Parents' Guide to This Is the Year

Gomez and Henrie's Disney Channel roots are showing: They've created a teen romantic comedy inspired by '80s films that's actually family-friendly. Movies send messages, and in the 1980s, some of those were (perhaps unintentionally) negative, especially when it came to dating. With This Is the Year, Henrie gets in front of that influential train to create a forward-thinking throwback to help today's kids understand that, yes, films are fun, but there's much more to life than what we see on the screen. Josh starts out like a lot of kids: catching an "old" movie (because the '80s are old now) and getting caught up in the high school world it presents, where the coolest people in school are also the most beautiful and athletic and always say the right thing. He and his nextdoor neighbor, Molly, grow up obsessed with this movie and have based their own romantic expectations off of it. When both lay their eyes on people who look similar to the characters they've spent so much time thinking about, they're sure that these are the true loves who've been waiting for them their whole life. You can probably guess how the film ends, and that's OK -- that's really the point.

Henrie intentionally follows the path of many an '80s teen film, and lovers of that era's back catalog will be giddy spotting all of the references. For instance, Josh has to write an essay for graduation that's very similar to the assignment given to a certain group stuck in all-day detention. But Henrie's screenplay also reflects the elements of life that today's kids love and loathe, including music festivals, food trucks, and self-important artists. Henrie makes a strong writing and directing feature debut and shows an ability to appreciate the past and blend it with modern attitudes to create multigenerational entertainment. Many years may have passed since their series went off the air, but, as a filmmaking team, he and Gomez show they still have the power to turn mischief into magic.