There have been a few good films with the subject matter of bullying and Contest is one of them. Now on DVD the movie shows how acts of unkindness can be turned around to save a child from verbal and physical abuse. The film is well made with bright young actors and an aspiring director who also wrote the screenplay.
The story centers on high school senior Tommy (Daniel Flaherty) who finds himself being the butt of other student’s jokes. Leader of the pack of bullies, Matt (Kenton Duty) pushes Tommy to the edge with his torment showing off in front of his friends. It’s a perverse way of gaining popularity among teens and Tommy just happens to be in his crosshairs.
Matt and his friends get caught on camera throwing the hapless Tommy into a pool with his clothes on where he almost drowns. The assistant principal calls Matt into the office and announces to him that he will be suspended unless he takes Tommy under his wing and gets the school to stop bullying him. Since Matt has a lot to lose including a football scholarship, he decides to take on the ‘punishment’. When Tommy gets involved in a cooking contest, Matt has to join him or break his deal and lose his future.
Matt convinces his friends that he has to take on the task and they cooperate with him. Director/writer Anthony Joseph Giunta does a good job of making the whole film look realistic including Tommy catching Matt in a lie that makes his friendship look like a sham. He shows the bullying and how it can affect a boy who has the same goals as other students, yet finds the going very rough. Putting Tommy in situations that make him the target of some mean tricks gets a point across for which others can relate. Guinta’s story can be taking place right now in schools across the country, but here he shows how this school turns it around.
I enjoyed the film for the story and the acting. Newcomers Kenton Duty, Daniel Flaherty, and Katherine McNamara are extremely good in their roles. I especially like how Giunta presents McNamara’s role as Sarah (Katherine McNamara), Tommy’s crush. He makes the attraction work in the face of Tommy’s dilemma with Katherine’s Sarah becoming an ally during the cooking contest. She’s the typical student trying to avoid being in with the wrong crowd, but ends up doing the right thing by getting involved.
Kenton Duty does most of the heavy work showing Matt’s change from antagonist to protagonist. He fits the character well with his good looks and ‘class most popular’. Leading the bullying to show off in front of girls and male classmates, Duty uses this popularity to control his friends, a power to which most kids want to gravitate. He provides an example of the ‘perfect’ bully and changing him with the use of his own mistake shows that there are ways to solve a measure of the problem.
The DVD has some excellent bonus features with standouts being PSA’s by both Kenton Duty and Katherine McNamara. They bring out points that both boys and girls can relate and offers ways to avoid pitfalls. The two actors also have music videos on the DVD of songs that provided inspiration to bullied teens.
The video quality is very good and plays well on a HD Television. The colors are bright and the visuals, even underwater, are well lit and without distortion. The audio quality using either the Dolby Digital 5.1 or 2.0 is also very good. The dialogue is clear and easily to understand. If you have surround speakers, you may even hear some of the extras during the larger crowd scenes and the teens’ echoes in the swim gym are very clear during the opening pool scene.
Specifications and additional film information:
Cast: Kenton Duty, Daniel Flaherty, Katherine McNamara, Mary Beth Peil, Kyle Dean Massey
Director: Anthony Joseph Giunta
MPAA Rating: PG for some bullying, rude humor and language
Genre: Drama, Family
Running Time: 1 hr 28 min
Video Release Date: December 17, 2013
Original Film Release Date:
Language: English
Format: DVD
Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1 or 2.0
Video: Widescreen Aspect Ratio 2.35:1
Subtitles: None
Number of Discs: 1 Disc
Distributed by: Arc Entertainment
