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5.5/10
Senior Film Conservator
A definitive 5.5/10 rating for a film that redefined the boundaries of cult cinema. The Sophomore remains a cornerstone of transgressive art.
Is The Sophomore worth your time today? If you like old movies where people wear giant sweaters and talk like they are in a play, then yes.
But if you hate movies that feel a bit slow and have that weird 'early sound' echo, you should probably skip it. It is mostly for people who find the 1920s charming. 🍦
The story is pretty simple. Joe is a soda jerk, which basically means he makes drinks and gets ignored by the cool kids.
He really likes Margy, the waitress. She’s played by Sally O'Neil and she has this very energetic way of moving that makes everyone else look like they are standing still.
Margy doesn't really notice Joe because she's too busy looking at Tom Weck. Tom is a rich frat boy and, honestly, he's kind of a jerk.
There is a scene in the soda shop where the background noise is so loud you can barely hear the actors. It feels like the microphone was hidden in a bowl of soup or something.
I actually liked the parts where they show how the 'social outcasts' have to stick together. It feels a lot more real than the stuff with the rich kids.
Joe is played by Stanley Smith, who has a very sincere face. You just want the guy to win, even when he’s being a bit of a pushover.
The snobbery in this movie is wild. If you aren't in the right club, you might as well not exist to these people.
It reminded me a little bit of the vibe in The Americano, just with less adventure and more college drama.
There’s a bit with a football game toward the end. It feels like it goes on forever.
I swear I saw one of the extras in the crowd looking directly at the camera for like five seconds. He looked so confused to be there. 😂
The script has about five writers credited, which usually means a movie is a mess, but this one stays pretty focused. It doesn't try to be anything too deep.
One thing that bothered me was how fast the ending happens. It’s like they realized they were out of film and just stopped.
The way they filmed the soda fountain is actually pretty cool though. You can see all the little containers and the way they used to serve stuff back then.
It is definitely not as polished as something like Men from a few years earlier. Sound really messed up the flow of movies for a while.
I think Eddie Quillan is the funniest person in the whole thing. He has this natural timing that the other actors just don't have yet.
Is it a masterpiece? No way. But it’s a nice way to spend an hour if you want to see how people dressed in 1929.
Just don't expect a big emotional payoff. It's more of a 'sit back and look at the hats' kind of movie. 🎩
IMDb 5.2
1925
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