Club Zaa

Director: N/A
Year: 2003
Starring: Parunyu Rojanawuttam, Wanida Termthanaporn (Gib -Girly Berry), Jatuchok                                       Wungsuwanna (Go B-Mix)Worrawith Kaewpetch, Sawinee Pookaroon
Time: 117 minutes

Every high school has to have that super cool kid and at Somchai-Saisamorn it’s Dong. He is the new kid in school – thrown out of everywhere else and with one last chance in this upscale institution. The girls go crazy for him and rain their handkerchiefs upon him in some sort of female sex ritual. The boys of course envy him. When you have the cool kid you of course need to have the nerds – but in this Thai high school all the boys seem to be nerds (and looking back, weren't we all?) and Dong is their savior. He forms Club Zaa in order to teach them coolness; to hide their dorkiness as best they can. He drills them hard like a Marine Sergeant and teaches them how to go after the female sex with confidence - because there is of course a cool person somewhere in all of us. There is also one stringy haired dingy looking girl allowed in to the club but there seems to be little hope for her – until she magically blossoms into a beauty.

This is actually somewhat fun, but the film throws in two dim-witted subplots – one about the administration trying to force the school to become boys only and another about an adult gang harassing Dong. Neither of these add anything to an otherwise goofy but sweet film. It has a few clever and amusing scenes that spring from nowhere like flights of fancy, some pop colored designs that look good and an appealing cast of young actors. For a film that felt initially like it would be just a dull high school tale of cool kids versus nerds Thai style, it instead turns into a silly, enjoyable and exaggerated take on our insecurities in high school and those girls we never had the nerve to talk to.

My rating for this film: 6.0