''LOL'' is a 2012 American teen romantic

comedy-drama Comedy drama (also known by the portmanteau dramedy) is a hybrid genre of works that combine elements of comedy and Drama (film and television), drama. In film, as well as scripted television series, serious dramatic subjects (such as death, il ...

film written and directed by Lisa Azuelos. A remake of the 2008 French film (also directed by Azuelos), the film stars

Miley Cyrus Miley Ray Cyrus ( , born Destiny Hope Cyrus, November 23, 1992) is an American singer, songwriter, actress and director. Regarded as a contemporary pop icon, Cyrus has been recognized for her evolving artistry and image reinventions. She is ...

Demi Moore Demi Gene Moore ( ; née Guynes; born November 11, 1962) is an American actress. After rising to prominence in the early 1980s, she became the world's highest-paid actress by 1995. List of awards and nominations received by Demi Moore, Her acc ...

, Ashley Greene, and Adam Sevani. The film received a

limited release __FORCETOC__ Limited theatrical release is a film distribution strategy of releasing a new film in a few cinemas across a country, typically art house theaters in major metropolitan markets. Since 1994, a limited theatrical release in the Unite ...

in the United States on May 4, 2012.

Plot

Lola "Lol" Williams leads an ordinary life in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, with her boyfriend Chad and best friends Emily, Janice, and Kyle Ross. When they return to school after the summer, Lol discovers that Chad has cheated on her, so they break up. Lol and Kyle realize they have feelings for each other and pursue a relationship. This is difficult as Chad is his best friend, and Lol's nemesis Ashley is a flirt, especially with Kyle. His and Chad's band, ''No Shampoo'', wants to compete in the battle of the bands, but Kyle's father does not support his passion for music and feels that it interferes with his schoolwork. Chad's jealousy towards Lol and Kyle's new relationship further complicates things. Lol's mother Anne is a divorcée, who frequently has sex with her ex-husband Allen, until she discovers he has also been sleeping with another woman. She also begins to feel she and Lol are growing apart. Lol throws a party and is caught by Anne who threatens to not allow her to go on her class trip to Paris. She was already grounded for the party. Things finally start to change when Anne meets police officer James and they begin to date. He offers her advice on how to reconnect with Lol, which she takes up. After a presentation at school, Lol looks for Kyle in the bathroom and overhears two people having sex in the stall. She assumes it is Kyle and Ashley after seeing a purse similar to Ashley's peeking out from under the stall. It was actually Emily and Wen hooking up, but Emily does not tell Lol because she is embarrassed about being with him. Afterwards, Lol confronts Ashley, who does not deny it because she likes Kyle and wants to create a rift in Lol and Kyle's relationship. A huge argument ensues between Kyle and Lol, where she accuses him of cheating, and they break up. When Kyle's father discovers he has lied about his grades and smoked pot, he grounds him and destroys his guitar. After the breakup, Lol is determined to make Kyle jealous, so tries to do so by making out with her childhood friend Jeremy. Meanwhile, she and her mother reconnect, and Anne allows her to go on the class trip to Paris. While on the trip, Emily finally admits to Lol it was actually her and Wen in the bathroom, not Ashley and Kyle. After this realization, Lol and Kyle reconcile and spend the night together, where they end up having sex for the first time. When they all return home, Chad and Kyle rekindle their friendship and he gives his blessing to Kyle and Lol. She sticks up for Ashley when Chad insults her, resulting in them becoming friends. Meanwhile, Anne finds Lol's diary, discovering that she has slept with Kyle and smoked pot. Confronting her, they have a huge falling-out, and Lol moves in with her father. Eventually, Lol and Anne reconcile and she moves back in with her mother. Kyle's band wins the battle of the bands and his father finally begins to support his musical aspirations. Kyle and Lol stay together. Ashley and Chad begin to date and Emily and Wen are together, as she is no longer embarrassed to be with him. The film ends with Anne and Lol laughing out loud while cuddling.

Cast

Production

Principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as the ...

began on July 16, 2010, in

Dearborn, Michigan Dearborn is a city in Wayne County, Michigan, Wayne County in the U.S. state of Michigan. An inner-ring Metro Detroit, suburb of Detroit, Dearborn borders Detroit to the south and west, roughly west of downtown Detroit. In the 2020 United States ...

. ''LOL'' was primarily filmed at Grosse Pointe South High School in the city of

Grosse Pointe Grosse Pointe is a group of five adjacent suburbs in the Metro Detroit, Detroit metropolitan area on the shore of Lake St. Clair. From southwest to northeast, they are: *Grosse Pointe Park, Michigan, Grosse Pointe Park *Grosse Pointe, Michiga ...

, a suburb northeast of

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

. It was also shot in

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

. In September 2010, production moved to

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. Post-production began on September 14, 2010, and required a year and two weeks before it was completed on November 1, 2011. The film was set to be released in 2011 but it was pushed to 2012. The film was initially supposed to be a television drama, but such plans were changed when the series ran into legal issues connected to the French film of the same name.

Soundtrack

#"Everybody" –

Ingrid Michaelson Ingrid Ellen Michaelson (born December 8, 1979) is an American singer-songwriter. She is best known for her 2006 single "The Way I Am (Ingrid Michaelson song), The Way I Am" and her 2014 single "Girls Chase Boys", both of which achieved success ...

#" Everybody's Got to Learn Sometime" – Jean-Phillipe Verdin #" You Can't Always Get What You Want" –

The Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for over six decades, they are one of the most popular, influential, and enduring bands of the Album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the band pione ...

#" Somewhere Only We Know" – Keane #" Houdini" – Foster the People #" The Big Bang" – Rock Mafia #"Microphone" – Coconut Records #"Location" – Freelance Whales #"Cul et chemize" – BB Brunes #"Birds" –

The Submarines The Submarines are an American indie rock band from Los Angeles formed in 2006. Band history Working as solo artists in Boston, the two members of the band, John Dragonetti and Blake Hazard, were introduced through a mutual friend, Joe Klompus ...

#"Heart on Fire" – Jonathan Clay #"Little Sister" – Jonathan Clay and Becky Henkel #"Dreamers" – Jonathan Clay #"I'm Gonna Love You Just a Little More Baby" – the LOL School Girls

Release

''LOL'' was originally set to have a wide domestic release, but instead, it was rushed into a

with no significant marketing from the theatrical team. The film was released solely because of a technicality in the contract, which contributed to its underperformance at the box office. On February 10, 2012, ''LOL'' was released for the first time in India, and on March 1, 2012, in Singapore. It later received a limited release in the United States on May 4, 2012, by Lionsgate. In its opening weekend in the US, the film grossed $46,500 from 105 theaters, with an average of $440 per theater.

Critical response

''LOL'' was not received well by critics. On review aggregator

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

, the film holds an approval rating of 14% with an average score of 3.7/10, based on seven reviews. Film critic Joe Leydon in '' Variety'' called it a "shapeless and charmless teen-skewing trifle stocked with trendy slanguage and social-network gimcracks that make it seem like something four years past its expiration date."

Awards and nominations

Home media

The film was made available on DVD,

Blu-ray Blu-ray (Blu-ray Disc or BD) is a digital optical disc data storage format designed to supersede the DVD format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released worldwide on June 20, 2006, capable of storing several hours of high-defin ...

, digital download, and on-demand on July 31, 2012, in the United States from Lionsgate Home Entertainment.

References

External links

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''LOL''
at The Numbers {{DEFAULTSORT:LOL 2012 films 2012 romantic comedy-drama films 2010s American films 2010s coming-of-age comedy-drama films 2010s English-language films 2010s high school films 2010s teen comedy-drama films 2010s teen romance films American coming-of-age comedy-drama films American high school films American remakes of French films American romantic comedy-drama films American teen comedy-drama films American teen romance films Comedy-drama film remakes Coming-of-age romance films English-language romantic comedy-drama films Films about mother–daughter relationships Films directed by Lisa Azuelos Films scored by Rob Simonsen Films set in Chicago Films set in Paris Films shot in Chicago Films shot in Detroit Films shot in Paris Mandate Pictures films Romance film remakes