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FILM DETAILS

Certificate PG

Cast Rupert Everett Colin Firth Russell Brand Caterina Murino Jodie Whittaker Stephen Fry Lena Headey Celia Imrie Mischa Barton Girls Aloud Talulah Riley Gemma Arterton.

Directors Oliver Parker Barnaby Thompson.

Screenwriters Piers Ashworth Nick Moorcroft.

Running Time TBC minutes

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St Trinian's
They’ve been behind the bike shed all this time

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Plot
No sooner is Annabelle Fritton (Riley) dumped at her aunt Camilla’s (Everett) notorious girl’s school, St Trinian’s, by her unscrupulous father Carnaby (also Everett), than financial woes and a hardline Education Minister (Firth) seem to spell the end for the institution. But the anarchic pupils aren’t going to let their beloved home go without a fight.

Review

It’s been 53 years since Ealing Studios made The Belles Of St Trinian’s and 27 since Wildcats Of St Trinian’s disgraced itself and all but buried the franchise. Now the hockey sticks and school uniforms have been dusted off and a new team has attempted to make the unruly girls appeal to a new generation.

Can they make it work for ‘the yoof of today’? Well, beyond the excuse of “it’s for kids”, this vague remake of ‘Belles’ has numerous problems, but most of them are the fault of crew rather than cast. Here’s another British film (part of a worrying trend of late) that is poorly lit, poorly shot, and sometimes poorly edited. The technical ineptitude throws off the comic timing and jokes fall flat, while bad framing betrays the film’s limited budget.

And so it goes for most of the first act… until Colin Firth shows up and suddenly everything begins to fit into place. Rupert Everett (reprising Alistair Simm’s glorious turn from ‘Belles’ with dual roles as twins Camilla and Carnaby Fritton, headmistress of the school and her cad twin brother), suddenly has the right foil to work with and Firth’s subplot also allows the girls to get busy with mischief, picking up the pace.

As with the source material, most of the girls only get a few lines; Talulah Riley is fine in the lead as Carnaby’s daughter Annabelle but for entertainment value, top honours go to Chloe and Holly Mackie as twin junior terrors with a penchant for C4. Many ‘adults’ get the same – Caterina Murino, Celia Imrie, Lena Headey and Toby Jones among them – are asked a lot and given little, although the ubiquitous Russell Brand (who can’t act, but that’s not why he’s here) gets a bigger slice of screentime as Flash Harry.

This St Trinian’s 2.0 does manage to fuse an understanding of what made the originals great with a modern feel - the writers have fulfilled their end of the bargain, even tweaking some of the weaker points of the original story - but they and the cast have been let down by some dreadfully clunky filmmaking.

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Your Reviews

Average user rating for St Trinian's

Boring...the girls just aren't bad enough ... More

Posted by Zinatam at 16:59, 07 July 2008 | Report This Post

Pretty Good!

This was better than i thought it would be. OK so its not the best film ever made but has a lot of comedy and good performances from everett and firth ... More

Posted by Quinnie91 at 11:30, 21 May 2008 | Report This Post

I was dragged along to this and its not that bad, there are some halarious moments in it, and some of girls are pretty hot. ... More

Posted by dgribble at 19:27, 25 February 2008 | Report This Post

CRAP

crap!crap!crap! Eurgh i nearly fell asleep for gods sake. There was like one or two "smile/giggle" bits but after that...why did they bother? And flippin' girls aloud?? ... More

Posted by mozzy_gal at 21:19, 15 February 2008 | Report This Post

Crap - but fun crap.

Despite a decent climax, this is total nonsense. You maight get a single laugh in, but not much more. ... More

Posted by jamdodge1 at 12:42, 03 February 2008 | Report This Post

RE: St Trinian's

]I thought St Trinians was pretty good, just a fun film that has some good characters in it ... More

Posted by Chloe 22 at 12:10, 02 February 2008 | Report This Post

RE: St Trinian's

L: wooz EMPIRE: Hey!  St Trinians!  It's going to be wonderful!  Check out all of the pages we've wasted on it!  EMPIRE: 2 stars, don't bother.  Didn't see that coming. sp; As a film magazine, they have to do features on films and since this was a British film and one restarting a British franchise, you can't really blame Empire for taking an interest. It's their job. ... More

Posted by Shifty Bench at 08:44, 24 January 2008 | Report This Post

RE: Rubbish!

Not as bad as the crtics would have you think ,i thought this was fun. Rupert Everret seemed to be playing both Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles and having great fun doing it . Colin Firth allowed himself to be sent up rotten with loads of references to Mr Darcy and other films he has been in with Everret. Russel Brand was A hoot as Flash Harry. And i thought the girls were all pretty good especially the 2 young twins. Special Kudos to Toby Jones as the Hapless Bursa... More

Posted by filmburner30 at 08:28, 24 January 2008 | Report This Post

Rubbish!

I'm so glad that I didn't waste £5.00 that I would never get back on seeing this film at the cinema! Instead I got a copy and it was soooooo bad and soooooo boring I had to throw it in the bin and noticed that thats two hours of my life I will never getback! ... More

Posted by Empo at 15:43, 21 January 2008 | Report This Post

I thought it was just awful, really disappointing and not the fault of the actors. The only bit that was remotely good was Firth emerging from the water fountain. ... More

Posted by peeka85 at 13:14, 19 January 2008 | Report This Post

I thought it was just awful, really disappointing and not the fault of the actors. The only bit that was remotely good was Firth emerging from the water fountain. ... More

Posted by peeka85 at 13:14, 19 January 2008 | Report This Post

I thought it was very funny, and updated well. ... More

Posted by Juliette at 19:05, 13 January 2008 | Report This Post

Lots of fun... for low expectations

Considering the disaster it could have been, I thought it was a pretty enjoyable hour and a half. Certainly a long way from being a masterpiece and quite a few gags fell flat, but there are also plenty that hit home (Colin Firth deserves commendation for really laying himself out to utter humiliation time and time again) and terrific performances from all the girls (Talulah Riley is an agreeably sympathetic lead, Gemma Arterton absolutely burns up the screen with her aloof dominant sexpot act). ... More

Posted by shanyi at 22:30, 03 January 2008 | Report This Post

RE: Some great moments overshadowed by horrific moments!

I enjoyed this but wasn't overwhelmed. Thought the head girl Kelly Jones was brilliant but some of the other young cast were a bit poor but it is early in their acting careers so I won't be too much of a bastard.   Plus I'm no fan of Russell Brand. Don't get me wrong, he's quite funny but 'best British comedian', that's bollocks although he did have a role in the funniest few lines in the film.   Flash: Well, what about that one woman who died? St Trinian's girl: She was old... More

Posted by Goodfella at 17:56, 02 January 2008 | Report This Post

Some great moments overshadowed by horrific moments!

I wasn't really looking forward to seeing St Trinian's, and I came out not feeling much emotion towards the film. Colin Firth and Rupert Everett are superb, but the movie is dull and overlong. Made me laugh towards the end, and the beggining seems lively enough, but not enough to grab your interest for the prolonged run time. ... More

Posted by 02PARSIM at 17:47, 28 December 2007 | Report This Post

RE: St Trinian's

Kermode ripped it to pieces yesterday.....I expect his 6 minute summing up of the film would be alot more entertaining than the 90 minute feature itself. ... More

Posted by Daniel Kelly at 15:25, 22 December 2007 | Report This Post

RE: St Trinian's

Just got back from seeing it and it was OK. Didn't read the review but 2 stars seems about right. I guess I was expecting more inuendo and jailbait. There were some really funny moments but overall it felt too cheap and like an extended episode of Grange Hill. Rupert Everett was great as Miss Fitton though. nd Empire, the film is a 12A not a PG. Sort it art yeah? ... More

Posted by HIM at 16:32, 21 December 2007 | Report This Post

RE: St Trinian's

EMPIRE: Hey!  St Trinians!  It's going to be wonderful!  Check out all of the pages we've wasted on it!  EMPIRE: 2 stars, don't bother.  Didn't see that coming. ... More

Posted by wooz at 14:16, 21 December 2007 | Report This Post

RE: St Trinian's

The Guardian summed it up with:   "It is as funny as the worried frown on the face of an oncologist."   ... More

Posted by ilovebeerme at 11:09, 21 December 2007 | Report This Post

RE: St Trinian's

There is also a distinct lack of Totty with the Sixth Formers. Taulah Riley looks very fine, but most of the rest look like some Essex girls doing a school uniform night. ... More

Posted by JagLover at 10:48, 21 December 2007 | Report This Post

hmm...

can't say i'm surprised... ... More

Posted by killervideotape at 02:21, 21 December 2007 | Report This Post

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