Were the World Mine is a delightfully whimsical film (you can drop back a few posts and catch the trailer), perfect for a cold, blustery Saturday afternoon. Imagine a universe where Dead Poets Society blends with High School Musical and you end up with this.
Timothy is a senior at an all-boys school, where he’s picked on by the jocks because he’s gay. He comes out of his shy shell because his drama teacher encourages him to be in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Yes, all the seniors have to take part in the senior show, but Timothy is cast in the pivotal role Puck.
While studying his role, Timothy creates a potion that does exactly what happens in Midsummer–the person who has it spread in their eyes falls in love with the very next person they see. He tries it out first on his best friend, a mistake since he didn’t want to take his friend away from his girlfriend. But, knowing it worked, he uses it next on his jock co-star, who Timothy is completely smitten with.
He ultimately takes it one step further, using the potion on most of the senior class and a number of townspeople. Instantly, all kinds of new relationships are created. Timothy justifies it by saying he’s merely forcing people to walk in his shoes for a time. What traumatized gay kid hasn’t wanted to be able to make that happen?
There’s a lot of good music here too. The Midsummer production is part musical, so the songs use some of Shakespeare’s words, guaranteeing good lyrics. The original lyrics are also great, as is the score. It’s quite funny watching the rugby players break into song and dance during the rehearsals.
The movie, while overall good, is a bit uneven at times. Luckily it only veers of course for a couple minutes at a time before quickly righting itself. The performances across the board are great. Tanner Cohen as Timothy is excellent. He’s got a great voice and carries himself through the role perfectly as he causes havoc in town and then sets everything right again. It was great to see Wendy Robie as the mystical drama teacher too. Robie is forever part of the quirky Twin Peaks cast and she’s great in this role that also has a fair bit of quirkiness in it.
It’s a lovely film with a wonderful ending and I’m glad I came across it.
