Psycho's Movie Reviews #350: St Trinian's (2007)

St Trinian's is a 2007 British comedy film and the sixth in a long-running series of British films based on the works of cartoonist Ronald Searle set in St Trinian's School. The first five films form a series, starting with The Belles of St. Trinian's in 1954, with sequels in 1957, 1960, 1966 and a reboot in 1980. The release of 2007, 27 years after the last entry, and 53 years after the first film, is a rebooting of the franchise, rather than a direct sequel, with certain plot elements borrowed from the first film.

Whereas the earlier films concentrated on the adults, this film gives the school pupils greater prominence. St Trinian's is an anarchic school for uncontrollable girls run by eccentric headmistress Camilla Dagey Fritton (the reboot continues the tradition, established by Alastair Sim in the original film, of casting a male actor to play the female headmistress, with Rupert Everett inheriting the role).

St Trinian's received mixed reviews but remains one of the highest-grossing British independent films of the last thirty years.

Plot

Annabelle Fritton, an uptight daddy's girl, unwillingly transfers to St Trinian's from the distinguished Cheltenham Ladies' College at the request of her father, Carnaby Fritton. Annabelle is clearly different and doesn't fit in, telling her father that the school is "like Hogwarts for pikeys". She is taken around the school by Kelly Jones, the head girl, who introduces her to the various cliques within the school.

On her first night, Annabelle is pranked by the girls, resulting in her being poured in slime and pillow feathers, the temperature of her shower water being tampered with, and a video of her running around the school naked and wet being broadcast live on the internet leading to her getting knocked unconscious after slipping on wet floor and slides into the doors. She calls her father to pick her up, but Carnaby pretends to have bad phone reception so he can stay at a bar. Annabelle is drafted to the hockey team when she hits her phone with her hockey stick, smashing a statue. The girls of St Trinian's are involved in business with spiv Flash Harry, who pays them to make cheap vodka. Flash is shown to be romantically interested in Kelly, who initially turns him down.

The Cheltenham Ladies' College hockey team arrive at St Trinian's, along with Education Minister Geoffrey Thwaites. Thwaites is shown to have romantic history with the headmistress of St Trinian's, Camilla Fritton. Annabelle is forced to face her former bullies, including captain Verity Thwaites. The hockey match is violent, ending in Kelly shooting a winning goal for St Trinian's, which is followed by a brawl between the two schools. As the match is being played, Thwaites inspects the school, finding the illegal vodka-making business and the chatline being run by the Posh Totty clique.

The following morning, a banker arrives at the school and serves Camilla with a foreclosure notice, as the school owes the bank in excess of £500,000 and has ignored six previous final demands. A subsequent meeting between Camilla and Carnaby is watched by the girls using hidden cameras, in which Carnaby confesses his distaste towards his daughter. Annabelle is clearly upset, despite Camilla defending her. Carnaby encourages Camilla to turn the school into a boutique hotel, telling her that "when this school closes down, you'll have lost everything. More importantly, so will I."

Kelly and Flash work with the students to devise a plan to save the school. They must get into the final of School Challenge, a TV quiz show held in the National Gallery in London, as a cover for stealing Vermeer's Girl With a Pearl Earring. Chelsea, Peaches and Chloe (the Posh Totty clique) are chosen as the School Challenge Team. By cheating in every round, they make it to the grand final. As the final is being filmed, Kelly, Taylor and Andrea manage to steal the painting, with help from the Geeks, as well as Annabelle and Camilla.

Camilla paints an exact copy of the painting and has Flash, posing as a German art dealer, sell it to Carnaby in a black market deal. The school then receives a further £50,000 reward for returning the real painting to the National Gallery. The loans are able to be repaid and the school is saved.

Production

Music

The film's score was composed by Charlie Mole.

The film's soundtrack was released on 10 December 2007 via Universal Music Group. The album featured two original songs by British pop group Girls Aloud, including the single, "Theme to St. Trinian's". A music video for the song was released to promote the film and soundtrack.

The film's cast also recorded the theme, as well as a cover of Shampoo's "Trouble". A music video of the cast performing "Trouble" was also released. Rupert Everett and Colin Firth, who star in the film, recorded the John Paul Young song "Love Is in the Air". A number of popular singles or current album tracks by artists, such as Mark Ronson, Lily Allen, Noisettes, Gabriella Cilmi, and Sugababes, were included on the soundtrack.

{I'm sorry but this song is a bop. RIP Sarah Harding}

Release/Reception/Box Office

St Trinian's premiered in London on 10 December 2007 and was theatrically released on 21 December 2007 by Entertainment Film Distributors.

St Trinian's received mixed reviews. Empire wrote that the film "fuse[s] an understanding of what made the originals great with a modern feel – the writers have fulfilled their end of the bargain, even tweaking some of the weaker points of the original story."

The Observer wrote that it "is raucous, leering, crude and, to my mind, largely misjudged, with Rupert Everett playing Miss Fritton as a coquettish transvestite with the manners of a Mayfair madam. The attempts to shock us fail, though Cheltenham Ladies College may well be affronted to hear one of its teachers say 'between you and I'. But the preview was packed with girls aged from seven to 14 who found it hilarious, and especially enjoyed Russell Brand."

Derek Malcolm, in The Evening Standard, wrote: "Structurally, the new movie is a mess, and it doesn't look too convincing either, with cinematography that uses all sorts of old-fashioned dodges to raise a laugh", and "when you look at it again, the old film was not only superior but rather more radical. This St Trinian's looks as if it is aiming at the lowest common denominator, and finding it too often."

On the film-critics aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes, St Trinian's holds a 31% positive rating, with the consensus "Both naughtier and campier than Ronald Searle's original postwar series, this St. Trinian's leans on high jinks instead of performances or witty dialogue."

The film grossed £12,042,854 in the United Kingdom, surpassing its £7 million production budget. As of 18 July 2010 the film had grossed a worldwide total of $29,066,483. It was the fifth highest-grossing film during the Christmas season of 2007, behind Enchanted, I Am Legend, Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem and The Golden Compass. It ranks in the top grossing independent British films of the past decade.

Budget £7 million

Box office $29.1 million

My Review

Growing up you always watched the St Trinians films on a Bank Holiday afternoon and they were great fun, especially with Joyce Grenfall and Alister Sim on board. When I heard of a revival I was dubious, 'Wildcats of St Trinians', the last film hadn't been that good and had lost the innocence of the earlier black and white films in a strange way.

All told though this was absolutely marvellous, capturing the anarchic spirit of its' illustrious forbearers. So many good things, the hockey game, the disreputable St Trinians staff, Lena Hedly almost unrecognisable from her Terminator role as indeed is soul singer Paloma Faith as the leader of the goths, Stephen Fry, always a delight, Colin Firth brilliantly spoofing his Pride and Prejudice sex bomb image.

Obviously this is the ideal film if you have a school uniform fetish. They avoid anything distasteful and succeed in having their cheesecake and eating it with the girls sex appeal by resorting to the original films trick of dividing St Trinians into only 2 forms with nothing in between. The upper sixth are all a bunch of pouting, gorgeous dollybirds in sexy schoolgirl outfits who are 20 if they're a day and the lower fourth are all a bunch of feral little monsters in shapeless gymslips who barely qualify as human never mind female.

However the wonderful Rupert Everett absolutely steals the show and no mistake. He's utterly terrific as the Margeret Thatcher/Boudica like Miss Firtton who actually loves her girls and is loved by then in return AND as her dissolute brother Carnaby. The relationship between Miss Fritton and her niece is beautifully played and as a whole you know that the girls all love one another, the older one's taking care of the younger in a very sweet manner.

Bad stuff? Russell Brand, need I say more? Mischa Baron's cameo is also terrible and very obviously shoe-horned in to give the film some appeal in the American market. But all told these are minor points and it's wonderful entertainment all round.

St Trinian's is neither a great movie or a terrible movie. It is an entertaining one, and I respect the fact, it wasn't trying to make itself a classic. It is constantly silly, but the performances from all involved make it a fun film to watch. The film does have a great soundtrack, and there are some very funny moments. The film does have its flaws, it is predictable, and the film's structure is rather episodic. The film's pace is a little uneven in places too. However, the script is sharp and witty, and the performances are delightful. Rupert Everett especially gives a stellar performance in the title role, and Colin Firth plays it straight as the Government Minister. All the girls are charming and likable, and the supporting turns from Stephen Fry, Anna Chancellor, Toby Jones, Celia Irmrie and Russell Brand(despite the dreadful German accent he had in one scene) are all fun. All in all, has its flaws, but entertaining nonetheless. 7.7/10