Wow. That's really all I can say about this film, one of
the most original and touching motion pictures I have seen in a
long, long while. I tend to use the word 'touching' in
many of my reviews, but never have I meant it so strongly.
"The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys" is something
special, something I never would have expected to crash land in
a summer that has brought us nothing but box office records and
lame action flicks. However, I am certainly glad that it
did.
Emile Hirsch and Kieran Culkin star as Francis and Tim, two
students who attend a Catholic high school. Both boys are
still very naive and innocent when it comes to the world
outside, and they still see everyone as being either a hero or a
villain. Their villain takes the form of Sister Assumpta
(Jodie Foster), a nun who sees to the boys well being.
Francis and Tim see her as the villain, though she possesses a
genuine concern and love for the boys, a love which is blind to
them. So, they engage themselves in sketching a comic book
involving the nun and and some other religious figures, a comic
book which lands them in some serious trouble. However,
the comic book is really not the centerpoint of the plot, though
the film does periodically turn to animation, showing the
escapades depicted in the book. The center of the story
deals with Francis and Tim coming of age and coming into their
own. They go through the different levels of friendship,
first-love, and loss, all leading to their eventual maturity by
the end of the film. The climax involves a scheme hatched
to get revenge on Sister Assumpta, which leads to a surprising
and heartbreaking end that is not expected. Jena Malone
co-stars as Francis' first-love, and Vincent D' Onofrio stars as
Father Casey.
First off, this film would be nothing without the exceptional
performances from all of the primary stars. Emile Hirsch
and Kieran Culkin are fabulous as the two high schoolers, Jodie
Foster delivers another Oscar worthy performance as the caring
nun, and Vincent D'Onofrio is perfect as the man of God, sports
enthusiast. The performances are so heartfelt and genuine,
we almost sympathize with the characters we know we should be
loathing or resenting. That is what good filmmaking is
about.
This film reminded me of several other films: "Rushmore"
in the way it skillfully depicted high school life with much wit
and drama, "Explorers" in the way it blended fantasy
as an escape from real life, and "One Flew Over the
Cuckoo's Nest" due to the similarities between the
characters played by Louise Fletcher and Jodie Foster.
This film took the best of all those films and blended them
together in an unforgettable way.
So, summing things up, this is the best film I have seen this
year and will certainly be on my end of the year lists. I
walked out of the theatre feeling something I don't recall
having ever felt before, and it will take one hell of an
original movie to make me feel it again. Everyone should
go see this film if they want to relive the feelings they had as
a youth and the experiences that that transformed them into
mature adults. If we could give higher ratings that four
pops, you can bet your ass I would, but I'll just have to work
with what I've got.
