Thoroughly synthetic.

Time is divided between broad satire, or outright farce, and earnest preachment of the type in made-for-TV "issue" movies. (At issue: a breach-of-promise lawsuit brought by an illiterate high-school grad against his alma mater.) Hiller, who once upon a time directed _Hospital_, seems to want to do something of the kind for high school, but with a script by McKinney instead of Paddy Chayefsky. The latter, however many his faults, was prone to write brighter dialogue

Tries really, really hard to be Socially Significant and entertaining at the same time. Not bad, it's just too clumsy to fully work

I still love this movie.