Well, at least it’s different. If uniqueness was all that counted in filmmaking, My Entire High School Sinking Into the Sea would rank highly, thanks to its unusual and absurd central concept. Everything about it is also eccentric and particular, from the kaleidoscopic, tie-dyed visuals to the simple, low-tech animation style. And it certainly has some funny moments. Still, this one doesn’t float quite as effortlessly as one would hope.
Dash (Jason Schwartzman) is a writer for a school newspaper and a bit of an outcast, spending his time with fellow nerd Assaf (Reggie Watts) and their editor, Verdi (Maya Rudolph). Struggling for a dynamic story and annoyed at Assaf’s burgeoning romance with Verdi, Dash attempts to draw attention to a structural problem at the school. No sooner are his concerns shot down than an earthquake hits, sending the school bobbing into the sea. As it sinks, Dash and his compatriots team with another student named Mary (Lena Dunham) and the cafeteria Lunch Lady Lorraine (Susan Sarandon) to try and find a way out before they all drown.
The animation is very minimal and blunt, which results in some funny gags early on. Seeing the blocky school popping up and down in the water is amusing and Lunch Lady Lorraine’s beat-down of some drug-addled students with kicks marks the film’s most memorable joke; as she does so, it even looks like an 80s arcade game. When the movie veers into the absurd, it lands its best jabs. One should also compliment the voice cast. There are some extremely talented individuals here and they manage to earn a couple of chuckles with their deadpan delivery alone.
The potential is there for all sorts of parody and one would imagine there’s a wealth of material here, poking fun at disaster movie clichés as well as the common social cliques that could be disassembled. For the students, one can almost see how events could quickly dissolve into a Lord of the Flies-like scenario. Indeed, there are a couple of sequences that evoke The Poseidon Adventure and handful of chuckles brimming from characters from different walks of life being forced together.
The deadpan, monotone delivery is amusing for a short while, but it doesn’t do much to develop drama or tension. Even with a brief seventy-ish minute running time and a school in peril, events feel a bit lackadaisical. The main plot concerns itself with Dash getting over his jealousy at Assaf’s new girlfriend and doesn’t go far enough to deconstruct the class structure within the school. Yes, the senior jock hangs out on the top floor with his posse and is full of himself, but beyond a few bickering words, there’s little else in the way of conflict and criticism played out.
My Entire High School Sinking Into the Sea does present a goofy jumping off point as a feature film concept and provides some amusing moments. However, while decent, the movie doesn’t push its ideas as far as they need to go. I enjoyed sections and laughed a few times at some of the observational jokes or when the occasional shark would chow down on a student. Still, the characters and analysis of high school life come out slightly underdeveloped. It earns a passing grade, but the humor is hit-and-miss.