The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys

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They see authority such as their teacher, Sister Assumpta, as the enemy and develop a scheme to get revenge on her. Yet along the way one finds love with its complexities while the other tries to understand what life means. The story is mostly live action along with cartoon animation intertwined with the film, projecting the energetic ideas and feelings of the students.  </div> <bR> <div> <B>Story Line:</B> Two charming, but otherwise inexperienced, catholic high school boys confront the mysteries of adulthood.  Best friends Francis (Emile Hirsch) and Tim (Kieran Culkin) see life as a simple day by day process and only want to experience fun. Along with two other close friends, the gang's main hobbies include developing their comic book and causing mischief on the catholic school premises. </div> <bR> <div> In school, Tim and Francis daydream of two different things; Francis dreams of Margie, a classmate who he is in love with and Tim dreams of getting revenge on his teacher, Sister Assumpta (Jodie Foster). Both dreams develop into a life wake up call for the two adolescents. Francis learns that Margie loves him too, but that behind her happy shell she has a dark secret that could destroy their relationship. Tim on the other hand, doesn't understand that Sister Assumpta, though sometimes extreme, only wants to discipline her students to the fullest of her ability so they can learn to fulfill their potential. </div> <bR> <div> Tim and Francis are faced with the obstacles that will decide their fate. They are presented with choices, which only they can decide are right or wrong. There are no easy solutions to life, and as Tim and Francis learn, developing into adulthood is the most confusing part of life. As the two main characters are faced with moral dilemmas, the boys lose their innocence and turn into more experienced young men. Resulting from the choices the two make, they learn that real life has no easy ways out. </div> <bR> <div> <B>Tell Me More About It</B>: What's best about this film is the coming-of-age theme.  It's been done so many times, but it is really honest here. Aside from a disappointing and logically dissatisfying ending, this movie delivers a harsh truth. As kids we all make mistakes and those mistakes are our best teachers. Not only are the high school years the most confused and most pressured, they are vital in helping people find out who they really are. </div> <bR> <div> To support this theme, the acting in this film needed to be good. The acting was all top notch, notably from the Kieran Culkin and Emile Hirsch. Culkin is great as Tim, a mischievous and insecure fourteen- year-old and Hirsch does an excellent job as the better behaved of the two, who must face a brutal truth. Jodie Foster and Vincent D' Onofrio as Sister Assumpta and Father Casey are perfect as always. Foster is convincing as a bitter nun and D' Onofrio is excellent at playing a </div> <bR> <div> Priest who understands that sometimes kids act like kids. The real gem in the film is Jena Malone (Margie) as the troubled, teenage love interest of Francis. At first she seems like the All-American girl, but as the movie develops, Francis is presented with Margie's dark secret, one that together they are forced to live with forever. She is convincing as a girl who must live with a dark past, but tries to conceal it from others in fear it might make a bad impression. It is when Margie reveals the secret that Francis learns that life isn't always what it seems. Though the movie is a drama, there are high-spirited moments as well as extremely tragic and sad moments, just like life (though the sad may overlap the happy a little more often).  </div> <bR> <div> As a sixteen-year-old, I understand that high school is the most confusing time of my life. Every day as an adolescent I am faced with decisions, whether they are social or academic, these decisions set the path for the rest of my life. I, as well as most other high school students, think at times we have life all figured out<FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#FFCC66" FACE="Symbol" >-</FONT>but this is when mistakes are made. Mistakes we make as adolescents teach us the life lessons that are most important in the long run. This movie embraced the theme that life is rarely what it seems to be and that there are no easy solutions to a conflict. What I will eventually have to learn, as well as what the kids in this movie painfully learned, is that growing up is learning to depend on yourself. </div> <bR> <div> Some of my favorite parts of the movie were the animated segments. Intertwined with the live-action, the cartoon is based on the four main boys in the movie who transform into super heroes. In the cartoon they must battle the evil nuns in order to save the world. As the live-action portion of the movie progresses towards a deeper message, the cartoon develops its underlying theme of the transformation from innocence to knowledge as well. I really liked this cartoon, which explored the creativity of the four boys in the film, in addition to being designed by the creator of <I>SPAWN.</I></div> <bR> <div> I would like to have given this film a better rating, even though I still recommend it. It wraps up the dreams of Tim and Francis in a frustrating manner as well as being a little illogical. Margie's dark secret becomes a little overdone as she reveals more and more about it. Also, Tim's plan to seek revenge leads to a logical flaw. Nevertheless, the movie's main theme provides an interesting impact. A good theme and great acting makes this film worth seeing. Basically life is a roller coaster, and in high school it is always a bumpy ride. </div> <bR> <div> One thing that frustrates me is that this movie is rated R. Though it has violence, drugs, sex, alcohol, what sixteen year old hasn't seen at least a few of those? This movie made me think, and I think it could make other teenagers rethink things a little bit as well. This should have been PG-13, and last year's <I>Almost Famous </I>was an even better example of a ridiculous R rating. Not only was the latter an excellent film but it was a great coming-of-age story. Now tell me how this happened - <I><B>Rollerball</B></I> was PG-13, <I>The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys</I> is R… does this make sense? You'll know the answer once you see this film. </div> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="1" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="591" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="587"><div> Rating R (sex; drugs; alcohol; violence; language)</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="587"><div> David Spielman © 2002</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="587"><div> Djdave14@reelmoviecritic.com</div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div> Mini Filmography </div> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="1" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="579" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 ><NOBR><div> Kieran Culkin: The Cider House Rules</div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> Vincent D'Onofrio: <I><B>The Salton Sea</B></I></div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 ><NOBR><div> Jena Malone: For the Love of the Game</div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="286"><div> Jodie Foster: <I><B>Panic Room</B></I></div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="286"><div> Emile Hirsch: Houdini</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="286"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="19" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="286" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>