Candy Jar

In CANDY JAR, Lona (Sami Gayle of TV's Blue Bloods) says she detests Bennett (Jacob Latimore of The Maze Runner), her chief rival in high school debating. The rivalry began before birth when their single moms ran against each other for high school class president. Bennett's mom, Julia (Uzo Aduba), was an overachieving nerd, and Lona's mom, Amy (Christina Hendricks), was the cheerleader who edged the nerd out. Ambitious Julia became a successful lawyer and state senator, and now Bennett has applied for early admission to his mom's alma mater, Yale. Amy is a widow and barista barely making ends meet, and Lona is trying to get a scholarship to Harvard. When their mothers' animosity helps get them kicked out of an individual debate competition, they are asked to work together to compete as a school team in the state championship -- a collaboration both consider unimaginable. Their wise guidance counselor Kathy (Helen Hunt) understands that they have more in common than they have in differences and that teaming up might help them actually have some fun. Once they get past their long-held animosity, they begin to enjoy working together -- a social outlet that encourages them to rearrange their priorities. At one point they kiss, suggesting that full-blown romance may be ahead. The benefits of college education versus the drawbacks of its accompanying financial burden is the subject of their debates, which raises arguments about bias against the poor, the unavailability of decent lower schools in impoverished neighborhoods, and a system that is rigged to keep the wealthy rich and the poor downtrodden.