway. At school, Lloyd is having trouble finding a date, even with the help of his sister. As one thing goes wrong after another, Lloyd loses confidence and becomes frustrated.

Later at home, Brandon shows up at Nova's house to tell her he cannot take her to prom, and that she will have to find another date. As the date becomes closer to prom, Nova and Jesse grow closer while working together.

During lacrosse practice, Tyler invites Lucas to the team barbecue, and tells him to invite a girl. Lucas decides to ask Simone, which she agrees to. At Tyler's barbecue, Tyler tries to make a move on Simone, only to be rejected by her. It is made clear they have a history. Simone tells Lucas that if she had known it was Tyler's barbecue, she would not have come. One night, Nova finds out that the neighboring high school has the same theme for their prom as her own. Jesse suggests they take his motorcycle to go check out the other school's decorations, and she agrees. However, they are caught by the police, who call Nova's parents. Nova's father is infuriated with Jesse and insults him. Mei's attitude is becoming worse and worse, and Justin believes she does not want to go to prom. He calls the date off, and Mei is left feeling very uncomfortable.

At school, Lucas blows off Corey to spend more time with Simone, and asks her to study for the upcoming test with him, to which she agrees. However, as she is about to go to library, Simone is stopped by Tyler, who convinces her to talk with him. He tells her about his feelings for her. Jordan sees the two talking and immediately grasps the situation.

After school, Nova apologizes to Jesse for her dad's behavior. Later, she takes him dress shopping. Back at school, Simone apologizes to Lucas for having ditched him. She has a surprise, tickets to a concert, where Stick Hippo (his and Corey's favorite band) is opening. Lucas wants to take Simone instead of Corey, much to Corey's dismay. Jordan dumps Tyler for his unfaithfulness, and decides to go to prom alone. This prompts him to ask Simone to prom, which is the same night as the concert, and she agrees. Simone tells Lucas that she is sorry, but she cannot go to the concert.

Mei apologizes to Justin for her behavior and tells him the truth, but instead of feeling hurt that she is going to a different college, he tells her he is proud of her. They agree that they should still go to prom together.

Lloyd spots Lucas sitting outside the school, looking dejected. He learns his situation, and tells Lucas his own mistake with girls and high school. Lloyd tells Lucas that if he really loves Simone, he should tell her.

Two nights before the prom, Nova, Ali, and Mei are in Nova's room, talking. Nova confesses to them that she has feelings for Jesse, which her dad unfortunately overhears. The next day, Nova's father tells Jesse he cannot ask Nova to prom, because he is "bringing her down". That afternoon, Jesse is unusually hostile towards Nova and deserts her.

On prom night, Lucas climbs a tree to reach Simone's window. He tells her how he feels and begs her not to go to prom, but she goes anyway. Disappointed, Lucas realizes what a bad friend he has been to Corey, and offers him the other concert ticket. The two head off to see their favorite band happily.

At her house, Nova is heartbroken, and refuses to pose for the camera in her prom dress. Her father, worried, explains that he was the one who told Jesse not to ask her to prom. Angered, Nova storms out of the house. Meanwhile, at Lloyd's house, it is revealed that he is taking his sister to prom. At Jesse's house, his mother has a talk with him, and he realizes that he should still take Nova to prom.

At the school, Tyler leads Simone into the building, and almost immediately abandons her. Simone finds out from a couple of girls that it was actually Jordan who dumped Tyler, and Tyler had gone to her with no other option. When Tyler asks her to dance (He was crowned prom king and Jordan queen) she refuses and leaves. She goes to the concert parking lot, where she waits for Lucas, and they share a dance.

Nova is having an awful time at prom, and when Ali tells her the fountain centerpiece is broken, she cannot take it anymore. As she is about to leave, she hears the fountain work again, and knows the only person who could have fixed it was Jesse. He walks up to her and asks her to prom. She agrees, and they dance followed by a kiss.

Cast

• Aimee Teegarden as Nova Prescott, the class president who is determined to host a great prom. Nova later on becomes attracted to Jesse, and in the end we see her and Jesse kissing. She is highly intelligent and even gets a college scholarship.
• Thomas McDonell as Jesse Richter, the school bad boy who is reluctant to help Nova with prom decorations, but later on falls for her, revealing his soft side more. Jesse's father left his family, and he's been skipping school to take care of his little brother, Charlie, to support his mother, who works late hours at a local diner.
• Yin Chang as Mei Kwan, Nova's super smart friend who is dating Justin. She is very involved in school and has a difficulty to chose her boyfriend over design school in New York. She wants to spend the rest of her life with her boyfriend, but at what price?
• Janelle Ortiz as Ali Gomez, Nova's other friend.
• Afam Okeke as Phillip
• Nolan Sotillo as Lucas Arnaz, has a crush on Simone.
• Danielle Campbell as Simone Daniels, plays guitar and piano and is Lucas' lab partner.
• Kylie Bunbury as Jordan Lundley, Tyler Barsco's girlfriend who is extremely popular.
• DeVaughn Nixon as Tyler Barso is Jordan's lacrosse-playing boyfriend.
• Cameron Monaghan as Corey Doyle, Lucas' best friend.
• Jared Kusnitz as Justin Wexler, Mei's steady, easy-going boyfriend.
• Nicholas Braun as Lloyd Taylor, the shy, "invisible" kid at school who has trouble getting a date to prom.
• Joe Adler as Robert 'Rolo' Banus, Nova's absent-minded friend.
• Jonathan Keltz as Brandon, Nova's crush.
• Christine Elise McCarthy as Sandra Linsey
• Raini Rodriguez as Tess
• Aimee-Lynn Chadwick as Rachel, a goth girl.
• Dean Norris as Frank Prescott, Nova's over-protective father.
• Faith Ford as Kitty Prescott
• Robbie Tucker as Charlie Ritcher, Jesse's little brother.
• Jere Burns as Principal Dunnan
• Allie Trimm as Betsy
• Amy Pietz as Mrs. Doyle
• Carlease Burke as Rhoda Wainwright
• Blair Fowler as Leah
• Madison Riley as Kristen
• Rocco Nugent as Anton
• Ivy Malone as Alice
• Chloe Little as Janel Lundley
• Kofi Siriboe as Max
• Kristopher Higgins as Derek

Reception

Box-office performance

As of June 23, 2011, Prom has earned an estimated $10,100,000 in the United States. The film was released on April 29, 2011 in the United States, earning a box office total of $4,700,000 on its opening weekend.

Critical reception

Prom has received mixed to negative reviews. As of November 2011, review aggregate Rotten Tomatoes reports that 33% of critics have given the film a positive review based on 80 reviews with an average score of 5/10. As of June 27, 2011, the film holds and average score of 50 at Metacritic based on 25 reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews."

Salon film critic Andre O'Heir gave the film a negative review, calling it "a would-be tween-oriented hit so scrubbed and sanitized and not worthy of paying attention to that it can barely be said to exist at all." Another film critic, Claudia Puig of USA Today, notes that Prom's "entertainment quotient comes up deficient." Conversely, Boxoffice Magazine film critic Pete Hammond offers a more positive review of the film, calling it a "highly entertaining original movie that's funny, touching, and real," while mixed reviewers note that it is a "predictable but painless pastiche of high school drama cliches that will give its intended tween audience a lot to squeal about."

Home media

The film was released by Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment on Blu-ray, DVD, and movie download on August 30, 2011. The release will be produced in two different physical packages: a 2-disc combo pack (Blu-ray and DVD) and a 1-disc DVD. The film will also be released as a movie download option, in both standard definition and high definition. All versions of the release will include the "Bloopers" and "Putting on Prom" extras, while the Blu-ray combo pack will additionally include a bonus short called "Last Chance Lloyd" (directed by Taz Goldstein) that expands on Llyod's search for a prom date as well as four deleted scenes, and seven music videos. The movie download version includes the "Bloopers" and "Putting on Prom" extras as well as three music videos by Allstar Weekend, Neon Trees, and Moon.

Soundtrack

Pop band Allstar Weekend's song "Not Your Birthday" was used to promote the film. It was later included in iPhone/iPod app Tap Tap Revenge 4 as a free soundtrack song. Additionally, Katy Perry's song "Firework" was used in the trailer of the film. "Firework" was also used during the actual prom scene of the movie. The song is being heard as the teens dance during prom. The soundtrack was released under Disney's Hollywood Records label, three days before the film's premiere date.

Awards

Young Artist Awards

|- | style="text-align:center;" rowspan="1"| 2012 | rowspan="1"|Robbie Tucker | Best Performance in a Feature Film - Young Actor Ten and Under |