(2016)

Submitted by Tornado Dragon

SHORT VERSION: 

Leo is not actually Rafe’s friend, but his deceased brother. He died two years ago from cancer, and ever since then, Rafe has been imagining that he is still alive since they were very close and he hasn’t been able to cope with his death.

 

Thanks to Rafe, his fellow students in Mr. Teller’s remedial class, Mr. Teller himself, the janitor Gus, and especially Rafe’s crush Jeanne for providing some incriminating videotape evidence, Superintendent Hwang finds out about Principal Dwight’s scheme to rig the B.L.A.A.R. test so that the school would get a first-place score and he would get a significant bonus as a reward for that. She fires Dwight, and she also tells him that she will be going to the police to press charges against him because rigging a state test is a serious offense. She also fires Vice-Principal Stricker for being Dwight’s accomplice. That same day, Rafe’s mother Jules finally realizes just how much of a self-centered jerk that her fiancé, Carl, is and dumps him. 

 

Later on, Leo talks to Rafe outside the school and tells him that it is now time for him to say goodbye, explaining that, because Rafe has made some real friends now, he no longer needs him. Leo then departs in an alien spacecraft that Rafe had earlier drawn in his sketchbook before Dwight destroyed it, and they say “Grak-tung” to each other before he goes (which means “victory is ours” in the fictional alien language that Rafe created). Moments later, Jeanne approaches Rafe, having overheard him say “Grak-tung”, and after he tells her what that word means, she informs him that he hasn’t won yet because he forgot to break the last rule in Dwight’s rulebook, Rule #86 (no public displays of affection). They then share a kiss to break it, which Leo watches approvingly from a window in the spaceship before he parties with the aliens inside.

 

LONG VERSION: 

A week away from the school’s BaseLine Assessment of Academic Readiness (B.L.A.A.R.) test, Principal Dwight (Andy Daly) and Vice-Principal Stricker (Retta) discover that, if they prevent Mr. Teller’s (Adam Pally) remedial class (which Rafe [Griffin Gluck] attends and Dwight is no fan of) from taking the test, the school’s testing average will go up and put them into first place. Two days before the B.L.A.A.R., Rafe returns home after setting up another prank in the school that night with help from his friend, Leo (Thomas Barbusca), in the name of Rules Aren’t For Everyone (R.A.F.E.), and he finds his sister, Georgia (Alexa Nisenson), waiting for him in his room. She tearfully informs him that she overheard their mother, Jules (Lauren Graham), talking with her fiancé, Carl (Rob Riggle), about him, and Carl (who despises both Georgia and Rafe and Jules doesn’t know the depth of it) has convinced Jules that he is messed up and has also started to look for a military school to send him to. She begs Rafe not to get into any more trouble because she feels that she won’t be able to handle Carl by herself if he gets sent away, and he promises to keep his nose clean. 

 

However, the very next day, Dwight pays the remedial class a visit and accuses Rafe and the other students of being the ones responsible for all of the pranks that have already been pulled at the school. He then takes them out into the hallway and opens up their lockers to show that they contain different items used in the pranks, and Dwight informs Teller that all of his students are suspended for a week. Teller objects to this, then tell Dwight that this all seems like a setup and that they should report this to Superintendent Hwang before suspending anyone. Dwight responds by accusing him of being in league with the pranksters and then firing him. Rafe later approaches Dwight in his office and confesses that he is the person behind R.A.F.E., plus he tells him that his evidence against the others is fake. Dwight admits that he did plant all of that evidence, then tells Rafe that he will reverse his suspension on him if he just keeps his mouth shut about it and lets the other students take the fall. Rafe replies that he can do whatever he wants to him, but the others must be left out of it, and then he orders him to rehire Teller or else. Dwight refuses to comply, so Rafe goes through with his latest prank by activating the school’s fire sprinklers, which shower everything and everyone with colored fabric dye and also turn on dancing music. Dwight expels Rafe on the spot. 

 

Back home, Rafe talks to Jules and tries to explain to her that Dwight is a bad man and that he has had it in for him ever since he first stepped into the school, and he also brings up how Dwight suspended an entire class for something that only he committed. However, all Jules does is admonish him for getting booted out of the last middle school that would accept him. She then informs him that Carl has found a military school for him to go to, and though this isn’t the best option, it may be his ONLY option now. Jules then reflects on the passing of his younger brother two years ago from cancer, and we find out that his brother is actually Leo. He and Leo were very close, and when he found himself unable to cope with Leo’s death, he started to regularly imagine that he was still alive. 

 

That night, Jeanne (Isabela Moner) – a classmate that Rafe has a crush on – shows up outside Rafe’s bedroom window. After he lets her in, she tells him that she figured that he was the one who pulled off the prank today, but her suspicions were confirmed when she was looking over some footage that she recorded on a VHS tape, which she currently has in her bag. She plays it for him on a VCR that she also brought along and explains that she had been secretly filming the school as part of a documentary to find the creator of R.A.F.E., and then Rafe sees that she recorded him setting up the sprinkler prank and telling Leo that he would walk through fire just to see Jeanne smile. After Rafe explains who Leo is and how he likes to pretend that he is still around, Jeanne shows him that her camera also captured footage of Dwight planting the evidence of Rafe’s pranks in the lockers with the help of the janitor, Gus (Efren Ramirez) (though Gus only helped out Dwight because – as revealed in the recording – Dwight threatened to fire him if he didn’t). She then informs Rafe that, when their school wins first place on the B.L.A.A.R. test, it not only gives their school bragging rights, but it also causes Dwight to receive a significant bonus as a reward for it. Rafe understands now that Dwight did what he did in order to improve his chances of getting that bonus again, and he tells Jeanne that they must put a stop to the test, but they will need some help to do it. Jeanne agrees to text all of the suspended students and tell them to meet her and Rafe at the school, and Rafe decides to set up “transportation” for them both. 

 

To that end, Rafe wakes Georgia and asks her if she feels like going for a drive in Carl’s beloved car, and after she agrees to it, he tells her that they will need to distract Carl in order to get the keys. They accomplish this by having their pug, Calvin (whom Carl also hates), attack him, and as Georgia drives them and Jeanne down to the school (having had plenty of practice driving her mother’s car for short durations), she deliberately damages the car to stick it to Carl. After they get there, they meet with the other kids to go over the plan, and they are joined by Gus as well as Miller (Jacob Hopkins), a bully of Rafe’s who has now developed a respect for him after learning that he was the mystery prankster. The kids proceed to create false copies of the B.L.A.A.R., move the desks outdoors, and break out the school mascot costume, and Gus takes a chainsaw and cuts down Dwight’s treasured 1-shaped bush. The next morning, Jules and Carl discover that Rafe, Georgia, and Carl’s car are missing, and though Jules worries about where her children have gone to, Carl expresses to her how he is only concerned about his car’s whereabouts. Now seeing him for the self-centered jerk that he truly is, Jules tells him as much before leaving to find Rafe and Georgia. 

 

Dwight arrives at the school, and after he first goes into hysterics over the destruction of his bush, he and Stricker are met with the confusing sight of the desks and students being outside. Dwight decides to carry on with the B.L.A.A.R. anyway, but he soon finds out that the tests are false when one of the students reads aloud a question that states that Dwight suspended 22 students to rig the test. When he asks Stricker where the real tests are, Miller – clad in the mascot outfit – suddenly showers everyone with the shredded remains of said tests from the roof. Rafe then gets everyone’s attention, and he shows off the incriminating videotape of Dwight and tells them of what it contains. The furious Dwight tries to chase after him, but he gets tripped by one of the students, and when Stricker attempts to help out with the chase, she trips and falls as well. Gus then appears in his cart and collects Rafe, and as they drive away, Dwight gets back on his feet and pursues them on a bicycle that he steals from a passing student. Dwight eventually catches up to them, but Gus flings a load of manure in the back of his cart onto him. 

 

Just then, Teller shows up nearby with Superintendent Hwang (Angela Oh). As Rafe presents her with the videotape, Dwight tries to discredit him and then Teller when he stands up for him, but Hwang informs Dwight that she is here because Teller lodged a formal complaint with her, saying that Dwight rigged the B.L.A.A.R. and unlawfully fired him (and – presumably – he also informed her about how Dwight has been creating and enforcing unlawful rules at the school). After checking out the contents of the tape, Hwang fires Dwight, and she also tells him that because rigging a state test is a serious offense, she will be going to the police to press charges against him. She also fires Stricker for being Dwight’s accomplice. Shortly afterward, Jules shows up to get Rafe and Georgia, and Carl then arrives in a taxi to get his car back. After he freaks out over the damage that Georgia inflicted on it, Jules makes their breakup official by giving back the engagement ring he gave her, telling him that he can use it to cover the repair costs.

 

That night, Leo appears before Rafe while standing outside the school. After congratulating Rafe on the success of “their” operation, Leo informs him that he has come to say goodbye, explaining that he doesn’t need him anymore because he has some real friends now. Leo then departs in an alien spacecraft that Rafe had earlier drawn in his sketchbook before Dwight destroyed it, and they say “Grak-tung” to each other before he goes (which means “victory is ours” in the fictional alien language that Rafe created). Jeanne then appears, having overheard Rafe say that word, and after he tells her what it means, she informs him that he hasn’t won yet because he forgot to break the last rule in Dwight’s rulebook, Rule #86 (no public displays of affection). They then share a kiss to break it, which Leo watches approvingly from a window in the spaceship before he parties with the aliens inside.

01 hours 32 minutes