By all accounts, I should not have had such a comprehensively wonderful time with the reboot of the St. Trinian's franchise. The first film, based on a comic strip, came out in 1954, and starred Alastair Sim (the greatest yet Scrooge) in drag as the headmistress of a school for unruly girls who were as likely to be packing heat as they were to fail their classes at a "respectable" school. Sim also doubled the role of Miss Fritton's brother. The reboot features a who's who of British talent the likes of which you don't often see.
Rupert Everett takes over the role of Miss Fritton opposite Colin Firth as a conservative Minister of Education. When Barnaby Fritton (Everett) dumps his daughter Annabelle (Talulah Riley) at the looks-like-it-should-be-condemned school, we spend a little time watching her become one of the gang. Riley is probably best-remembered as the Bennett sister from Joe Wright's 2005 Pride & Prejudice who I nicknamed "Buzzkill" Bennett (Mary, I think). Her character goes on to learn that skanking it up is the secret to happiness.
Queen Rupert I
A fiendish plot is hatched to have the school closed, so the girls all come together to prevent this from happening by committing a few crimes. Other members of the cast include Gemma Arterton, Russell Brand as Flash Harry, Lily Cole (The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus) as a geek, Lena Headey, Lucy Punch (Timothy Dalton's much-younger girl-toy in Hot Fuzz), and Toby Jones (the "other" Truman Capote in 2005). Oh yes, Mischa Barton appears for a moment as well. A delightful cameo from Stephen Fry as himself was a very welcome surprise indeed.
When St. Trinian's played the UK in 2008, it nearly doubled its 7 million pound budget back in box office receipts. The sequel opened in the UK late this past December in second place, right behind Avatar. I honestly think the movie would have done better in wide release in the States than plenty of "teen girl comedies" aimed at a similar audience. It's silly, rude, not-P.C. at all, and wholly offensive to evolved discourse. Sometimes a cheeseburger hits the spot, and sometimes you just want cheap, oily, and greasy fish & chips with plenty of vinegar.
The DVD (no Blu-ray) extras include a behind-the-scenes bit (The Official School Diary) that's about ten minutes long, a few minutes of bloopers, a ton of deleted scenes, and the "St. Trinian's Chant" as performed by UK super-girl-group Girls Aloud. Yes, I'll probably watch this one again this year. Am I proud of that? No, not at all, but there it is.