"Struck By Lightning" World Premiere

Backround:     
     One of the many benefits of living in New York is the annual Tribeca Film Festival. It is a great film festival that I have not previously had the pleasure of attending. So, when I heard that "Struck By Lightning" written by and starring Chris Colfer was being premiered here, I really wanted to go (even though I'm not a fan of "Glee"). Unfortunately, tickets were sold out. Fortunately, the Tribeca Film Festival has "rush" tickets available where you show up early and wait, and after the ticketed people go in, you can buy a ticket if there are any left. Me and my fellow movie watcher just reached the front of the line after a 2+ hour long wait only to be told that there were no more seats, but she said to wait a little longer just in case some become available. Lo and behold, there were very few more seats. We were going to see the film!

Red Carpet

     While we were still waiting on line, Mr. Colfer himself made his appearance on the red carpet set up and walked up and down the line for people with tickets and interacted with them... all of them. (I took pictures when he was close to me.) I'm always close to the famous people but never actually meet them **cough cough** Daniel Radcliffe **cough cough**

Hugs! (I swear the woman in red was my old science teacher...)

   


     Anyway, we finally took out seats in the sold out theater, the Tribeca Performing Arts Center. The seats for the "rush" tickets were not great, in the back corner of the auditorium. We still had a clear view of the screen. Now, the world premiere of "Struck by Lightning" happened.

Review:
     Colfer is certainly very talented, as I have heard "Glee"-fans tell me. He is a very funny performer, and his script is hilarious and smart.
     Colfer plays Carson, a high school senior struck by a bolt of lightning and killed. That's how the story begins, with Carson dying. We are then sent to his life in high school and how he ended up getting struck by lightning.
     Carson's main goal in this film is to get into SouthWestern, and he decides to publish a literary magazine in order to make him look better, on top of already being the editor of the newspaper and president of the writing club. In order to get any submissions for the magazine, Carson has to blackmail people.
     His parents divorce left his mother Sheryl (Allison Janney) a mess. His father Neal (Dermot Mulroney) is engaged to a pregnant pharmacist April (Christina Hendricks), who Sheryl meets at the pharmacy filling her prescriptions. At school, his classmates include his only friend Malerie (Rebel Wilson) and the bitchy cheerleader Claire Mathews (Sarah Hyland).
     The humor in this movie is very original; it feels like not a lot of it has been done before. Aside of being soley funny, I felt like this was one of the more realistic high school films (although no movie will ever be 100% realistic in terms of high school). The characters were all relatable to people I know.
     In such an amazing cast, Colfer was definitely a standout. He was funny and self-aware as a high school student in over his head.
     When this movie is released in theaters, I recommend it. Teenagers are not the only age group who will enjoy this movie.

Rating: 4.5/5

Q&A:
     The only reason I want to mention the Q&A is to say that Emma Watson was at the premiere and asked a question. I had no idea she was there until she after the question was asked and Colfer pointed it out. She wasn't that far from me and I was in awe. She is one of my favorite people and seeing her in person was my favorite moment of the night. Unfortunately, she left to quickly for me to take a picture of her.

Q&A