museumofdave This is an admirable tale of a young gay man who stands up for his simple rights--to be treated just like everybody else. In this case, David's Goliath is the Catholic Church and a typical school board that's mired in another century, stuck in the "love the sinner, hate the sin" shtick that we hear all too often in the United States.That the Canadian Government would actually help to finance a tale encouraging diversity is such a contrast to our own, still stuck in a rather primitive morality based on fading stereotypes.No doubt that Prom Queen begins as a rather silly teen flick, rife with stereotypes, but about half way through, the endearing, committed performances and persuasive plot line make it work. A few nights ago, I watched Brokeback Mountain, and the films make an interesting pair: one a haunting examination of repressed passion, and the other a joyful celebration of individuality. One is a groundbreaking work of art, however depressing, and other a joyous celebration of letting it be.

gradyharp PROM QUEEN succeeds not only because it is a controversial subject based on a true incident, but because of the light touch director John L'Ecuyer adds to the dimension of storytelling. Writers Michael MacLennan and Kent Staines have pieced together the facts from a now famous 'hearing' in Quebec concerning one teenage boy's challenging the Catholic Church school policies about sexual preferences in preventing him from attending a high school Prom and have fleshed out the characters to make the story not only meaningfully important but also entertaining.Marc Hall (Aaron Ashmore) is a fun-loving, blue-haired gay lad who has a partner Jason (Mac Fyfe) and is comfortable in a semi-closeted way, and who attends a Catholic high school in Quebec. He is fortunate to have a band of accepting and supporting friends like Beau (eye candy actor Trevor Blumas) and Carly (Tamara Hope) among others who encourage Marc to bring his boyfriend to the upcoming Prom. The school officials - principal and school board - are adamant that the Catholic Church regards sames sex relationships as sin and refuse to allow Marc to consider attending the Prom with Jason.Marc decides to 'come out' to his parents Emily (Marie Tifo) and Audy (Jean Pierre Bergeron) and they warmly assure him they have known for years ("Your hair. It's blue. And you have a poster of Celine Dion on your wall. We know.") With the support of his friends and a gay lawyer Lonnie Winn (Scott Thompson), Marc agrees to challenge the school/church stance and in a touching courtroom drama Marc pleads his case. Though due to the familiarity of the case the audience knows from the beginning that Marc Hall won his right to attend the Prom with Jason, it is in the telling that the story takes flight.Though 'made for TV' budgetary constraints and format are obvious, PROM QUEEN boasts some fine actors and manages to bring to the screen another important hallmark in the Human Rights field. While some may avoid this film for fear of its being a 'gay movie', rest assured that the content is handled in a touching and realistic way. Recommended for all audiences, especially the teens who need to see both sides of a bit of history. Grady Harp

actingkid2003 I put this movie as a 10. it really depends on your taste in GLBT movies. If you are all for the sex, then yes, this show was awful. I personally enjoyed the story. This movie reaches out to ALL AGES (notice some oldies songs), and is a great learning tool. Even though this movie did not stick to the complete story, it is still enough to get you interested in what happened. The music...It gave the film a campy, fun feeling that the director was looking for. Even in the worst of times, it had the emotional aspect linking the music to marc's or anyone else's emotion. The people in marcs house...yes I would say that was a bit over stereotyping, but Church St. was portrayed accurately. And finally, the bimbo girls. If you take a look in High Schools today, you will find that a lot of this movie is exactly like school. We even have those girls at my school.This is a great movie for enjoyment. It had me laughing and crying. Aaron Ashmore is a superb actor, and this only shows of his abilities. This movie was WELL ACTED! Oh, Jason in real life wasn't out fully also. And what happened with their fight, it was very possible. I have seen closeted relationships break-up because of moving too fast, in what case Marc and Jason were. This is a great movie to watch whenever you are feeling down and need inspiration. "An after school feel-good movie"Oh, by the way, The Hall Family loved the movie.

greenrose I remember cheering & tearing up when Marc Hall won his case in court. I also recall seeing his parents as being a bit media shy on TV news, but still way more articulate than the actors in this poor excuse for a film. It had nothing going for it, which is a shame and a waste of money and effort on an issue that is so vital.The actor playing Marc was way too old for the part, and his hair looked grey, not blue, through most of the film, unlike the real-life character. I gasped when I saw a thinning circle at the top of his head. Yikes, this was supposed to be a high school student? The target audience was obviously around 13-17, which was silly since this story also involved parents and teachers, and still does. The music mostly sounded like something from a child's play program at a circus, adding to the horrible comedy made out of some of the more serious elements of Marc's story, i.e., when coming out to his parents. I could barely hear much of the dialogue with it blaring in the foreground. While Marc gave his key court speech, the music turned horribly clichéd, full of sobbing violins. Of course, the music hardly mattered when Mr. & Mrs. Hall were on, since they were portrayed as unable to speak 99% of the time. Marc's boyfriend is given an attitude that makes us wonder why they even have a relationship. We know they did split up some time after the court case and the prom, but jeesh, they showed absolutely no affection or support for each at all. It's one thing to show viewers how stereotyping does exist, but the goofy gay males at the Hall home meeting were inexcusable. Marc's lawyer preening in the car mirror and manipulating Marc, rather than firmly supporting his case, was another item that helped push my vote way down. What really helped to plunge it down to 1/10 for "Awful" were the 3 female students who did their best to live up to the Bimbo label. Ugh, and Why?Oh, and there was no acting done at all during this film. What a waste. Canada - we can do better than this!