Movie Review: Mad World (2011)

Imagine a movie that is part American Pie and part Kids. I'm pretty sure that's what Mad World was going for, but it wasn't even close. I wasn't sure what it was actually supposed to be, but it turns out that I just watched the world's worst After School Special.

Buy Mad World on DVD

I get teen angst. Oh, do I get that. I went through plenty of it, and I even guided my youngest sister through some of hers. When I watched this movie, it seemed like the writer tried to come up with every possible horrific scenario that a teen could deal with. Once he crammed all of that in, he added some extreme absurdity. We get jocks bullying losers, racism, abusive teachers, sexual indiscretions, verbally and physically abusive parents and yelling. Lots and lots of yelling. The kids yell. The parents yell. The teachers yell. I could have had my TV muted and I still would have heard the horribly written dialogue.

Not only was this movie bad, but it also made some awful indie movie cliche mistakes. The soundtrack came from a bad coffee house open mic. It was whiny and distracting.Then there was my least favorite thing that so many indie movies think they need to do. I swear they must have said the word "nigger" about eighty times. I absolutely hate that. It was forced in and completely unnecessary. I'm not for censorship or limiting language. What I am for is an end to this idiotic practice. It's not only stupid, but unrealistic. My complaint doesn't even have anything to do with racism. It's about the lack of creativity this takes. I am a white guy. I don't hear other white people using this word. It just doesn't happen, and especially not toward a black person. I don't get it. Why does this happen in every other indie movie? Check that. It only happens in bad indie movies. I think the writers know that they have nothing, so they try to be edgy. It sucks. I don't care about you using it if it fits in. It makes sense in Mississippi Burning, but not here. Knock it off.

This movie out and out blows. If you want to watch a horrendous piece of shit that wasn't worth the hour and a half I spent watching it, this is your movie. If you like overacted melodramatic stupidity, you're in luck. Mad World deserves a limited release in a dumpster near you.