Barely Lethal
Theatrical release poster
Directed byKyle Newman
Written byJohn D'Arco
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyPeter Lyons Collister
Edited byLisa Zeno Churgin
Music byMateo Messina
Production
companies
Distributed by
Release date
  • May 29, 2015 (2015-05-29) (United States)
Running time
98 minutes[3]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$15 million[4]
Box office$933,847[5]

Barely Lethal is a 2015 American action comedy film directed by Kyle Newman, written by John D'Arco, starring Hailee Steinfeld, Sophie Turner, Jessica Alba, Dove Cameron, and Samuel L. Jackson. Steinfeld stars as Agent 83, a teenage intelligence agent yearning for a normal adolescence who disappears and enrolls as an exchange student in a suburban American high school.

Barely Lethal received a digital release through DirecTV Cinema on April 30, 2015, and a limited release in theaters by A24 and through video-on-demand on May 29, 2015. The film received poor reviews from critics.

Plot

The young female orphans in the government-run Prescott Academy are trained to become field operatives. Their number one rule, taught by trainer Hardman, is "no attachments". Agent 83's top skills are rivalled by Agent 84. 83 is curious about the world, learning teen culture through magazines and watching Mean Girls and Beverly Hills, 90210.

Hardman assigns the orphans to capture Victoria Knox, an arms dealer. Undercover in Chechnya, 83 poses as one of those captured and brought before Knox. She latches herself and Knox onto Hardman's passing jet but 83 drops into a river as Knox is apprehended, causing Hardman to declare her missing. 83 adopts the name Megan and poses as a Canadian student and arrives in Newtown, Connecticut to live with her host family, the Larsons. Mrs. Larson and her son, Parker, welcome Megan, but Liz, her daughter, is cold and distant. Megan is mocked at school, leaving both her and Liz embarrassed. She soon makes friends with Roger, a classmate, and becomes attracted to Cash, a popular student, hacking the school's system to assign him as her biology lab partner. Cindy and Donna, two popular bullies, convince Megan to try out as the school mascot. When students from a rival school follow tradition and try to kidnap Newton High's mascot from a game, she fights them off, with a video of her actions going viral. It earns her some popularity, while annoying Liz.

Later, Megan is apprehended by a Prescott agent and brought to Hardman. He assumes she is working with their enemies, but she reveals she wanted to enjoy normal life outside the academy, leading to Hardman letting her go with a warning. Megan and Liz both attend a house party hosted by the school's class clown, Gooch. Megan hangs out with Cash, while Liz gets drunk and begins to bond with Gooch, as 84 arrives at the party, calling herself Heather. Megan assumes Hardman sent Heather to shadow her, but Heather denies this and tries to seduce Cash to irritate her. Megan eventually wins Cash's attention and gets asked by him to the homecoming dance.

The next morning, Hardman warns Megan that Knox has escaped from the academy. Liz drives Megan to school, but they are pursued by a masked assassin. Megan reveals her secret to Liz and crashes the two cars, but the assassin escapes. Megan recognizes the smell of perfume, identifying Heather. The two leave for the hospital, where Roger and Gooch visit the girls separately. At the homecoming dance, Megan becomes bored by Cash and leaves him before making amends with Roger. However, Heather reveals herself as Roger's date, provoking a fight between her and Megan. Heather reveals she joined Knox's operation in order to get a chance to kill Megan. Liz sneaks up on Heather and stabs her in the leg and the two escape.

Megan and Liz return home to find that Knox and her mercenaries have seized Mrs. Larson and Parker as hostages. Knox reveals that she was Prescott Agent 1, but she left and turned against them for robbing her of her life. Hardman comes in with reinforcements and subdues Knox and her mercenaries. Megan uses a Prescott helicopter to stop Roger, who is driving home. She tells Roger her true feelings for him and the two kiss before joining Liz and Gooch in the helicopter. In a mid-credits scene, Heather meets with a former henchman of Knox and orders him to find out where Megan is going to college.

Cast

Production

Filming

Principal photography began in Atlanta, Georgia in November 2013 and ended in December.[6][7]

Post-production

On July 7, 2014, it was announced that Mateo Messina would be scoring the music for the film.[8] The film originally received an R rating by the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), but the filmmakers appealed for PG-13 rating without having to cut or edit any scenes. The film is now rated PG-13 on appeal for 'sexual material, teen drinking, language, drug references and some action violence'.

The film debuts the original song "You Don't Know Me", performed by The Rumor Mill with Chetti, which plays over the opening title sequence.

Release

On February 25, 2015, the film was acquired by A24 and DirecTV before being released in theaters and on demand with a planned release in 2015 by A24.[9] The film was released on DirecTV Cinema on April 30, 2015.[10] The film was released in a limited release and through video on demand beginning on May 29, 2015.[11] The film was released in the United Kingdom on August 28, 2015, in select cinemas and was released through video-on-demand and on DVD[12] and Blu-ray[13] on October 26, 2015, by Signature Entertainment.[14]

Home media

The film was released on DVD[15] and Blu-ray[16] on August 4, 2015, by Lionsgate Home Entertainment. Both contained an UltraViolet digital copy of the film. Special features included deleted scenes, a behind-the-scenes featurette titled "Back to School: On Set with Barely Lethal" and an audio commentary with director Kyle Newman and actors Dove Cameron and Thomas Mann.

Reception

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 26% based on 35 reviews, and an average rating of 4.3/10. The website's critical consensus states: "Just like its underserved protagonist, Barely Lethal is in disguise -- it wants you to think it's smarter than it is but it fails by falling prey to all the clichés it mocks".[17] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average scored 44 out of 100, based on 10 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[18]

Rebecca Keegan of the Los Angeles Times gave the film a poor review, commenting that: "Barely Lethal is clearly confused about its intended audience, starting with the icky title, a pun on the porn label that selects and photographs models to emphasize their youth."[19] Justin Lowe of The Hollywood Reporter gave the film a more positive review, calling it a "fun-enough teen action comedy."[1] Bill Goodykoontz of The Arizona Republic gave the film a mixed review saying that: Barely Lethal has some laughs, and will probably serve nicely as a movie you can land on for a few minutes when it shows up on cable. But it slides into the rote generic-teen-comedy mode too soon to be anything more.'[20]

Score

Barely Lethal (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
Film score by
Mateo Messina
ReleasedJune 9, 2015
Recorded2015
GenreSoundtrack
Length33:07
LabelLakeshore Records

The original motion picture soundtrack for Barely Lethal was released on June 9, 2015, by Lakeshore Records. The album features the film's original music composed by Mateo Messina. The album does not contain "You Don't Know Me", performed by The Rumor Mill with Chetti, an original song for the film. The song does appear in the opening title sequence of the film.

Barely Lethal (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
No.TitleLength
1."Prescott"0:46
2."Fight Club"1:43
3."Oh Canada"0:34
4."Battle Axe"0:50
5."Victoria Knox"2:30
6."Band Ass"0:26
7."Last Chance"1:01
8."Hs Transition"0:18
9."Truth Serum A"2:09
10."Truth Serum B"2:23
11."Car Chase"2:56
12."Number One"3:40
13."Douche Baguette"3:28
14."White Van"0:37
15."Newton Suite"1:15
16."Megan & Roger Suite"1:55
17."Bad Guys"0:47
18."True Liz"1:06
19."High School"0:18
20."Higher School"0:15
21."Holes"0:31
22."Nearly Chanced"1:05
23."Popcorn"0:51
24."Helichopper"0:57
25."Prescott Reprise"0:46
Total length:33:07

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 "'Barely Lethal' movie review". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved July 24, 2015.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Heilman, Hunter (June 3, 2015). "MOVIE REVIEW: 'Barely Lethal' is basically a 90's Olsen Twins movie on HGH". Niner Times. Archived from the original on September 14, 2018. Retrieved May 14, 2018.
  3. ↑ "BARELY LETHAL (12A)". British Board of Film Classification. June 22, 2015. Retrieved August 28, 2015.
  4. ↑ "CANNES: Little Margin for Error in Selling Mid-Budget Films - Variety". August 7, 2016. Archived from the original on August 7, 2016.
  5. ↑ "Barely Lethal (2015)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved July 18, 2015.
  6. ↑ Production Begins on Kyle Newman's Barely Lethal Archived December 5, 2013, at the Wayback Machine, Publisher: ComingSoon.net, Published date: November 12, 2013, Access date: November 14, 2013
  7. ↑ "Filming updates: "Barely Lethal," "Mockingjay," "Fast & Furious"". Archived from the original on November 15, 2013. Retrieved November 14, 2013.
  8. ↑ "Mateo Messina Scoring 'Barely Lethal'". Filmmusicreporter.com. July 7, 2014. Retrieved July 12, 2014.
  9. ↑ "'Barely Lethal' Starring Hailee Steinfeld Goes to A24, DirecTV (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. February 24, 2015. Retrieved March 5, 2015.
  10. ↑ "New Trailer, Poster and Stills form Barely Lethal starring Hailee Steinfeld and Samuel L. Jackson".
  11. ↑ "MovieInsider: Barely Lethal".
  12. ↑ "Barely Lethal [DVD]". Amazon UK. Retrieved August 8, 2015.
  13. ↑ "Barely Lethal [Blu-ray]". Amazon UK. Retrieved August 8, 2015.
  14. ↑ "Barely Lethal - Signature Entertainment". Signature Entertainment. Retrieved August 8, 2015.
  15. ↑ "Barely Lethal (DVD + Digital)". Amazon. Retrieved August 5, 2015.
  16. ↑ "Barely Lethal (Blu-ray + Digital)". Amazon. Retrieved August 5, 2015.
  17. ↑ "Barely Lethal (2014)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved October 14, 2015.
  18. ↑ "Barely Lethal". Metacritic. Retrieved May 30, 2015.
  19. ↑ "'Barely Lethal' kicks teen angst over the head with weak spy tale". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved June 30, 2015.
  20. ↑ "Review: 'Barely Lethal' aims high but misfires". The Arizona Republic. Retrieved May 28, 2015.
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