''Bang Bang You're Dead'' is a 2002 American drama thriller film directed by

Guy Ferland Guy Ferland (born February 18, 1966) is an American film and television director. Career After Alfred Hitchcock's 1946 film ''Notorious'' inspired him to become a filmmaker, Ferland went on to study cinema production at the University of Southe ...

and written by

William Mastrosimone William Mastrosimone (born August 19, 1947) is an American playwright and screenwriter from Trenton, New Jersey. He attended high school at The Pennington School and received a graduate degree in playwriting from Mason Gross School of the Arts, ...

. It stars

Tom Cavanagh Thomas Cavanagh (born October 26, 1963) is a Canadian actor. He is known for a variety of roles on American television, including starring roles in '' Ed'' (2000–2004), ''Love Monkey'' (2006) and '' Trust Me'' (2009), and recurring roles on ...

, Ben Foster,

Randy Harrison Randolph Clarke Harrison (born November 2, 1977) is an American actor best known for his portrayal of Justin Taylor on the Showtime drama '' Queer as Folk''. Early life and college Harrison was born in Nashua, New Hampshire, where he starting ...

, and

Janel Moloney Janel Moloney is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Donna Moss on the television series ''The West Wing'', a role for which she received nominations for Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series ...

. Based on Mastrosimone's 1999 play of the same name, the film is not a direct adaptation; it follows a troubled high school student played by Foster who participates in his school's production of the play while attempting to avoid going down the same path as the play's lead character. The film premiered at the

Seattle International Film Festival The Seattle International Film Festival (SIFF), held annually in Seattle, Washington since 1976, is among the top film festivals in North America. Audiences have grown steadily; the 2006 festival had 160,000 attendees. The SIFF runs for more th ...

in June 2002.

Plot

16-year-old Trevor Adams ( Ben Foster) attends an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

high school where he is one of the outcasts harassed and humiliated by the school's jocks. He made a false threat to bomb the school a few months ago, narrowly escaping expulsion. Since then, Trevor has been trying to fit back in to normal high school life. He joined a theater group and has been chosen to star in a school play about school shootings called ''Bang Bang You're Dead'' as the main character, Josh. After parents and the community hear of the play and its lead actor, they call for it to be canceled. But Trevor's theater activity, alone, is not sufficient to let off the steam of his boiling resentment. Using his video camera, he has been documenting bullying at school, creating a "diary of violence". Trevor and his friends Sean, Mark and Kurt, make plans to storm the school with guns and kill as many of the hated athletes as possible. Trevor meets Jenny, also 16, who stays by him and stands up for him. Through her, Trevor begins to doubt whether the act he plans is right. In the end, he is the only one to realize that bloodshed only fuels more violence and hatred, and evacuates the school with his art teacher, Mr. Duncan (

). At the last minute, Trevor prevents bloodshed by overwhelming Kurt, Sean and Mark. The film ends with the play premiering successfully, despite the initial protests of the students' parents.

Cast

as Mr. Val Duncan * Ben Foster as Trevor Adams *

as Sean *

as Ellie Milford *

Jane McGregor Jane McGregor (born 1983) is a Canadian actress, known for her roles in '' Slap Her... She's French'' (2002), ''Flower & Garnet'' (2002), and ''That Beautiful Somewhere'' (2006), as well as her recurring role on the television series ''Robson Ar ...

as Jenny Dahlquist * David Paetkau as Brad Larkin *

Garry Chalk Garry Chalk is a British-born Canadian actor. He has provided the voices for Optimus Primal of '' Beast Wars: Transformers'' and ''Beast Machines'', as well as Optimus Prime in the anime English dubs of '' Transformers: Armada'', ''Transformer ...

as Chief Bud McGee * Eric Johnson as Mark Kentworth * Kristian Ayre as Kurt * Brent Glenen as Zach * Gillian Barber as Principal Meyer *

Eric Keenleyside Eric Keenleyside (born October 11, 1957) is a Canadian actor. Early life Eric was born in St. Stephen, New Brunswick, grew up in London, Ontario, and spent time in Brisbane, Australia. He received a Bachelor of Fine Arts (acting) from the Univer ...

as Bob Adams *Glynis Davies as Karen Adams *Fred Henderson as Dan Dahlquist *P. Lynn Johnson as Tanya Dahlquist *

Richard de Klerk Richard de Klerk is a Canadian actor and producer, known for his work in independent Canadian films. His filmography includes ''Repeaters'', '' Cole'', ''Fathers & Sons'', '' Bang Bang You're Dead'', ''Mr. Rice's Secret'' and ''CBGB''. Early li ...

as Jessie *Steven Grayhm as Michael *

Mark Holden Mark Ronald Holden (born 27 April 1954) is an Australian singer, actor, TV personality, record producer, songwriter, and barrister. He was a pop star in the 1970s and had four top 20 hit singles, "Never Gonna Fall in Love Again" (May 1976 ...

as Officer Willow

Promotion

The song "

Runaway Train A runaway train is a type of railroad incident in which unattended rolling stock is accidentally allowed to roll onto the main line, a moving train loses enough braking power to be unable to stop in safety, or a train operates at unsafe speeds d ...

" by

post-grunge Post-grunge is a derivative of grunge that has a less abrasive or intense tone than traditional grunge. Originally, the term was used almost pejoratively to label mid-1990s rock bands such as Bush, Candlebox and Collective Soul that emulated the ...

band

Oleander ''Nerium oleander'' ( ), most commonly known as oleander or nerium, is a shrub or small tree cultivated worldwide in temperate and subtropical areas as an ornamental and landscaping plant. It is the only species currently classified in the ge ...

was featured in the film. A

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing devic ...

for the song was then shot and incorporated footage from the movie. On November 19, 2002 the band released their ''Runaway Train EP''. The film was released on DVD on January 27, 2004 without any special features.Oleander 'Joyride' album MusicRemedy.com (2003)
Retrieved on 5-12-09.

Awards

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bang Bang You're Dead (Film) 2002 television films 2002 films 2000s teen drama films American teen drama films Works about the Columbine High School massacre Films directed by Guy Ferland Films about school violence American films based on plays Films shot in Vancouver Films about bullying Peabody Award-winning broadcasts Films scored by Reinhold Heil Films scored by Johnny Klimek American drama television films 2000s English-language films 2000s American films