Movie and Film Profile: Prom (2011)

Prom was released on April 29, 2011. Produced by Walt Disney Pictures in association with Rickshaw Productions and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. 

DMFE Rating: ★★½☆☆ (2.50 out of 5 stars)

Caution: Possible Spoilers Ahead!

The story centers on Nova Prescott (Aimee Teagarden), a perfectionist student determined to create the ideal prom experience. When a fire destroys the decorations, she is forced to work with Jesse Richter (Thomas McDowell), a rebellious student assigned to help rebuild. As the two clash and gradually bond, their relationship evolves into something deeper.

Around them, other students face their own challenges: Mei (Yin Chang) struggles with revealing her college plans to her boyfriend, Tyler’s (DeVaughn Nixon) infidelity complicates his relationship with Jordan (Kylie Bunbury), and underclassman Lucas (Nolan Sotillo) learns hard lessons about love and rejection. By prom night, conflicts come to a head, relationships shift, and many characters gain clarity about what truly matters.

The soundtrack for Prom was released on April 26, 2011. Three singles were released prior to the official release of the soundtrack, “Not Your Birthday,” by Allstar Weekend was released on March 22, 2011, “Prettiest Thing,” by Oh Darling was released on March 30, 2011; and a remixed version “Your Surrender,” by Neon Trees and performed by JD Walker was released on April 6, 2011. Other songs from the soundtrack included “I’ll Be Yours,” by Those Dancing Days; “We’ll Be Alright,” by Travie McCoy; “Time Stand,” by Moon; “Dreams,” by Passion Pit; “Please Speak Well of Me,” by The Weepies; “We Could Be Anything,” by Nolan Sotillo; “In Deep,” by Shere; “Can’t Keep My Hands Off You,” by Simple Plan; “Come On, Let’s Go,” by Girl in a Coma; “Almost There,” by Opus Orange featuring Lauren Hillman; “Impossible,” by Shout Out Louds; and “Stick Hippo,” by Stick Hippo. Other songs in the movie include “100/0 (Snowdays Forever),” performed by A Sunny Day in Glasgow; “Fill in the Blank,” performed by Attack Rabbit!; “Heart in Your Heartbreak, performed by The Pains of Being Pure at Heart; “Secret Crush,” performed by Rachel McClusky; “1983,” performed by Neon Trees; “Can’t Find Entrance,” performed by Those Dancing Days; “Party,” performed by Keili Lefkovitz; “Young Blood,” performed by The Naked and Famous; “Slow Burning Crimes,” performed by East Hundred; “Weekend,” performed by Smith Westerns; “Firework,” performed by Katy Perry; “Too Late,” performed by M83; “Break Your Heart,” performed by Taio Cruz and Ludacris; “No One’s Gonna Love You,” performed by Band of Horses.

First released on home video (DVD and Blu-ray) on August 30, 2011. Prom is available on Disney+

CAST & CREW

Director: Joe Nussbaum
Producers: Justin Springer, Ted Griffin
Executive Producer: Samson Mucke
Writer: Katie Welch
Director of Photography: Byron Shah
Production Designer: Mark White
Art Director: Nick Ralbovsky
Costume Designer: Shoshana Rubin
Editor: Jeffrey M. Werner
Casting: Marcia Ross, C.S.A., Gail Goldberg, C.S.A., Brittainy Roberts, C.S.A.
Music: Deborah Lurie
Music Supervisor: JoJo Villanueva
Cast: Aimee Teagarden (as Nova Prescott), Thomas McDowell (as Jesse Richter), DeVaughn Nixon (as Tyler Barso as De’Vaughn Nixon), Danielle Campbell (as Simone Daniels), Yin Chang (Mei Kwan), Jared Kusnitz (as Justin Wexler), Nolan Sotillo (as Lucas Arnaz), Cameron Monaghan (as Corey Doyle), Kylie Bunbury (as Jordan Lundly), Joe Adler (as Rolo), Janelle Ortiz (as Ali Gomez), Jonathan Keltz (as Brandon Roberts), Nicholas Braun (as Lloyd Taylor), Dean Norris (as Frank Prescott), Faith Ford (as Kitty Prescott), Amy Pietz (as Corey’s Mom), Jere Burns (as Principal Dunnan)

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

MPAA Rating: PG
Runtime: 104 minutes
Sound: Dolby Digital, Digital Theater System (DTS), Sony Dynamic Digital Sound (SDDS)
Format: Color
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Genre(s): Comedy, Drama, Live-Action (from movies.disney.com)

BOX OFFICE (from IMDb.com)

Budget: $8,000,000 (estimated)
Opening Weekend (U.S. & Canada): $4,712,638
Gross (U.S. & Canada): $10,130,219
Gross (Worldwide): $10,702,246

RATINGS

My Rating: 2.5 (out of 5)
Rotten Tomatoes: 36% (Tomatometer) | 39% (Popcornmeter)
Metacritic: 50 (Metascore) | 6.3 (User Score)
IMDb: 5.4 (out of 10)
The Movie DB: 61% (User Score)
Letterboxd: 2.6 (out of 5)
Combined Rating: 50.63

MY THOUGHTS

The experiences of the characters and their struggles throughout are very relatable to anybody who has attended high school and the prom. I do like the multiple storylines that are interweaved throughout and it does have some positive messaging. It is very predictable though and lacks originality, not differentiating itself from other coming-of- age teen dramas. Prom is a mildly enjoyable but ultimately an average movie that struggles to stand out.

Have you seen Prom? Share your thoughts in the comment section.

Great care has been taken to be as accurate as possible when it comes to details in each of the entries I post. As with anything, mistakes can happen, dates can be wrong, information not readily available, etc. If you see a mistake, information that is incorrect or inaccurate, or missing information, please contact me at disneymovieandfilmencyclopedia@gmail.com so I can make corrections.