The Cinematheque

Home schooling and overprotective parents get a hilarious going over in in Vancouver writer-director Kyle Rideout’s disarming comedy (formerly titled Public Schooled). Educated by his fiercely enthusiastic mother Claire (Judy Greer), teenage über-nerd Liam (Daniel Doheny) is about to take his equivalency exam and head off to Cambridge. But when he is suddenly smitten with enigmatic beauty Anastasia (Siobhan Williams), who has lost a leg to cancer, Liam decides to flunk the exam and redo his final semester—in a public school. Liam is given a crash course in high-school dynamics, ranging from bullying to hallway flirting, as he timidly pursues Anastasia. Rideout’s film boasts a great ensemble cast—including Doheny, Williams, Andrew McNee, Grace Park, Russell Peters, and, especially, Greer—and is quite simply one of the best Canadian romantic comedies in recent memory. —Steve Gravestock, TIFF