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Killing Mr. Griffin

Killing Mr. Griffin

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Rating: 3 stars
Summary: ok movie...could have been better...
Review: ...if it was more like the great book by Lois Duncan...this was a typical NBC teen movie, but as a theatrical film, it would have definitely been better...or maybe just with a better script....the actors however were good...

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Better Than The Book
Review: As far as TV movies go, "Killing Mr. Griffin" is a pretty good teen-oriented suspense film and a definite improvement on the 1978 book Lois Duncan wrote. In the book, there's no main character to empathize with, but in the movie, Susan McConnell (played by Amy Jo Johnson) is the leading protagonist, who is targeted by a group of popular classmates and asked to assist them in a senior prank played on Mr. Griffin (Jay Thomas), the harsh English teacher at Del Norte High School. Things go wrong, though, when Mr. Griffin accidentally dies on them due to his heart condition, and now all six teens must try and cover up his death.

Most of the book's characters are the same in the movie, except for Tori and Bree (Mindy Spence and Jennifer Hammon), who are kind of a combination of Betsy Cline, the cheerleader in the book. Tori is probably the closest thing to Betsy, though--she's basically a blonde rah-rah. But in the movie, Tori is Mark Kinney's (Scott Bairstow) girlfriend, whereas in the book, Mark was pretty much a loner. He's also much more popular and charismatic in the movie--and not all that bad-looking either. ;)

The remaining two guys, Dave Ruggles (Mario Lopez) and Jeff Garrett (Chris Young), act as Mark's sidekicks, but Dave is more in the spotlight than Jeff, because he's the one to lure Susan into their kidnapping scheme. Michelle Williams from "Dawson's Creek" even makes a few appearances as Susan's close friend, Maya (another made-up character for the movie).

If you've read "Killing Mr. Griffin" by Lois Duncan, then you might want to give this movie a try. In my opinion, it's much better than the book. It's more organized plot wise, has good character development and a somewhat better ending. Rated PG-13 for some violence and sensuality.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Very Good!
Review: Finally! A Lois Duncan movie that actually is LIKE the book.

For most people that have seen the movie and read the book probably think I'm crazy. I've heard many times that the movie is NOTHING like the book.

NOT so!

Even Lois Duncan liked it herself and was proud to have her name on it.

The movie follows a silent, shy girl named Susan that is far from popular. She daydreams about David, a popular boy in what I call the "in-crowd". Things start heating up when Mr. Griffin, a tough, no-nonsense teacher, brings the in-crowd to their knees. Play time and slacking is over when you hit his classroom.

Of course, the in-crowd doesn't like it and the leader, Mark, convinces the others in the group (ala followers) to play a...vengeful prank on Griffin: kidnap him and make him crawl like he does to his students. But they need a decoy: Susan, who is one of Griffin's better students. Susan, dazzled by the attention of the in-crowd and David, falls into their whims and agrees to help with the prank. But things suddenly go wrong. Yep, of all things Griffin ends up dead by accident--or is it? Now the rest of the movie the group tries to cover up the crime. But, of course, their plans go wrong.

The movie, I believe, captured the essense of Lois Duncan's original novel. It has some differences (major to minor), but the point of Duncan's book is there. Unlike like other movies based on Lois Duncan's novels, (I Know What You Did Last Summer and I've Been Waiting For You for example) Lois Duncan's point of writing the original novel is not thrown away to make a cheap teen slasher flick. And that alone gets kudos in my book.

Rent it and see.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: No closed caption or english subtiles.
Review: I am not happy with that dvd cause it says has closed caption and english subtiles on dvd but i put that dvd in player and it has no closed caption or english subtiles, It is not fair for deaf or hard of hearing people. That dvd looks good but no closed caption or english subtiles. U need to put them for deaf people to watch that dvd. I put one star cause no closed caption.



Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Amy Jo Johnson is awsome in this one!
Review: I give credit to the rest of the cast, but if you are a Amy Jo Johnson fan this is for you. Best known for the Power Rangers and Felicity. Its action packed. A group of kids plot to scare the Heck out of the teacher. And Amy Jo's character is picked and they pretend to like her so she will help them. I will not give the ending you will just have to watch it.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Much better than I imagined
Review: I heard several people say that they disliked this movie, but I disagree. Not only was it fun to see Amy Jo Johnson play a role like Susan McConnel, but I also think that it went deep into the struggle of the kids to conceal an accidental homicide of their ultra-mean English teacher. It's also good for teenagers to see, because the whole movie shows them that their actions have consequences, and that they should say no when they know something is wrong, not go with it just so that they can be popular and have their names whispered as they walk past.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Would you go as far as murder for payback?
Review: Killing Mr. Griffin could as well be true. A lot of people would go through anything just to fit in. But could you lose everything you know and understand in the process? An understandable movie about Responsibility, and Mistrust in the way of fitting in.

Mr. Griffin is a strict teacher. Maybe too strict. Five seniors at the school Mr. Griffin teaches at think so. When revenge is the first thought that comes to mind, Mark, David, Jeff, Bree, and Tori set out to find a way to get back at Mr. Griffin for what he's done, but no one is volunteering for bait. When Susan McConnell is put under the spotlight for what seems a harmless prank, she decides to go for it. Besides she gets a couple of satisfactions to go with it. One, she gets to fit in. Two, she can get Mr. Griffin back at embarrasing her in class, and Three, she can hang out with David, the guy she has a crush on. When Susan sees what doesn't seem like an inoccent prank, she goes to where they have left poor Mr. Griffin tied up, and hostage. But Mr. Griffin isn't moving. He isn't even breathing. He's dead. After trying to figure out what happened to Mr. Griffin, the six are faced up against the biggest decision of their lives. Tell what happened, or keep it a secret.

An amazing story. The characters may have been mixed up a little bit, but it still made a great story. Lois Duncan did well with the book, but I think the movie was better. In the book you weren't as sorry for Mr. Griffin as you were watching the movie. Jay Thomas gave an awesome portrayal of the overlystrict Mr. Griffin. I think they kind of mixed Susan and her friend Maya up on accident. Susan was supposed to be the loner with glasses, and not exactly attractive. But Susan was very attractive in this movie. It was kind of hard to believe she couldn't get a boyfriend. Like someone said before, Tori and Bree were a split up of Betsie in the book, but I don't think Betsie was exactly that "I'm so cool" kind of girl in the book. The boys were portrayed great. Snobbish, not exactly serious.

A great movie to the book which I also recommend. This time I recommend the movie first. Than read the book. Either way, Mr. Griffin will die twice. 5 stars without a doubt.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Great page-to-screen adaptation
Review: Lois Duncan's Killing Mr. Griffin was an interesting novel in its own right, but this made for television movie manages to improve on the original. Amy Jo Johnson, the pretty young actress many may recognize as the former Pink Power Ranger, stars as Susan McConnell. Susan is a good student, yet she is shy and awkward around the popular crowd. She is especially shy around Dave (former "Saved by the Bell" player Mario Lopez), the handsome jock she has a crush on. Mark, the leader of the group Dave hangs with, is bent on becoming student body president and the most popular guy in high school. After being humiliated by Mr. Griffin, the notoriously strict English teacher, Mark develops a plan to get revenge. They will kidnap Mr. Griffin as a prank to humiliate him as he has humiliated students. Susan is unwittingly sucked into the plan by her feelings for Dave and her desire to become popular. Dave is pressured into using Susan's obvious feelings for him to a nasty advantage. The plan to kidnap Griffin goes almost as planned...but then he dies unexpectedly, and things spin out of control. The climax of the film is better than that in the novel, with just enough suspense to keep viewers hooked. Overall, this movie was excellent, and serves as a grim reminder of what peer pressure is capable of. The only qualm I had was that it was not a theatrical release. Highly recommended.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: THE LAST OPTION
Review: Suppose it's raining, you're out of money, you car is broken, there are no video stores in one hundred square miles around, your girlfriend has left you forever and all your friends are in vacation. This is the only scenario that would make it worthwhile watching this horrible made-for-cable, where everything is badly developed.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: My Favorite Movie!!!
Review: This is, by far, one of my favorite movies! It is about six high school seniors who are [annoyed with] their teacher, Mr. Griffin, for his creul and unjust punishment and harsh yelling. So, as a senior prank, they decide to kidnap him. But what they hadn't realized is that, sometimes, pranks go wrong. Amy Jo Johnson did a good job at playing the lead, Susan McConnell!


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