It’s no spoiler to reveal that Glee’s Chris Colfer kills off the character he plays in his screenwriting debut. Like in Sunset Blvd. and American Beauty, he’s, well, Struck by Lightning before the opening credits end and narrates the events of the film from beyond the grave. Also like in those classic films, one tends to forget this tidbit as the plot unfolds, only to be poignantly reminded as the extended flashback catches up with the opening scene.
The title also serves as an extended metaphor about how when inspiration strikes, just like a bolt of lightning, it seeks an exit. In the case of Carson Phillips (Colfer), that outlet is writing. With eyes on Northwestern University and eventually the New Yorker, this Clover High School overachiever learns from his woefully unknowledgeable high-school counselor, played by The Office’s Angela Kinsey—“Never heard of it,” she says of his college of choice—that he’ll have to do a little more than serve as president of the school’s Writer’s Club.
She suggests he start a literary magazine to demonstrate that he can write himself as well as inspire others. Given he’s a first-rate smartass, though—intellectual bullies can be just as bad as physical ones—few of his classmates are willing to contribute. That is, until he and his BFF-by-elimination Malerie (Rebel Wilson)—no one else will hang out with him—blackmail the student council to write pieces for their ’zine. Wilson, already delightful in breakout roles in Bridesmaids, Bachelorette and especially Pitch Perfect, is at once hysterical and unassuming here, her improvisations all the more hilarious because they’re not pushed onto the audience but rather integrated into the natural rhythm of the film.
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