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Parents' Guide to

Tim Timmerman, Hope of America

By Yvonne Condes, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 11+

Fairly tame high school comedy pays homage to '90s faves.

Movie PG-13 2017 94 minutes
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A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

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Is It Any Good?

Our review:
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Kids say (2 ):

This comedy has all the ingredients of a classic teen movie -- charming hero, sweet girl he has to win over, and a good nemesis -- but it doesn't quite deliver. Tim's dream is to go to Yale and be the most successful person in his family, but he doesn't really do anything to make it happen other than tell everyone that it will. In fact, he does everything wrong, including getting busted with pot, hurting his best friend, and lying to Sydney to get to her successful dad. Yet you know that he'll still come out on top. Because there are no real consequences, there's no real emotional impact, which was what made movies like Ferris Bueller so great.

Still, while it's not Ferris, Tim Timmerman, Hope of America has its moments. There are some funny scenes involving a game in which the students have to hunt each other down with a Nerf-like gun, and Bill Clinton serves as a mentor in Tim's dreams. On the other hand, there are a few creepy moments involving a school administrator who hits on Tim and ends up turning on him in the end. Bottom line? Tweens and teens might like this glimpse of what their parents' high school years could have been like in the '90s, and parents will like the music, which includes songs by They Might Be Giants and Mazzy Star.

Movie Details

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