American High School (2009) begins with Jonny Awesome on the school microphone imitating the late James Brown at the Indian High School rally where students are giving their Prom Queen Election Speeches.  Jonny with mic in hand states, “Ummmm-ah!", "I say ummmm-aah!", "Good afternoon", "Pussycats!", "I say good afternoon", "Pussycats!”.  While the popular Hilary Weiss (Aubrey O'Day), Dixie (Alex Murrel) and Trixie (Davida Williams) and two of her friends parade around the gymnasium in their black kitten outfits.  Jonny then pokes fun of Hilary’s rival Gwen Adams (Jillian Murray) who is referred to as “Soaky Gwen”.  As Gwen prepares her speech Jonny whispers in her ear, “I mean, if this was MySpace, Tom wouldn’t even be your friend.”  

The camera clicks as Gwen Adams begins narrating sharing how incredibly unpopular she was in high school.  She then gives a brief discourse on all of the “loser factors” that resulted in her unpopularity which includes her dad Kip Dick (Hoyt Richards) a former 80’s TV actor who hits on her high school friends, her suicidal elder brother, a mother whose whereabouts are unknown and a boyfriend who is an exhibitionist and lastly Hilary Weiss.  Gwen describes Hilary as the devil who has wanted her boyfriend Holden (Talan Torriero) since the third grade.  Now married and in high school Gwen shares her high school life.  She begins with various narrations of her high school including her history teacher Mr. Seuss (Pat Jankiewicz) who is cheating on his wife the art teacher and vice-principal Becky Apple (Nikki Schieler Ziering) and Principal Mann and his secretary Alice, and other students at the school.   

Gwen and Adam eventually get in trouble after being caught in the principals office.  Gwen has more to worry about than just winning the prom queen nomination since her graduation rest on her getting an A in Mr. Seuss history class.  Things get raunchy as this high school sex comedy drops more than just grades.  This 90 minute film is rated R and it is not suitable for all audiences as it offers a hearty dose of potty humor, overdone profanity, drugs, alcohol, mild violence and strong sexual content.  There are various negative attitudes and overblown stereotypes that saturate this film like wax on a high-glossed wooden floor.  One major problem director and writer Sean Patrick Cannon has with this coming-of-age teen comedy is its huge predictability factor since it’s all been done before. Theatrical performances range from average to below average with dull sets and bland cinematography that’s tolerable.  As far as teen comedies go, this one is pretty silly and barely gets 2 out of 5 stars.    

If you have a craving for high school shenanigans or perhaps want a refresher course on what not to do as a teenager then there are parts of this film that you will find interesting. American High School is not one of those films that you take seriously by any stretch of the imagination.  It’s not one of those movies I would have ever rushed to the theater to see but would rent it or purchase the bargain priced DVD for a dull Thursday night at home.  For those of interest Anchor Bay's DVD has a few extra features which include a commentary, deleted scenes with audio commentary and an American High School trailers just in case you are still interested.   

Recommended:
No

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: None of the Above
Suitability For Children: Not suitable for Children of any age