I like the storyline of this show,it attract me so much

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

The movie is wonderful and true, an act of love in all its contradictions and complexity

Mostly, the movie is committed to the value of a good time.

This film does really give you a taste of the survivors who were involved with the school shooting. It probably was either the 3rd or 4th anniversary of the Columbine Shootings around the time that this film was finally shown in cinemas. I wonder why they created this film about the two girls? I mean, can they at least show the other people that were there around the time the shooting happened? I suppose they didn't want to waste time but sure it will be better then just concentrating on two people! Busy Philips was great playing as a goth but at the same time, it was heartbreaking that her character choose that look in order to show her grief and shock of coping of what has happened. It was shocking that Erika Christensen had to shave half her head because of the injuries from the gunshot wound, it really would leave you shaken looking at it even if it was just make up!It is such a really good film that will leave you to think of other people effected by this! Please watch it.....

A film studying the aftermath of a Columbine style school massacre, it shows that a well made film does not have to break any new barriers in cinema in order to tell a good story.Not so much a story about the killings themselves, the focus of the film is the relationship between one of the victims, a goody two shoes honor roll student who sits alone in the hospital, and a outcast loner, the only witness to the event that claimed the life of the gunman. It treads down familiar paths on getting to know a person on the inside, and how deep down inside we're all the same, but it does so in a touching and interesting manner. The two leads take on these role with a good amount of depth and emotion.The main other theme in this film is the community trying to make sense of what and why, but the film doesn't give any answers on that topic, other than this is just a challenge of our times that we have to face. It also touches on issues of the alienation that teenagers feel in this increasingly busy and fast paced world.The message of this film seems to be to face the problems instead of hiding from them. Its because people do not want to admit things like this can happen in their communities, not just shootings, but drug use, pregnancy, suicide, that they ignore the warning signals until its too late, and then just seek to place the blame on someone. Until it happens again.A good study of our changing times, and excellent performances. Definitely worth watching.

I rented this movie along with 'Elephant.' The two films are very different but obviously deal with the same subject (school shootings). I found the movie to be above average. In comparison 'Elephant' was better in my opinion. They are very different films but it seemed to me that 'Home Room' did what every other movie could have done. The cliché 'rich girl meets goth girl' idea did not really do it for me. I'm sick of 'odd couple' movies unless they have really good character development and are witty like say, 'Tin Men.' I didn't really feel the characters were developed interestingly enough. What I really liked about the movie however was the turn it took at the very end revealing how 'Alicia Browning' saved many more kids from being killed and how she had a baby die a year and a half earlier. I totally wasn't expecting that ending. Overall a well-made film with mediocre acting and mediocre dialog with a good ending.

"Home Room" like "Zero Day" and "Elephant", was inspired by the recent wave of school shootings. But unlike the other two films, "Home Room" focuses on two survivors (not the shooters or those killed) in the aftermath of a shooting. Making it less exploitive and more useful because little effort is wasted in asking questions for which there are no answers.Don't give up on this little film during the first 20 minutes, it is supposed to set up the real story but plays like a rejected "Hill Street Blues" episode. It is lame but bear with it, at least it pads the running length enough to get the film classified as a feature. I recommend skipping this entirely and just jumping ahead to the hospital scenes-there is nothing here that you can't pick up from the remainder of the film.Like a lot of good little films this was creatively a one-man show as Paul F. Ryan was both the writer and the director. While this arrangement does not guarantee a good film, it is usually a good sign because it will mean a certain unity of construction and execution that is often lacking in big budget dramatic features. Because the script of "Home Room" is its real strength it is fortunate that the writer also executed the production and insured that his vision made it onto the screen.Ryan takes a huge chance with the ending which tests the limits of the average viewer's sentimentality tolerance. He runs it right up to the edge but against all logic leaves you crying instead of cringing. Why the ending works is some combination of the audience need for a reward at the end of this kind of journey, the song (Sarah McLaughlin's "Sweet Surrender") he goes out on, and the amazing editing of the final minute.The other strength of the film is the casting of Busy Phillips (Alicia) and Erika Christensen (Deanna) as the main protagonists. Although Phillips plays her standard alienated surly teen and Christensen her intelligent daughter of a good family, they both bring more intensity to their roles than ever before. The family life of both girls is more than satisfactory and of little interest to Ryan. What is happening here is all about the two of them despite a lame side story about a police detective wondering around town trying to tie Alicia to the lone shooter. If they ever re-cut and trim the film this side story should be condensed.A story about two extremely disparate girls bonding and helping each other is hardly a novel idea and Ryan could have easily steered this film into cliché and predictability. But instead his script has them engaging in a fascinating and convincing sparring match, slowly chipping away at each other and sharing moments of vulnerability, only to retreat back inside themselves. Deanna's "I'm dying inside" line just tears you apart-I can't think of a moment in any other film that I felt as intensely as that one. She desperately needs a connection that Alicia just as desperately resists. Deanna only makes progress when she retreats. The viewer keeps expecting the group hug that never seems to happen.Ultimately this not only generates a lot of suspense but leaves you admiring both characters and the two actresses who brought them to life.Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child.