Customer Reviews

Woodshop Unrated Director's Cut

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Recently saw this at a local preview showing and thoroughly enjoyed it! It's shot entirely on location in Boulder Colorado, and had an interesting mix of new local actors, as well as seasoned and acclaimed stars such as Jesse Ventura (who is surprisingly believable as a woodshop instructor), Mitch Pileggi (who played "Skinner" on the X-Files), and Don Davis (General Hammond from Stargate). The story line is fun (combining comedy and intrigue), and the scenery and production quality excellent. Definitely worth checking out.

I've been waiting for months to get this title. Great flick! Ventura and the cast are amazing.

Woodshop
1 Disc Widescreen, being released September 7, 2010

Remember "The Breakfast Club?" Well, "Woodshop," a film written and directed by Pete Coggan, is about an honors student played by Scott Cooper Ryan who has an accident in chemistry lab resulting in a Saturday detention at Woodshop with a bunch of other misfit students led by the shop teacher played by Jesse Ventura.

It looks and feels pretty low budget and is probably making Jesse Ventura long for the days of the first "Predator" film. Very basic stuff. There's an accident-prone genius, a bully, a tomboy who likes power tools and eventually our lead character, a best friend who feels let down, etc. A few of them are pretty good like Wendy played by Olivia Hendrick and Jesse Ventura nails the simple material very easily. Some moments work, but most don't.

One big problem with this film is all the flash-backs to when these students were kids to experiences that helped shape the people they are today. A couple of the kid actors are decent once again, but some are terrible. For instance, the kid who was supposed to be crying, but was laughing.

All the students get to make a personal journey, boy gets girl, everyone teams up against the bully to finally get what's coming to him (spoiler: being arrested for terrorism???). To sum up the entire film: cute, simple, ok but not very good.

Bonus Features: None

I was surprised by how much I found myself laughing at this film. The interplay between Jesse Ventura and his students (especially the lead & the villain) was really fun to watch, and I definitely see some emerging young stars in this movie. All in all, I think Woodshop delivers quality family fun with a bit of an edge!