A few hundred years in the future, after our society burns out like a light-bulb and ultimately reinvents itself into a much kinder experience, there will be those who will study the films of our era and -- it is possible -- these unusual Disney-esque TV treats may just end up being revered in a class (ahem) of their own. Here is the thing. When these high school soap operas work, when the actors and writers are firing on all cylinders, they work really well. I was originally intrigued by a review in a blog which said that this film was so good it could have been shown theatrically. Brave words indeed. The truth is that, until the last 10 mins or so, this is an exceptional work that continually engages and surprises. While the story is not new as such, the actors make it come alive and the director makes it engaging. Sort of --- for those that like to deconstruct film, which is most of us -- a high school Julia Roberts vehicle (if JR had ever done a Disney, which of course she did not). The only flaw is the ending. The story clearly overwhelmed the writers who scrambled against the clock to sort out all the twists and arcs, and it shows. Flawed, but brilliantly so.

-------------Addendum July 17

Because I have been doing a few "Lists" for members, I felt compelled to have a re-watch of this one. Conclusion? Sarah Hyland's amazing performance -- playing two sides of the same coin, as it were, and using her eyes like weapons -- almost but not quite raised this film to greatness. Once again, on second viewing, I saw how rushed the writing team was at the close. It was almost like the studio had given them a checklist of items that had to be covered in the ending and, until that point, they were having too much fun writing the story to care. The ending still sucks. The movie is still much better than the IMDb rating. And Hyland's performance is a joy.

Geek Charming is an innocuous but all together impossible tale of the nerd who woos the diva with the technique of making a film documentary about her. Matt Prokop is the film geek and Sarah Hyland is the diva whose biggest ambition in life is to be Blossom Queen of her high school.

Even over 40 years ago I well remember about how high school was so regimented into a caste system of cliques. A lot of kids are going to see this teen comedy from Disney Studios and start thinking the barriers are not so impossible. Prokop has his set with other film buffs of which I could have been one and hits on the idea of making a documentary that will gain him a scholarship to film school. He decides to do a documentary exploring the secret of popularity with Hyland as the subject. She's thinking this will help her in her campaign to be Blossom Queens which is what they must call Homecoming Queen in her high school. The crowning achievement of her life? She reminds me so much of the equally vapid Mila Kunis in That Seventies Show who said that nothing would deter her from her ambition to be a Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader.

And as these films go both start to change each other just by being in close association. It's the Disney Studios so their product is usually limited in the directions they go.

Propkop and Hyland are decent enough leads and attractive. But nothing terribly out of the ordinary here.

Dylan Shoenfield (Sarah Hyland) is the popular girl. She's the queen bee in Mean Girls. However she faces a challenge from an up-and-comer for her title. Josh Rosen (Matt Prokop) is a film geek. He is desperate for a subject for an upcoming contest. Then he comes up with an idea to shoot a documentary about Dylan and her campaign for the crown. Dylan agrees because she figures that it will be nothing but praises of her beautiful life. Then things happen to change everything.

This is a standard overly broad Disney fare. But Sarah Hyland is proving herself to be a good little actress. She is the center and the highlight of this movie. She's able to play the mean girl with likability. The guy isn't quite as good.