Ready to be drowned in teenage comedy stereotypes? I hope so because according to Coming Soon, LOL has officially gone into production. Just a month ago we got a taste of what’s to come when we first heard that Twilight’s Ashley Greene joined the cast. Major adolescent draw. Also on board? The teen queen herself, Miley Cyrus. Even with Demi Moore’s name on the roster it’s still quite tempting to dismiss this one off as a formulaic high school drama. The official synopsis doesn’t help, but the new additions to the cast might.
In a world connected by YouTube, iTunes and Facebook, Lola (Cyrus) and her friends navigate the peer pressures of high school romance and friendship while dodging their sometimes overbearing and confused parents. When Lola's mom, Anne (Moore), "accidentally" reads her teenage daughter's racy journal, she realizes just how wide their communication gap has grown. Through hilarious and heartfelt moments between mother and daughter, "LOL" is an authentic coming-of-age story for the way we live now.Lola's high school inner-circle includes Kyle (Booth) – Lola's BFF, whom she realizes is her love interest; Lola's two best friends Janice (Esco) and Emily (Hinshaw); Max (Sevani) – a nerd that Emily secretly hooks up with; Lola's ex-boyfriend and Kyle's best friend Chad (Finn); Lloyd (Watson) who is part of their crew; and Ashley (Greene) – the sexy girl who has set her sights on Kyle, much to Lola's dismay. Thomas Jane plays Alan, Anne's ex-husband and Lola's father. Jay Hernandez plays James, a dangerously cute, good-natured cop dating Anne who is able to offer a little perspective on her teenage daughter. Austin Nichols plays Mr. Ross, the heartthrob math teacher, who all the girls have a crush on. Marlo Thomas plays Gran, Anne's sophisticated mother whose relaxed demeanor allows her to be the easy-going bystander when it comes to watching Anne raising children of her own. Gina Gershon and Fisher Stevens play Anne's closest friends and confidants and Nora Dunn plays Emily's mom.
Catch all of those added names there? We reported on Thomas’ casting a few weeks back, but Douglas Booth, Adam Sevani, George Finn, Ashley Hinshaw, Lina Esco, Tanz Watson, Thomas Jane, Jay Hernandez, Austin Nichols, Gina Gershon, Fisher Stevens and Nora Dunn are all new to the production. The younger cast members are basically unknowns expect for Sevani who you might recognize from Step Up 2: The Streets and can catch in the upcoming installment, Step Up 3D. I don’t care if it means this movie comes with a corny prom dance routine, I wouldn’t mind seeing Sevani showing off his skills.
The adult ensemble, however, is full of famous faces and quite impressive. Jane is always a pleasure to look at as is Hernandez, and Moore has the pleasure of spending some time with both. Her character’s situation basically sounds like a screen version of her Willis-to-Kutcher swap. I lost a lot of faith in Nichols after The Informers, but the guy still rocks on One Tree Hill, so I can’t hold it against him. As for Gershon, I’m not familiar with much of her on screen work, but did happen to catch her performance in Bye Bye Birdie on Broadway. The show sucked, but she wasn’t half bad. Lastly there’s Stevens and Dunn who are probably the least familiar nowadays, but have delivered some impressive pieces in the past, my favorite of which are Super Mario Brothers (yes, I loved it as a kid and still do) and Three Kings respectively.
Perhaps we shouldn’t be writing this one off just yet. Plus it might be wise to check out the 2008 French version before passing too much judgment on this American remake.
