Chris Colfer, Renaissance man. People know him for his role as the flamboyant Kurt Hummel on Glee, for
which he has received a number of awards and nominations. He has had offers from Broadway. His first
book, “The Land of Stories: The Wishing Spell” reached number one on the New York Times Bestseller
list. During the time between the 2011 Glee Live tour and the filming for season three of Glee, Colfer
made a movie.

Within the first two minutes of the start of the movie, the protagonist, Carson Phillips lays dead in the
parking lot, struck by lightning. The remainder of the movie is a flashback in the events leading up to his
death.

Instead of another cliché movie about trying to change the social structure of high school (don’t get
me wrong, I love “Easy A” and “Mean Girls” as much as the next person), “Struck by Lightning” offers
a refreshing story about an outcast who doesn’t care what everyone else thinks of him. Carson Phillips
is a sarcastic, arrogant high school senior who can’t wait to leave his podunk town, aspiring to attend
Northwestern and work for the New Yorker.

When Northwestern suggests something else be added to his resume, Phillips takes on starting a
literary magazine. As president of the Writer’s Club and editor of the school paper, he has already had
considerable trouble motivating people to write for him. In his desperation, Phillips turns to blackmailing
fellow students to accumulate literary submissions.

Colfer wrote, produced, and stars in the film as Phillips. While the film is not autobiographical, there are
several elements of Colfer’s high school career are included (the similarities are evident in things from
the town name to being a social outcast, disliked by most in the school).

The movie isn’t directed at the standard teenage audience; it’s definitely geared towards smart kids who
feel alienated at school and are counting the days until graduation. The kids who will get the sarcastic,
cynical tone of Phillips.

“It’s about smart kids and not about stupid kids who want to get laid and that’s their biggest goal in life,”
Colfer said of his movie.

The movie is well-written and well-executed. The jokes are well-timed and seem genuine, rather than
excessively set-up. All of the characters are complex, and none of them are entirely likable, which makes
them realistic. Colfer plays the perfect Phillips (well, he did write the character), who the audience feels
sympathy for, but at the same time, is slightly disgusted by some of his behavior. Allison Janney puts
on a brilliant performance as Phillips’ alcoholic, drugged-up single mother who is destructive to herself
and those around her. Rebel Wilson, improving many of her lines, plays Phillips’ only friend, but her role
differs from her usually comedic characters; her character, though not completely developed, is a lonely,
sad character.

“Struck by Lightning,” though advertised as a comedy, isn’t exactly funny. The story starts with Phillips
lying dead and his mother slamming the door on the cops informing her of his death. In the flashbacks,
the abrupt death of Phillips becomes increasingly depressing as the audience sees what his life was
like: a father who abandoned him, a grandma with dementia who forgot who he was, and a train-wreck
mother. The themes of the film aren’t those that aren’t those that usually appear in teen movies. It
focuses on the determination and goals of one tragic teen, and the broken relationships and social
rejection he endures.

With its comedy thread through a dark story line, the indie “Struck by Lightning” is more similar
to “Juno” than mainstream teen movies. Both of which paint a more realistic depiction of teen life
compared to the parties and shenanigans of the characters in most teen movies.

Colfer’s freshman film effort gives an hour and a half of a unique and entertaining story. He’s only
getting started in his career as an author-singer-actor-screenwriter-producer, and we can look forward
to more success in all of these fields in the future.