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Movie Description
Booker High has fallen under the draconian leadership of Principal Weller (Julie Bowen), who is systemically revoking the rights of the school's students in her effort to become School Superintendent. Fortunately, English teacher Mr. Drucker (Malik Yoba), a former documentary filmmaker specializing in social issues, is encouraging a small group of students to "change da world." Most inspired by Drucker is Holden Donovan (Gregory Smith of TV's EVERWOOD), who uses a talent show as a platform to lambaste Weller's suppression of free speech. His stunt gets him expelled, but he isn't deterred from haunting the school--with some help from a similarly determined group of free thinkers--and seeing that Weller never makes it to the school board.
Taking the average teen film template and twisting it into something smarter, Josh Stolberg's funny, goodhearted KIDS IN AMERICA provides the requisite amount of sex jokes, but makes a clear case for freedom of expression and tolerance. Unabashedly critical of the Bush administration, it also sees Weller cite the Patriot Act as a defense for ignoring students' rights and expelling two gay students for kissing. Including several visual homages to classic teen films, and using interviews with real kids who upheld free speech in their schools to replace the usual closing-credits bloopers, KIDS IN AMERICA challenges the ordinary.
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