by Jon Partridge
While the marketing materials for Barely Lethal confusingly veer from garish Clueless-esque to something more reminiscent of Jean-Claude Van Damme, what is clear is that the project has assembled some notable talent. Samuel L. Jackson and Academy Award nominee Hailee Steinfeld are the standouts, backed up by Jessica Alba and one of the Stark girls with Sophie Turner. There’s enough there to draw your attention, but sadly, outside of it’s target audience, Barely Lethal delivers little of note.
Megan Walsh (Steinfeld), aka Agent 83, was recruited into the Prescott School for Girls at a young age and trained by Maxwell Hardman (Jackson) in ways of espionage. Now, as one of their most skilled assets, she performs missions all over the world, her appearance as a young girl belying the truth about her abilities. When she is lost and presumed dead after a mission to capture a dangerous arms dealer (Alba), Megan takes advantage to finally pursue what she really wants, a normal teenage life.
She uses an exchange program to enroll at a local high school and finds herself a foster family with the recently divorced Penny (Rachel Harris) and her two children Liz (Dove Cameron) and Parker (Jason Ian Drucker). As the new kid at school, Megan encounters new challenges as she attempts to ingratiate herself socially, as well as suppress her more lethal instincts. She starts to adjust to her new life just as her old one returns to haunt her.
Barely Lethal offers a clever spin on the high school teen drama but ultimately fails to really do anything interesting with it. John D’Arco, with his screenwriting debut, draws from a multitude of films that have come before, notably Mean Girls and the John Hughes catalog, but never reaches those heights. The school portions lack wit and the action sequences lack anything resembling flair. The target demographic will connect with the themes of growing up, rebellion, and being an outsider, coupled to the escapist ideals of being a female super spy. It’s hard to be overly harsh of the film being outside the group it will resound most profoundly with, but as it ventures into such well-trodden areas, comparison and criticism are fair.
Overall the sense of humor and narrative is just a little too predictable and a little too safe, never pushing the boundaries sufficiently to carve out it’s own niche. Plenty of teen films embrace a darker angle, especially with a macabre sense of humor, and Barely Lethal strays from being a teen version of Grosse Point Blank, instead embracing a approach that feels more reminiscent of a Disney Channel TV series. Direction from Kyle Newman is perfunctory, and lacking flair, which coupled to a bland script leaves you uninspired. Overall, there is plenty of sheen but little substance.
The assembled cast is impressive but do little to elevate the material. Steinfeld again fails to match the giddy heights of True Grit, while in contrast Sam Jackson is as reliable as ever, offering many of the comedic moments in the film. Alba is devoid of any kind of presence. Dove Cameron, a actress unknown to me, seems more engaged with the material than most and may be one to keep an eye on. The most unusual aspect of the film is in casting some comedy stalwarts such as Dan Fogler, Rob Huebel, and Rachael Harris. Each seems to be given some free reign to carve out their own little characters, which rank among the best portions of the film. It’s a shame more of the production didn’t strive towards this more playful approach.
THE PACKAGE
The transfer quality is fine, picture is sharp, good details with no visible artifacts. This crispness does highlight some of the shortcomings in the production budget though.
Special features include a pretty standard featurette “Back to School: On the Set of Barely Lethal,” which compiles interviews, behind the scenes clips, and film footage. This is complimented by a audio commentary with director Kyle Newman and actors Dove Cameron and Thomas Mann. There is also over 7 minutes of deleted scenes and a digital copy included.
THE BOTTOM LINE
Barely Lethal assembles an impressive cast and pairs them with a script that offers flashes of entertainment but is largely derivative and takes few risks in making a mark of its own. Passable entertainment for the teen crowd but overall a missed opportunity.
Barely Lethal is available on Blu-ray from August 4th, 2015.