This Review Reveals Minor Details About the Plot.
Break a Leg
Plot Overview
As East High School lets out for
summer vacation, next year's graduating class looks forward to
unfettered fun while some of them have an eye to the future.
Their basketball's MVP Troy Bolton (Zac Efron) has designs on U of A,
but a scholarship is only as good as his next season. He now
needs to “make bank,” but “I gotta get hired
first.” His father Jack Bolton (Bart Johnson) being the high
school coach does not pull down a big salary, and his position is
similarly all too dependent on how well his players do. It's like
a piece from a Marcus Sakey novel:
‘I'm taking a bath. I got in on these sure-thing tech stocks? I may as well have just gone to Arlington, put Tommy's college fund on the ponies.’ … Danny had never seen much difference between the stock market and betting on a football game— (51)Needing a second car, they fix up an old, beat-up truck rather than buy anything new or used.
Furthermore,
these small potatoes high-schoolers "keep getting beat out by college
kids" in the summer job market. However, Troy gets a lucky [?]
break.
Self-described
“primo girl” Sharpay Evans (Ashley Tisdale) comes from
a family who founded the Lava Springs Country Club. She has
“real clout” with its General Manager Mr. Fulton
(Mark L. Taylor) and persuades him to hire Troy. In turn Troy
parlays him into bringing aboard his classmates en masse. From
here on the class rehearses for the big talent show at the end of
the season while Sharpay manipulates Troy into performing with
her—and maybe more—and players from U of A
groom Troy for their school to the neglect of his true love
Gabriella Montez (Vanessa Anne Hudgens) and his high school classmates.
Ideology
An obscure biblical character Agur (Prov. 30:1) while not claiming to be any great one offers a chapter of advice to his buddies, (Prov. 30:2-3) “Surely I am more brutish than any man, and have not the understanding of a man. I neither learned wisdom, nor have the knowledge of the holy.” He gives four career nuggets sized down to his level: (Prov. 30:24) “There be four things which are little upon the earth, but they are exceeding wise:”
(Prov. 30:25) “The ants are
a people not strong, yet they prepare their meat in the
summer.” The first career counsel is to start working early,
in the summer of life. Good work habits are early developed. One
girl has a fall-back babysitter position, but she gets
hired with the rest at the country club (“Summer jobs look
good on applications.”) Mr. Fulton tells them,
“What we're looking for now is not inspiration but
perspiration.” He explains that in the world of adults,
“sometimes we have to perform tasks, however
unpleasant, that are necessary for that all-too-important
paycheck to land in our all-too-empty pockets!”
An important work concept is that they
“clock in and out on time.” With social activities in
full swing, that creates conflicts with dating. The girls discuss
that, “All dates are official whether the boy knows it or
not.” That being the case, “Two minutes is being late,
but an hour is approaching a felony.” Some work schedules are
irregular, and some jobs are on-call. One can't always get through
by phone to call it off. A guy will need to apologize to the girl
and make it up somehow. Adult schedules down the road will
only get worse.
(Prov. 30:26) “The conies are but
a feeble folk, yet make they their houses in the rocks.” Their
dwellings offer them protection. The next important career step is to
settle in a good location. For summer jobs this country club offers them
variety and good recreational opportunities for on their breaks.
(Prov. 30:27) “The locusts have
no king, yet go they forth all of them by bands.” Another
step is to develop an informal support network. Here they have a
ready made network of their school chums being that, “We're
all in this together.”
(Prov.
30:28) “The spider taketh hold with her hands, and is
in kings' palaces.” That palace gets swept regularly, but the
spider just spins a new web. Troy doesn't so much lose his
position, as he gets promoted leaving his friends behind. That
doesn't set well with him, so he asks for his old job back. Maybe
the spider liked the dark corner she was in better than the
prosperous pickings perched beneath the entry lamp. A satisfying
career need not be upwardly mobile all the way but may include
horizontal transfers as well as voluntary retreats.
Production Values
"" (TV Movie 2007) was
directed by Kenny Ortega. It sets up the class for graduation &
opportunities in “High School
Musical 3.” It was written by Peter Barsocchini. It
stars Zac Efron, Vanessa Hudgens and Ashley Tisdale. The acting was
a bit over the top in intensity. Hudgens's character cools down,
however, in this episode to take a break from moving.
It was certified TV–G. Sports shown include basketball,
baseball, swimming, golf and dance. I don't see how they had
any breath left to sing. Runtime is 1¾ hours.
Review Conclusion w/a Christian's Recommendation
This one is family fidgety fun; don't expect it to calm anyone down. I switched off the finale as I just couldn't take it any more. That's more a matter of taste than merit; it should suit some tastes.
Movie Ratings
Action factor: Well done action flick. Suitability for children: Suitable for all ages. Special effects: Average special effects. Video Occasion: Better than watching TV. Suspense: A few suspenseful moments. Overall movie rating: Three stars out of five.
Works Cited
Scripture quoted from the King James Version. Pub. 1611, rev. 1769. Software.
Sakey, Marcus. The Blade Itself. Copyright © Marcus Sakey, 2007. New York: Penguin Books, 2008. Print.
bibles.n7nz.org