User reviews

Honestly, It was one of those days when I just wanted to see a movie and anything would do. So I went to see Middle School as it was playing at the time I showed up. I herd of the movie, I did not have low expectations, and did not have any exceptions.

So what I got is a very entertaining movie. This genre of movie has never peaked my interest, so I was real surprised how much I actually liked it. It's pretty funny. A lot of good jokes that I generally enough to appeal to a large variety of people. A few laugh out loud moments, and a lot of small ones that really keep the momentum going.

This is despite the fact that the cast of characters was pretty generic and mediocre, except for one named Georgia, the little sister of the main character Rafe. Should have been more of her on the screen.

Was also surprised at how deep the movie got. It's main plot of letting children be creative individuals did not spark much inside me, but the subplots of dealing with the lost of a family member did hit home, and was delivered perfectly.

Plus, there was some cool animation in it, and I'm a sucker for that.

Overall Middle School: The Worst Years of My Life was worth the ticket. It makes me feel differently about movies like this overall.

Rafe Khatchadorian is a troubled student who is obsessed with his drawings. Jules (Lauren Graham) is his single mom and Bear (Rob Riggle) is her annoying boyfriend. Georgia is his smart-mouth sister. He starts at a strict new school run by the Principal Dwight and VP Stricker. He finds fellow troublemaker Leo attending the last chance school. Mr. Teller (Adam Pally) is his loose teacher. Leo talks him into breaking all the rules.

It's sporadically fun in a childish coming of age movie. The adults are one dimensional or half dimensional. There are a few too many jerks. It's unnecessary for the maitre-D to be one. It's like Diary of a Wimpy Kid but less compelling. Rafe doesn't have the spunk. The kid playing Leo would be better. It's all a little bit unlikeable. They need a more charismatic lead.

I have to say this was way better than I thought. Yes I recommend it James Welch Henderson Arkansas. 11/18/2020

This is a good movie based off the books and I think you should check it out.

No it's not the new Oscar movie. However, it's still surprisingly pretty good, unlike many like it.

Comedy: Decent. Probably half of the jokes were funny, with the other half not being cheesy.

Emotion: No you're not going to cry. However there is still emotion in there mainly towards the end.

Romance: It's a fun crush between two characters, and when they break rule number..... 86? I think. Well anyways that's..... uh, sweet. I guess is the word.

Story: A good story that is better than many like it. Recommended if you can't find anything else.

Liked the story line and the imagination plot. Was a decent effort, could have been better if the actors gelled into the script. I felt there was a minor gap between the story and a group of talented actors. Alexa Nisenson was exceptional though.

Positives: Story-line, Animation, Georgia, Principal

Negatives: Predictable towards the end.

Rating it 7 as I liked the story-line.

#MiddleSchoolMovie made me cry. I didn't expect the story to be so sad, but it really was, and it's all in a good way. The film is fun, adorable, heartwarming and it just makes you want to hold your loved ones closer than ever. There needs to be more and more movies like this.

The story is quite simple, it's about this young kid named Rafe (Griffin Gluck) who has an active imagination. He loves drawing stuff on his notebook and the characters come to life in this quirky animation which is part of the film's appeal. But Andrew Daly's character, the school principal is anti-creativity, so he's always on Rafe's case. So Rafe strikes back with all kinds of hilarious pranks. But at home, his mom is dating a jerk of a boyfriend who's giving him and his sister a hard time. So all in all, it hasn't been a good school year for Rafe, not to mention his family is still trying to recuperate from a certain tragedy.

Without spoiling any important plot points, let me just say that the fun parts are fun and the dramatic parts are truly dramatic, this is not a movie that insults anybody's intelligence just because it's a PG movie for younger viewers. Based on James Patterson and Chris Tebbetts' novel that I haven't read yet, but this film sure motivates me to buy a copy, what I think makes MIDDLE SCHOOL effective is that the comedy aspect isn't mean to get your guard down, and the emotional aspect isn't quickly dropped like some kind of anvil. It also opens your eyes, you realize that even a middle-schooler can go through a lot We sometimes underestimate them, we often forget that those formative years are crucial to a human being and so I think the film does a good job of showing that.

Actor Andrew Daly has played this type of douchebag authoritative role before and so has Rob Riggle in a role of a jerk, so both actors are comfortable in their element, they know what they're doing and they got it down to a science. It's absolute pure joy watching them do what they do best even if we may not like their characters. Kudos to all the kid actors as well, especially Griffin Gluck and Alexa Nisenson who seem so effortless in their performances. What other actors may have to learn for years in order to get to that point of exposing their emotions and shedding it for the screen, these kids make it seem like a walk in the park 'cause they wear it on their sleeves. What an incredible talent for such a young age. This movie's got tons of animation as well that will be sure to put a smile on your face. You will come out of the theater a much better person than when you were when you enter in. That's how surprisingly positive and powerful this film is.

-- Rama's Screen --

Whenever anyone asks me what was the best and the worst moments in your life.The answer always zeroes down to the same place.Yes,the best moments in my life were spent in my School.The worst moment in my life was when I had grown up so old that I could no longer go to school.

I also like the animation stuff.

It delivers an easily digestible and amusing portrait of youthful hi- jinks that should well please its target audience. "Operation R.A.F.E.," short for "Rules Aren't for Everyone." The campaign entails a series of elaborate pranks, including the walls of the school being plastered with thousands of Post-It Notes and the trophy case transformed into an aquarium, complete with eel and lobster. Meanwhile, Rafe finds himself desperately attracted to his brainy classmate Jeanne (Isabel Moner), who shows signs of returning his interest.

It reminded me of my school days,my school Kalyan Nagar Vidyapith.I miss you all my friends...

Not good as I expected, either not bad as what the majority those who saw it says. The film was based on the book of the same name and the first one of I think in the nine book series. It tells the story of a middle school boy who transferred to a new school. Having no friends, straight he falls prey to a bully. Beyond that, the principal turns his life in the campus even harder with all his strict rules. His real adventure begins when he starts to break every rule and bring chaos, as well as joys in his schoolmates. From this, how the remaining story shapes are told with a twist.

There are similarities with this and many other films, particularly 'Wimpy Kid...'. Those interfering animations resemble that film. It's like a normal protocol in these days children film, so no complaint on that. But I'm very impressed with the quality. This film was too childish. I mean there's nothing wrong for the kids watching it, they will enjoy it. But for the adults, who had seen lots of middle school themed films of the 80s and the 90s, so it might look an average one. A good film for families with young kids. I particularly suggest to the such category audience.

The twist was unexpected. It was easy, but I did not go deep to predict that. I think most of you all too fail to see it coming. Particularly in a film like this who would think of it. That was not enough for me to like the overall film. It is entertaining in parts, but an average film from the inside and outside. Even though I hope they would turn the remaining books as well into the films. All these words I wrote in this review because of I'm being a non- target-audience. So if you are a kid or kid's film fan, ignore my saying and watch the film.

6/10

Decided to watch this because most Middle/High School movies I really had fun watching. And based off what I remember there was a lot of good action, and comedy to it, and barley got bored at parts. However this movie was a bit unrealistic that you know would unlikely ever happen in reality, and some cringeworthy moments but again I feel like this movie would be fun to watch for families, and is appropriate for children

Now I know many people enjoyed it but you have to admit that it's senseless.

I came here to see some REALESTIC middle school life but what I got was disappointing. The rules, okay. The kids' odd behavior, okay. Their weird mum, okay. But the principle planting fake evidence in kids' lockers!? It's purely non sense.

Now if I'm being honest, I came here for no matter close to reality or not, I wanted romance. Which I got but really less. Some people found that last scene unreal, Maybe it was but it was my most favorite in the whole movie.

Not a great movie. Maybe if you're a pre-teen, but not for adults. BTW, thanks for instilling in my children that it's okay to be disrespectful and rebellious toward authority figures, basically with no consequences. And please tell me why Rafe put the lighter to the sprinkler system immediately without letting the principal respond to his request. Oh that's right because it made for a colorful silly dance scene, to heck with common sense! Skip this one.... watch the Diary movies again, instead.

An American school story isn't typically something I would choose to watch myself but me and my younger sister were looking for something to watch on Netflix together and it seemed like something she'd like so I decided why not. The film was entertaining (however I think to say it was funny would be an exaggeration). It was also a lot darker than I expected with a selfish stepfather and a young boy who dies of cancer but I quite liked this aspect as it's not something you usually see in a film of this type so it brought something new and unexpected to the table. I would say it's about average but it's not too bad. If you can't find anything to watch this isn't a bad choice and I'm sure younger children would enjoy it.

Given the current discussions in this country on how our school system is failing our kids, the movie's plea for creativity over tests will have surprising resonance for parents too.

Middle School: The Worst Years of My Life. Who can't relate to that sentiment? At school, you have to deal with peer pressure and bullies and, at home, you probably have issues with your siblings and parents who just don't understand. You may be experiencing your first real crush, but not know how to talk to that special someone – or what you're supposed to do after you manage to have a conversation. You're just starting to figure out who you are as a person, but there's still so much that you're not sure about. You're only beginning to make sense out of life, but you lack the life experience and perspective to understand what's important and what's not. You're confused, frustrated and maybe a little bit lost. You just wish you had some… some… control. All this is why the James Patterson novel turned-big-screen-adaptation "Middle School: The Worst Years of My Life" (PG, 1:32) is so relatable – and so fun.

Rafe Khatchadorian (Griffin Gluck) is having a rough year. His younger brother died of leukemia, his father has left the family, Rafe's often fighting with his even younger sister, Georgia (Alexa Nisenson), and his mother, Jules (Lauren Graham), is struggling with all of this and dating an obnoxious, two-faced, self-centered guy named Carl (Rob Riggle). Rafe deals with all this through the drawings and imaginative worlds he creates in his sketch book – and by acting out in school. In fact, Rafe has been expelled from two different schools and is transferring to the last school who will take him. In his new middle school, he really has only one friend, his partner-in-crime, Leo (Thomas Barbusca). Rafe does get along well with his homeroom teacher, Mr. Teller (Adam Pally), and he hopes that one day he can be more than friends with Jeanne (Isabela Moner), the sweet and socially conscious A.V. Club President. Unfortunately, Rafe's more immediate concerns at school are Miller (Jacob Hopkins), the bully who sits right behind him in class, the school's tough and unreasonable Vice Principal, Ida Stricker (Retta) and the strict disciplinarian and completely kid un-friendly, Principal Dwight (Andy Daly, the principal on TV's "Modern Family" ).

Principal Dwight only really cares about two things – his school's continued high scores on an annual achievement test known as the B.L.A.A.R. (Base Line Assessment of Academic Readiness) – and his long list of school rules which he enforces on his students without compassion. Dwight is the kind of principal who "welcomes" a new student by pointing out a slew of dress code violations before the new kid even enters the school for the first time – and then destroys that same student's treasured sketch book just because some kids were passing it around during a school assembly. At Leo's urging, Rafe decides to get his revenge on Dwight by destroying the principal's book – his rule book – as in, making it a goal to literally break every rule in the book, but not get caught. What follows is a series of creative and intricate pranks which inhabit their own Facebook page: "Rules Aren't For Everyone". While Rafe is busy with his own brand of "don't try this at home" stunts, he's also dealing with an escalating situation between him and Miller, Rafe's growing feelings for Jeanne and the increasingly serious relationship between his mom and Carl, whom he and his sister unflatteringly call "Bear".

"Middle School: The Worst Years of My Life" is very enjoyable and surprisingly poignant. While mainly focused on Rafe's complicated family life and his war with his principal, the story works in some subtle criticism of modern trends in education – and an emotional twist near the end that will shock those who haven't read the book. Daly makes a perfect antagonist (effectively supplemented by Retta's, Riggle's and Hopkins' characters), while Moner is fittingly adorable and Gluck and the other actors who play members of the Khatchadorian family create relatable and sympathetic characters. This cast is full of actors many Movie Fans will recognize… and have trouble placing, but they make for a great ensemble.

Throughout the movie, there are creative and entertaining animated sequences which bring Rafe's imaginative pen-and-ink creations to life – and his equally imaginative rule-breaking makes for some great (albeit over-the-top) visuals. Realism isn't the main consideration, but a sense of (relatively) harmless fun is – and that we get in spades. This story feels like it's actually being told from the perspective of a middle schooler – and is likely to have a lot of appeal for an audience of the same – and maybe even for their parents… and for the odd movie reviewer who remembers well the trauma of middle school, is happy just to have survived it and would've liked to have been as brave and resourceful as the main characters in this movie. "A-"

Humans eating cows is not part of the food chain. That was utterly false and ignorant.