Customer Reviews

The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys [VHS]

5 star:		(26)
4 star:		(22)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I'm not Catholic nor a teen, but I found this movie very interesting and entertaining. The interaction between all the kids was pretty real and the dialog did not seem juvenile.
Although not normally a fan of animation, that portion worked OK in this movie because it was the outward expression of the kids' imagination.

Of the 7 primary actors, Jodie Foster had the weakest character as "nunzilla". Perhaps it was just the nature of the character. Vincent D'Onofrio was entertaining as the smoking, swearing priest (and apparently in the book he was a womanizer, too.) The 4 boys were all pretty good, but Jena Malone probably had the toughest role as the girl with a secret, and she was very good.

The whole cougar plot-point was a bit much, and the dog scene came from nowhere, but the rest was very satisfying.

The extras on the DVD were good, too.

P.S. Originally I could not get this DVD to play in "widescreen". Sony said it was a known encoding problem and to change the DVD player setup for TV to "normal letterbox" instead of "normal pan/scan". Worked like a charm.

These film was a gem that I was not expecting it to be.

Jodie Foster's understated performance in the less-than-glamorous role of Sister Assumpta is excellent, as one tends to expect from her. But it is the young actors who carry the day. Emile Hirsh is quite credible; Jena Malone seems heartbreakingly honest. I was most impressed by Kieran Culkin. This is where the talent landed in the Culkin family-- he greatly outshines any performance ever given by his more-famous big brother.

What makes this film special is the mixture of animation and scenes from the banal life of teenage catholic school kids. I was completely drawn into their world. I was throughly entertained by the increasingly daring ways they found to entertain themselves-- in life, in love, in their fantasy world. And here is the key: For the first time since adolesence, I felt the characters were invincible. They did not think of themselves as teenage outcasts, but rather as heros who could do anything and everything. It reminded me of the time in life before one realizes how little one knows, how creul the world can be, and that we are all quite vincible in the end.

The film does not cop out in the end either. It is strong through out and ends when it should. (I was certain it would go on to have an everything-is-okay life lesson scene at the end-- to protect revenues, if nothing else. The filmmakers, and producers, were brave enough to skip such common antics.)

I have said nothing, really, about the plot. And really, to me, the plot did not matter. It was merely a means of drawing me in to the lives of the characters. I saw the world from their perspective-- as I did when I was the teenage catholic school boy 15 years ago. Again, like in life, it was difficult to "get real" and leave the hope and fantasy for a dose of consequences and ramifications.

"The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys," directed by Peter Care, tells the story of a quartet of Catholic school boys who are engaged in a protracted war against their stern teacher, Sister Assumpta (played by Jodie Foster, who also has a producing credit on the film). One of the boys, Francis (Emile Hirsch) is the primary creator of the boys' alter egos, a group of comic book superheroes. These outcast mutant heroes are brought to life in a series of energetic animated sequences that effectively parallel the main story.

The film features solid performances by an excellent cast. Hirsch holds the film together in what is effectively the lead role. As Francis' best friend, Kieran Culkin brings depth to what could have been a stereotypical prankster role. Vincent D'Onofrio gives a nicely understated performance as a nicotine-craving, soccer coaching priest.

Jodie Foster has some good moments, but I found her pivotal character to be disappointingly underdeveloped; this lack of insight into Assumpta hurts the symmetry of the film.

"Dangerous Lives" is an effective mix of humor and adolescent angst, with some really tender and moving moments. Unfortunately, I found the boys' main prank of the film to be just too moronic and unbelievable, and the film seems to lose cohesion towards the end. Still, I can't help but love a film in which the poetry and artwork of William Blake is a key motif.

Interesting theme: a group of four boys who go to a Catholic school are tired of squirming under the unflinching tyranny of Nun-zilla, their rigorous nun played by Jodie Foster.

With whom they cope by expressing their frustrations through comic-book sketches and imagining themselves as superheroes. The film uses this excuse to smoosh in some fascinating animation sequences illustrating emotional aspects of the story through the eyes of these kids.

This includes several sub-plots and sub-sub-plots: first romances, coming of age, friendship, control versus freedom, even hints of touchy issues like pedophilia (although no, there is nothing creepy actually manifested), etc.

The characters are convincing, and the performances are quite taut all round, so I've had a hard time putting an exact pulse on what the problem is with Altar Boys, because I liked many of the big picture things about it. Perhaps the film took off in too many directions at once. In bringing up all these themes and tropes, several topics are introduced and then frittered away for lack of time. Others are dwelled upon longer than they should have.

Yet, on the whole, Altar Boys works well as a well-done tale of baffled adolescents for whom imagination is not merely a dangerous diversion feared by conservative religious folk, but a veritable cathartic tool.

One minor annoyance with the DVD: the sound of dialogue is about 2 million decibels lower than the sound of the soundtrack that accompanies the animation interludes.

Recommended rental.

One of the best teen stories of the past few years, "The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys" defies the current ideal for a "teen movie" and goes more in the vein of such timeless stories as "A Seperate Peace." Not only is this film a realistic look at the actions, dialogue, and thoughts of fourteen year old boys, it's a dramatic story that can bring one from hilarity to tear-dropping sadness. It is a true "loss of innocence" story, not a comedy or a drama, but the harsh reality of life and how these things can be learned.

The entire Catholic motif throughout the movie is merely a backdrop, one facet of these boys. Having dealt with Catholic education, this story was more true to the way kids act than to the way people want these kids to act: outrageous, creative, and all in all still just children. Jodie Foster plays Sister Assumpta, the tormentor of Tim Sullivan (Kieran Culkin) and Francis Doyle (Emile Hirsch). Aided with Vincent D'Onofrio as the chain-smoking, cussing and jovial Father Casey, the two cast a spell of Catholic education and become perfect targets for the way that fourteen year olds view it: the evil nun, the easy-going priest. The film is in no way anti-Catholic, but merely realistic and perfect in story telling.

Culkin and Hirsch become an identifiable and energetic on screen pair, exemplifying the undeniable bond between two teenage boys and the trials and tribulations of having it. They complement each other and when Jena Malone (playing Margie Flynn, Hirsch's girlfriend) comes into the mix, the strain of relationships is seen and told accurately with intensity that could make any adult reach back into his or her adolescence and identify with the characters.

With the group of four boys all artists, the film is half told in their comic world of the "Atomic Trinity", in which there is really four members. As the story progresses, the story of the Trinity changes with it, giving an existential look at the way the boys are changing, growing, and interacting with each other. It's a perfect complement to the movie and takes the viewer into Frances' world of comics and the love for the fantasy world, that the boys are always dreamers and will stay that.

When watching this movie, take it with a grain of salt. Don't expect it to be politically correct or easy to watch, and don't expect it to cater to anyones tastes. It is an eye opener to those who forget that boys will still just be boys and a reminder for many of how fun it was to be fourteen.. This is easily one of my favorites of the year and one of the most interesting movies I have seen in a long time, definitely worth repeat viewings.

This is a film adaptation of Chris Furhman's novel portraying the pubescent years of boys and girls in a Catholic grammar school. Wow! Talk about contradictory and opposing forces, this film hits you right between the eyes. Produced by Jodie Foster and Meg Lefauve who seek projects that push for a universal truth, this production certainly doesn't disappoint. It's a tender love affair underlying the bottled energy, hormone driven youngsters, looking to unleash on a world not yet known to them.

A nun, Sister Assumpta (Jodie Foster), in her unswerving dedication, tries to convince her pupils that denial and self-discipline here on earth, assures their divine salvation. The boys see her as a fiendish Church authority and create a comic book that defiles her and the church. Animated sequences of their comic book art are shown that reveals the boys' perception of their own lives. This provides an ingenious touch of insight into their thought processes. The girls are quieter, but their emotions run no less deeply; just in a different way. One of them, Margie (Jenna Malone), has a dark secret that she dares not reveal, but feels she must when she falls in love with Francis (Emile Hirsch).

It is scary, fascinating, disturbing, wonderful, and an inescapable peek into reality, and the casting and acting are incredible; it's as good as it gets. Be sure to see this film...you'll never forget it.

“The Dangerous Lives of Alter Boys” is an odd movie for several reasons. It mixes animation with live action, and it is the antithesis of the typical American movie about teenagers. These characters deal with sex and drugs more like very young adults than overgrown kids, While this viewpoint may be a little surprising to some viewers, it makes these teens more believable and memorable.

Tim and Francis [Kieran Culkin and Emile Hirsch] are best friends. Growing up in a small, Middle American city, They attend a Catholic school and act as alter boys at the local cathedral. Bright, rebellious and bored, they are constantly looking for ways to get into trouble. With other friends, they create a comic book called the Atomic Trinity. The book’s heroes are their alter egos, and the villain is modeled after the school’s dreaded Sister Assumpta [Jodie Foster]. When the Sister discovers the book, which is quite sacrilegious, there is hell to pay. Like all good rebels, the boys vow revenge. Meanwhile, Francis falls in love with Margie Flynn [Jena Malone], a girl with a terrible secret which will exact a terrible toll on Francis and Tim’s friendship.

Weaknesses in the script mar an otherwise interesting coming-of-age tale. In particular, the animation sequences get in the way of the narrative towards the end. While they vividly illustrate the boys’ fantasy world, they would have been more effective had they been briefer and more to the point.

A highlight is the young cast. Culkin, Hirsch and Malone are three of the best teenage actors around, and it is treat to see them together in the same movie.

While it rarely reaches the heights to which it aspires dramatically, “The Dangerous Lives of Alter Boys” is one of the better recent movies about young people and their problems. [NOTE: The movie’s title is from the cult novel on which it is based. It has nothing to do with the sex scandal currently rocking the Catholic Church.]

I saw this movie recently at the Seattle International Film Festival. I admit, out of all the choices, I picked this movie because Jodie was in it, in an unusual role - Assumpta, a nun, teaching in a school. And she was great, even though she had to fill the shoes of someone with seemingly little warmth and a peg leg to boot. She is also one of the producers.

But truly, the reasons to see this movie are far more diverse...
The script is touching, funny, and dark - adapted from the debut novel of the late Chris Fuhrman.

The protagonists here are the teenage boys, Francis and Tim, who live in a world of their own construction. They're comic book heroes, the nun is a super-villain, and Margie, the girl that Francis is interested in serves as a damsel in distress... Todd MacFarlane, the comic-book genius, created the animated sequences in which the stories spun by the boys come to life. The problems, of course, start when the real world's demands interfere with the fiction.

Francis' first love is the first sign of coming-of-age that may tear him apart from the trouble-free (in the adult sense of the word) life. The secret that Margie later reveals is another blow, adding to his confusion. It's hard not to grow apart from his friends in the process.
Tim grows visibly fearful that he may lose his friend, and involves him in the increasingly envelope-pushing, dangerous stunts against their shared enemy, Sister Assumpta. And Francis, probably as unwilling to face the responsibilities and dangers of the real life, goes along with Tim, only to regret it later.

It is a testament to the power of the movie that when the credits rolled and "In Memory of Chris Fuhrman" were the first words, the audience gasped in disappointment, as one. Such good novels as the one this movie is based on are hard to come by, and it's a tragedy to lose this wonderful writer. I suppose this review is a recommendation to read the book as well as see the movie.

Co-produced by Jodie Foster's company Egg Production (Jodie also appears here as a supporting player), "The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys" is a good example of her keen-eyed judgement to choose the good material with right cast. She must be proud of the result of her effort, and she should be.

The film, based on an autobiographical novel by late Chris Fuhrman, follows the life of two boys attending a Catholic high school, Francis (feature debut Emile Hirsch) and Tim (Kieran Culkin). Francis is good at writing a comic book, in which he expresses his inner world full of teenage angst and anger, raised by and targeted at, the rather harsh and rigid rules set by the supervising nun Sister Assumpta (Jodie Foster). So, she becomes, in his comic world, villainous "Nun-zilla" the destroyer of the town, and he and his friends "Atomic Trinnity." But when Francis comes to know his girlfriend's secret (played by Jena Malone), Francis's world starts to crumble, showing its uglier sides to those teenage boys.

The content itself is probably deemed familiar -- we have seen many films dealing with teenage-angst -- but most unique part of the film is it uses the cartoon scenes to show the innermost place of Francis's tormented heart. The cartoon sequences -- done by none other than Todd McFarlane of "Spawn" fame -- are delivered intentionally in an old-fashioned style, corresponding with the boy's journey through the troubled teenage days, giving power to the whole work.

But truely remarkable things about the film is the actors -- Emile Hirsch as the lead in particular is incredibly good, always convincing and successful in exuding the feelings of "the dangerous lives" of the teenagers. Also of note is Kieran Culkin, always cool and cynical, but I was really surprised to find Jena Malone, expressing the strong and fragile side of a girl with a terrible secret. Jodie Forster perhaps found out her talent when Jena Malone played Jodie's characater in childhood in "Contact."

As for Jodie herself, she plays a relatively negative role (a rare thing for her), but still good at that, and even retains a humane side in her character. And though briefly, Jodie rides a bike wearing a nun's costume (!), which reminds me of an old film starring Debbie Reynolds (if you remember "The Singing Nun" and "Donimique, niqu ..." song). The film is director Peter Care's first feature, and his previous works are music videoes (Bruce Springsteen and others) or commercials, but he knows how to tell a good story with very plausible portraits of teens. And the subdued photograhy of Lance Acord ("Buffallo 66" and "Being John Malkovich") is another asset.

Not for young kids! This movie is very moving and sad, but also wonderfully clever and hilariously funny in places. Wathching some of the characters, I kept thinking that yes, it reflects exactly how I thought about things when I was that age. So I could really identify with the teenage-angst and freakiness of the film despite the fact that I am an old geezer now. But I hope you'll forgive me that, even though I am no genius.