Film Review – The Honor List

“The Honor List” needs to work a little harder to emerge as something unique. It’s a tale of teenage friendship as it faces challenges from estrangement and distrust, with death bringing together a group of young women who were once inseparable, but now have little idea how to communicate with the same enthusiasm they once shared. The screenplay by Marilyn Fu targets emotional authenticity with the material, trying to sneak around clichés by taking matters of the heart and clique seriously, grounding the feature in relatable behavior. “The Honor List” doesn’t always succeed when it comes to the exploration of various relationships, but there’s an effort to handle delicate feelings with care, giving director Elissa Down (“The Black Balloon”) a tonal challenge she does well with, only periodically losing her grip on nuanced interactions.  Read the rest at Blu-ray.com