The film is about women – from all ethnic backgrounds – standing up and being confident and more authoritative against their school system and being respected as equals. Moxie is supported by a fantastic score which is created by musician Mac McCaughan, featuring female punk bands such as Bikini Kill and The Linda Linda’s, which do their best in giving the film some much needed attitude. Director Amy Poehler (who also stars as the protagonist’s mother, Lisa) shows how students – from privileged backgrounds – get away with unacceptable behaviour towards fellow students because of their academic or sporting achievements. The film is highly unrealistic at times (it is a comedy after all) as well as attempting far out resolutions – acting this way as a means of being taken seriously about these problematic discriminatory issues.
Moxie revolves around Vivienne (played by Hadley Robinson) a shy, self-conscious girl who; after finding her Mother’s old punk clothes as well as taking inspiration from a rebellious new student called Lucy (portrayed by newcomer Alycia Pascual-Peña), who is determined to “hold her head up high”, begins to break out of her subdued shell. This sparks Vivienne to start anonymously publishing a Zine (a collection of uniquely made photocopied publications intended for small circulation. I had to look it up myself) which calls out the sexism in her school that gets completely ignored by her superiors. This begins a supporters club called “Moxie” where Vivienne finds more outspoken girls from her school, who all want to band together and end this prejudice in any way possible.
Vivienne’s newfound confidence and her blossoming new friendships put a strain on her old one with her friend Claudia (played by Lauren Tsai), who cannot join in on their rebellious escapades due to her strict and very orthodox Chinese upbringing. Vivienne does develop feelings for a male student, the charming and liberal thinking Seth (portrayed by Nico Hiraga) who is seen to be the perfect blueprint of what the ideal male should be like; kind, respectful, open to new ideas, the opposite of the other secondary male character Mitchell (played by Patrick Schwarzenegger, son of… you know), who is shown as the bully boy jock and all-round nasty piece of work. Moxie progresses down different alleys, persevering with all its might, until a dark turn towards the end of the film brings resolution in the girls fight towards respect and equality.
Moxie tries its absolute best at highlighting these important matters, which is does to an extent. There are even some genuine laughs throughout (scenes involving Poehler herself show these qualities), however, it can be cheesy at times and seems so intent at being extravagant that it borders on the line of idealistic, instead of being realistic. Having said that, its use of a talented and diverse young female cast is something that is rarely seen, and Poehler lets these young women truly express themselves in a variety of ways. The film is quite fitting for the current climate in today’s world involving race and women’s rights, even if it does not get taken seriously as a statement film about these topics in the way that it was hoping for.
Available on Netflix now.
No Comment.