Review by John Delia
Going for a mature teen audience, the series “Looking for Alaska†comes to DVD for home viewing. In a three disc set, the story plays out dealing with teen angst, romance, relationships and sticky situations that involve challenging life choices. The acting is very good establishing solid characters that fit well into the 21st century attitudes, reactions and aspirations. Both comedic and serious, the dealings with schooling, friendships and growing up to the next level play out with some shocking revelations and a finale filled with tragedy.
Miles “Pudge†Halter (Charlie Plumber) enters Culver Creek Academy a private school with dorms where no one knows him. His father went to the same school when he was a teen. There he meets Alaska Young (Kristine Froseth), a free spirit teen on scholarship with a lot of contacts on campus from her year before. His roommate Chip “The Colonel†Martin (Denny Love) is well known and runs with a click that includes Alaska and Takumi (Jay Lee) the brains of the group.
Getting acclimated has become and okay task with the popularity of the teens, but there are factions like the Weekday Warriors that are opposed to the three regular’s antics and romances. While Miles settles in he finds that in order to survive on his new campus, he must mentor his new found friends and work his way into the new world he has entered, even the pranks that lead to controversy.
It’s a very good script and most mature teens will probably binge the seven plus hours to keep up with the compelling story about student life on their own. It’s a society where everyone has to face challenges while learning enough to make the next step. Based on a novel by John Green (“The Fault in Our Stars†and “Turtles All the Way Downâ€) the script plays out with fresh faces under the direction of Josh Schwartz who establishes the writer’s excellent characters. There are many life lessons packed into the series, many of which deal with today’s teens, family and how to overcome even the most disheartening trials.
SPECIAL BONUS FEATURES:
“Finding Your Tribe†how each of the main stars learned how to become each of their characters.
“In Search of a Great Perhaps†the taking of Alaska from page to screen.
“Deleted Scenesâ€
Looking for Alaska has been rated TV-MA contains teen smoking, language, teen drinking, drug use, The series is available on DVD.
FINAL ANALYSIS: A very good film with fine acting, direction and storyline.(4 out of 5 stars)
Specifications and additional video information:
Cast: Charlie Plumber, Kristine Froseth, Timothy Simons, Ron Cephas Jones, Denny Love, Jay Lee, Sofia Vassilieva, Landry Bender, Uriah Shelton, Kelly Murtagh,
Written and directed by: Josh Schwartz
Based on a novel by: John Green (“The Fault in Our Stars†and “Turtles All the Way Downâ€)
Genre: Drama, Romance,
TV Rating: TV-MA, contains teen smoking, language, teen drinking, drug use
Running Time: 7 hrs. 5 min.
Video Release Date: April
Original TV Release Dates: 2019
Language: English (changeable to English Audio Description)
Reviewed Format: DVD
Audio: English 5.1
Video: Aspect Ratio 16:9
Subtitles: English, English SDH
Distributed by: Paramount Television
Released on: DVD