Middle School: The Worst Years of My Life

source

Rafe Khatchadorian (Griffin Gluck) is a middle schooler who has been kicked out of multiple schools for his trouble making behaviour. Hills Village Middle School is the last school that will take him and he promises his mother Jules (Lauren Graham) that he’ll behave.

The school principal Ken Dwight (Andy Daly) enforces a hundred school rules that centre around obedience and respect. The students are not allowed to do anything creative which is especially hard on Rafe as he is a talented artist.

When Principal Dwight destroys Rafe’s sketchbook, Rafe decides to get revenge by breaking every rule in school with his friend Leo (Thomas Barbusca). Rafe’s pranks include covering the school in post its, replacing the school bell with fart noises and putting hair dye into the principal’s hat.

The movie was based on a book by James Patterson and Chris Tebbetts. The film has a fun upbeat soundtrack which accompany animation sequences that detail Rafe’s feelings. Although I haven’t read the book, I’m guessing that there are pictures in there and it matches what is used in the film.

There’s a twist in the movies which I didn’t see coming. It was touching and provided the heart to the story. It helped me to understand Rafe’s motivations and his interactions with other people.

I enjoyed this movie. I think it is good family viewing and perfect for sleepovers and rainy days. Kids will like the outlandish pranks and comedic characters. Everyone is kooky in their own way in the movie. I thought the child actors were fine in the movie, nothing remarkable and stilted at times. I liked the adults in the film, particularly Andy Daly and Rob Riggle who played Carl, Jule’s boyfriend.