SXSW: Rita Moreno Stars in ‘The Prank’

By Abe Friedtanzer

 
We should all aspire to be as active as Rita Moreno when we turn ninety years old. The legendary actress had her own documentary, Rita Moreno: Just a Girl Who Decided to Go for It, premiere at Sundance last year (it’s now available on Netflix), and co-starred in Steven Spielberg’s remake of West Side Story, the film that won her an Oscar back in 1961. While her latest film, The Prank, isn’t anywhere near the caliber of her previous work, it’s great to see her still at it and enhancing any film she’s in…

This SXSW entry stars Connor Kalopsis, an actor who has had regular TV roles on short-lived sitcoms Outmached and The Grinder, as Ben, an extremely driven high school student who is set on ensuring a productive academic future for himself. That is put at risk when Mrs. Wheeler (Moreno), his physics teacher, decides to fail the entire class unless the student who cheated on her last test comes forward to confess. Because it’s a comedy movie, Ben vents to his hacker best friend, Tanner (Ramona Young), who hatches a plan to frame Mrs. Wheeler for murder that predictably spirals completely out of control.

Even if this film doesn’t have the most sophisticated setup, it at least knows how to respect Moreno and give her a meaty role. The concept is that this is a small town where people don’t tend to leave, and Mrs. Wheeler has been teaching for decades, staying in the job mainly because everyone, including the principal (Keith David) whose parking spot she takes every day, is terrified of her. The local news reporter and pretty much any local adult had Mrs. Wheeler as a teacher, and all of them found her just as cruel and intolerable.

This is the second feature film from director Maureen Bharoocha, whose first project was Golden Arm, which debuted in late 2020. There are entertaining moments, but it’s often hard to tell whether this is made for kids (it’s what I imagine the Frankie Muniz starrer Big Fat Liar was, even though I never saw it) or adults, since there is some uncensored language and dark content that comes in later on in the film. Its plot takes some winding and questionable turns, but what remains consistent is that, even if this isn’t a great film, Moreno is still getting decent material, serving as the best-in-show and enhancing her part with an energy that feels decades younger than she is. C+

The Prank is a world premiere in the Narrative Spotlight section at the SXSW Film Festival.