Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Very entertaining, August 8, 2004
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.
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fascinating, June 23, 2002
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.
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14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Imaginative blend of live action and animation, July 2, 2002
"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.
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