Strike (1998): Dir: Sarah Kemochan / Cast: Kirsten Dunst, Gaby Hoffmann, Rachel Leigh Cook, Lynn Redgrave, Vincent Kartheiser: Combination of National Lampoon's Animal House and Rock N' Roll High School but lacking the comic wit of both. Title refers to Kirsten Dunst's refusal to change. Hopefully after being part of this film she will require a major change. An all girl school is threatened with the possibility of going co-ed. This threatens misfit Dunst who is often late for classes and sabotages anything she considers a threat. Gaby Hoffmann is the new student who believes that the school should speak out. Vulgar and somewhat sexist with Dunst stashing liquor bottles about a bus and the boys who arrive innocent end up puking on everything. Directed by Sarah Kernochan with some fine location areas. This film is also saddled with several names, which can be a bitch when locating it. Dunst and Hoffmann play opposites but neither character obtains a personality. Dreary supporting work by Rachel Leigh Cook as the standard rival who will stop at nothing to expose Dunst. Lynn Reggrave plays the headmistress who cannot think for herself. She is suppose to be in charge but too often she is taking advice from people who are seen as total morons. Everything seems recycled and terribly dull but its message at least rings true. Strong co-ed theme elevates but the crude humour poise a strike against it. Score: 3 / 10

According to David Kehr's review (which is posted on Letterboxd if you want to find it),he referred to this movie sort of literally as "homework" since, once it got wrested by the clutches of (sigh, fine, "alleged") rapist Harvey Weinstein and Miramax - and why they even greenlit this in the first place is sort of a mystery to me , producer Deutchman (a film professor at Columbia) posted notices all over the place for people to go see it... Well, anyway, if this is homework I wish I could do more of it!

This is a fun and peppy and completely up-with-women AND perhaps more importantly outside of Hillary Clinton (for what it's worth) is the most up-with-women-as-political-heroes comedy that isnt funny LOL like as it is amusing and consistently clever. I could see someone not liking it on the whole because of how broad and big some of the gags go for, but what this filmmaker was going for - having this teen sex comedy (here PG13 I believe) set in that same just-before-fall63-spring64 period when everything changed and can thus join the company of little films like National Lampoon's Animal House and American Graffiti but for girls - was a more than valid idea, and the movie has a lot to say about systemic patriarchal structures as far as economy and social placement in life go. Not to mention all of the major performances from Dunst, Redgrave, Matarazzo and especially Hoffmann who is really the protagonist amid the ensemble, are all having a great time.

... Oh, and try as he might, Vincent Karthiezer is still only giving his second most obvious character/performance here (this before of course Connor on Angel cemented #1 for him). If nothing else, it may be the ultimate sign of success that Weinstein's name is not Executive Producer on the film.

Odette (Gaby Hoffmann) is the new girl in Miss Godard's Preparatory School For Girls. Verena von Stefan (Kirsten Dunst) is the school bad girl and she quickly befriends Odette. Abby Sawyer (Rachael Leigh Cook) is the school monitor. Verena leads a group of girls called the DAR until plans to merge the school with a boy's academy turn the group upside down.

This stars some of the best young actresses of the time. It's an uphill battle for sexual equality. Some of it is poignant and some of it is funny. But mostly it meanders. There are a lot of lead characters all going in different directions. It seems like the film wants Kirsten Dunst to lead, but she's just one of many.

Writer/director Sarah Kernochan tries to get the right feel with the era music. But the writing isn't funny enough or sharp enough. While it's fun to see these stars at an early stage, it never really gets great. It's much more of a girls movie where the girls are smart. It's about girl power, and not just the easy sexy-girls-doing-kung-fu-fighting type of girl power.