Jafar Iqbal Annabelle Fritton joins St Trinian's, a school for 'young ladies' that prides itself on the anarchic doctrine of free expression. Fritton struggles to fit in at first, but manages to win them over as all the girls band together to try and save the school from bankruptcy.Okay, so 'St Trinian's' is a pretty awful film, nobody is going to argue that. It's unashamedly predictable, full of stereotypical characters and clichéd scenes and sequences. At every turn, the film gets more and more absurd, and I found myself shaking my head continuously.But here's the thing: as awful as it is, there's something about the film which stopped me from hating it. Because, to be fair, it was made to be awful. 'St Trinian's' is a good old-fashioned British pantomime on the big screen. You have the man in drag, you have the overly-stereotyped characters, you have the completely ridiculous story where nothing makes sense. Perhaps the only thing missing were songs but, other than that, this may as well have been a panto.More than that, though, what endears me about the movie is just how much British talent is on offer. It's like a who's who of young British actors – Talulah Riley, Tamsin Egerton, Lily Cole, Juno Temple and Gemma Arteton to name just a few – all given their time to shine and doing a good job. Egerton, in particular, is excellent as the stupid blonde, getting by with her sex appeal and sheer good luck. It's also nice to see actors like Colin Firth, Stephen Fry and Rupert Everett especially make fun of themselves.Like I say, this is a really awful film, but it's a movie so rubbish that it's actually quite good. I'll never voluntarily choose to watch 'St Trinian's'; but get me drunk enough the night before, and this is a more than adequate Sunday hangover movie.

Lost in Film UK Story/Plot - Annabelle Fritton (Riley) is dumped in the school of mishaps and mischief by her father. Making the obvious new girl impression and feeling out of place she rightly wants to leave. However she stays and it is a choice she will eventually be happy with.The school is going bankrupt and Annabelle's aunt, Headmistress Camilla Fritton (Everett) is facing having to close the school down. But the girls lead by Head girl Kelly Jones (Arterton) hatch a plan to steal a painting and sell it to Annabelle's father. This saving the school, but can they pull off their most daring and mischievous plan to date.My verdict - A wonderfully funny and drama filled showing. You will be on the edge of your seat with the comedic mishaps and dizziness along with the suspense as the girls take to their mission.

Neil Welch There was a short run of films in the 50s and 60s based on Ronald Searle's wonderful cartoons of St Trinians, a school populated by girls ranging from the short and stout to the tall and leggy, linked by fishnet stockings and a generally ratty state of dress. Their behaviour is not good, but tends towards the naughty rather than the wicked. And the staff are, if anything, worse.And now, 40 years later, the school puts in another appearance. Head teacher Camilla Fritton is played by Rupert Everett in drag (Alistair Sim did likewise in the 50s) in a nod to the past. In fact, the film does a good job of remaining faithful to the premise of the past while updating the trimmings.The story doesn't matter: suffice it to say that the girls are up to no good. They are well cast, and it is interesting to see a number of careers in their very early days (Gemma Arterton, Juno Temple, Tamsin Egerton etc.). It is also a joy to see Colin Firth playing it straight while wickedly sending up his Pride And Prejudice image.There is a ramshackle air to this movie, but that hangs over from the original St Trinians and suits the movie well. It is fun, and entertaining from start to finish.

gradyharp ST. TRINIAN'S seems like an awful bust, unless the extremes of slapstick and borderline taste are your bailiwick. It is a film that comes across as a cartoon that never can get out off the page - what one would expect when the 'writer' is a committee (Piers Ashworth, Jamie Minoprio, Nick Moorcroft, Ronald Searle (!), and Jonathan M. Stern) and the direction is shared (Oliver Parker and Barnaby Thompson). St Trinian's is 'school' for dysfunctional girls (nerd to goth) run by a wild headmistress Camilla Fritton (Rupert Everett in bucktoothed drag plus fuddy English gent's clothes as Carnaby Fritton). The school is a major disaster zone and one Geoffrey Thwaites (Colin Firth) is sent to correct the issues. The threat of bankruptcy spins its own dire consequences and the 'inmates' of the school find a way to correct that. The major surprise is not in the plot but instead in the fact that some of Britain's finest actors agreed to participate in this mess: Rupert Everett, Colin Firth, Lena Headey, Toby Jones, Anna Chancellor, Celia Imre, etc etc could have their choice of about any film casting and win Oscars and kudos instead of boodos. It gives pause...Grady Harp