The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys

source: The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys

This film, set in the religious environment many adults grew up with tells the story of four boys, who's personal lives become intertwined with their fertile imaginations. Immitating many boys their age, they deal with personal problems and set about to enliven their dull existence with pranks. They are common enough, until they run headlong into Jodi Foster who plays their main teacher and a Catholic Nun. Their stunt of stealing the statue of the school's namesake progresses to stealing a mountain lion, which in turn initiates death. With the added concepts of visual art in comic form, the film delivers a plausible entertainment. However, the search for the reason why this film earn an "R" rating proves illusive.

`The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys' is NOT, as you might expect, a film about predatory priests, but rather a slice-of-life tale about four malcontent Catholic schoolboys who spend most of their free time devising preposterously elaborate and life-threatening practical jokes to play on the faculty members of their school. As a coming-of-age drama, the film is fairly conventional in its plotting - i.e. young boys, in their rebellion against the uncomprehending adult world, experiment with drugs, first love, sex and general rule breaking - although there is a tricky and touchy incest-related subplot that is handled with a certain amount of delicacy and sensitivity. The highlight of the movie is the outstanding performances delivered by youngsters Emile Hirsch, Kieran Culkin and Jena Malone, whom you might remember as the young Jodie Foster in `Contact.' In fact, Foster herself appears in this film (in addition to co-producing it) as the uptight nun, Sister Assumpta. Unfortunately, her character is probably the least well developed one in the film, a fact that seems more obvious than it otherwise might if an actress of Foster's caliber were not playing the part. The film also displays a nice feeling for its early-70's setting and does a good job capturing the way young people actually speak and communicate (the cast members have their nonverbal expressions and gestures down beautifully as well). Working from the novel by Chris Fuhrman, screenwriters Jeff Stockwell and Michael Petroni, along with director Peter Care, interrupt the live action at regular intervals to provide animated sequences that are ostensibly derived from the anarchic superhero comic book on which the gifted boys are collaborating. We know that these sequences are intended to provide a kind of fantasy alternate universe for these troubled kids who seem to find no meaning in the restricted world of religion and rules in which they find themselves, but the fact is that these sections of the film, not very creative in themselves, merely serve to thrust us out of the story at crucial moments. `The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys' is an odd and somewhat misleading title for this film, since most of the `danger' these boys face is, primarily, a product of their own stupidity and not of their religious upbringing. Indeed, the religious figures in the film are mainly cranky and/or ineffectual, not really dangerous. `The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys' is an uneven film, but the superb performances by its youthful cast members make it ultimately worth seeing.

K, i don't know what's with you guys - But i loved that movie! iv'e seen many movie in my life and i can honestly say that this was one of my favourite ! that's one of the movies that you can't predict the end. The end was so strong, and it sure leaves you with some feelings. I really would recommend this movie coz' it sure is one of the best but not anyone would like it - just the one's that have the ability to focus in the movie itself !! But its really a great movie!! my favourite one !!! :] love Me

"Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys" is very similar to "Stand By Me," with the nice addition of a non-stereotyped girl and a stereotyped nun (played by producer Jodie Foster) in the mix. Young love is shown the sweetest I've seen in a long time (oy, I'm still apologizing to a certain boy in my head when he was so sweet to me at that age and I didn't know how to handle it; oh well, I didn't have a script based on a book to follow.) Emile Hirsch and Jena Malone are marvelous, especially with the very serious sides of their lives, though the lousy parenting is only vaguely shown with shouting. While the gambits of their crew are a bit unbelievable as they try to put fantasy into their real lives, their fantasy comic life through Todd McFarlane animation is a lot of fun (I was a fan of McFarlane's HBO series "Spawn.") I've never seen a super-hero with such sensitive eyes! (originally written 6/23/2002)

In the Seventies, the fifteen years old troublemaker and leader altar boy Tim Sullivan (Kieran Culkin) and his three great friends, Francis Doyle (Emile Hirsch), Wade Scalisi (Jake Richardson) and Joey Anderson (Tyler Long), study in a repressive Catholic school, and they hate their nun-teacher Sister Assumpta (Jodie Foster). Francis has a crush on Margie Flynn (Jena Malone), who has a dramatic secret in her life. They like to write a comic book called 'The Atomic Trinity' and all of them have an alter-ego in their superheroes: Brakken (Francis), The Muscle/Skeleton Boy later (Tim), Captain Asskicker (Wade) and Major Screw (Joey), with Sorcerella (Margie) joining them later. Francis uses to fantasize reality with the fantastic situations the heroes face against the evil Nunzilla/Pegleg, a dark caricature of Sister Assumpta. The group plots an evil prank against Sister Assumpta, with tragic consequences. "The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys" is a surprisingly great original coming to age movie, one of the best I have ever seen in my life. The group of friends recalled me 1986 "Stand by Me" or part of 1981 "Four Friends" and the dramatic situation recalled somehow 1999 "The Virgin Suicides". The screenplay, alternating animation with film, is great: the boys escape and fantasize reality through their alter egos. The performance of the young cast is also excellent. Jodie Foster, as the severe teacher, and Vincent D'Onofrio, as Father Casey, magnificently complete this wonderful cast. I could never imagine Jodie Foster in such role. I highly recommend this great movie, much unknown here in Brazil. My vote is nine. Title (Brazil): "Meninos de Deus" ("Boys of God")

It is, primarily, the story of two young Catholic boys on the cusp of manhood; and one's discovery that the world is more nuanced, sometimes sadder, and occasionally richer than that which he knows. We watch the boyhood black-and-white vision of Frances Doyle, played with surprising depth by the very talented young artist Emile Hirsch, transform gradually to shades of grey as he closes the door on one phase of life to enter another, not even turning to glance over his shoulder. Kieran Culkin, too, turns in a simultaneously beautiful and tragic performance as Frances's best friend, Tim Sullivan. Somewhat brash and completely unapologetic, Altar Boys delves the minds of 14-year-old boys in all their hormonal and conflicted glory; from the imaginary alter-lives they lead in the collusive effort of creating comic book heroes to Frances's first love testing the bounds of their friendship in ways both startling and completely expected, to an riotously-14-year-old-inspired plot to kill the nun they so detest - played with great reserve, yet to great effect by Jodie Foster - by loosing a cougar into her office, it's no-holds-barred and (at least I expect) dead-to-rights in depicting the indefatigability of boys' imagination and penchant for mischief. I am all about the characters and these were interesting and charming and exasperating; silly and rotten and exhilarating. Like "Stand By Me", the characters were richly drawn, well-layered and both primary players had very impressive depth for playing these roles as full-fledged people and not merely...well, not merely '14-year-old boys'. Unlike "Stand By Me", these characters were fleshier -- if for no other reason than because of the added two years' life experience. Hirsch's portrayal of Frances's battle within himself, in dealing with a very sensitive secret told him by first love Margie Flynn (Jena Malone does a great job) was realistic and truly conflicted -- not at all cut-and-dried -- and did a fine service to young men everywhere...even if her secret turned out to be a manipulative betrayal, of sorts. Culkin's Tim possessed a worldliness reflective of his love for William Blake and Edgar Allan Poe: as much in his critique of cartoon hero "KickAss" kicking the s*** (literally -- the s***) out of Vincent D'Onofrio's Father Casey as in his tearful (but not over-wrought) roadside warning to Frances of , "Don't you ever tell me to 'Get real' again, okay? Because I know real." I kept catching myself thinking how the character Tim possessed the mystical combination of intelligence, wit, passion, and Devil-may-care bravado that drove me wild as a pre-teen girl, so while it was a unique juxtaposition that the slightly more uninspired Frances 'got the girl', it wasn't implausible, but rather added a bit more depth of curiosity to this unique and very interesting film. The very slightest hint of a reverse Cyrano early-on really was charming. If for no other reason than the performances, this film is worth checking out. I could see where in less-talented hands, the script and perhaps even the direction could've fallen flat, but the screen talent carried this one really, really well. Someone once said that they could be enthralled, watching D'Onofrio read the phone book. I concur completely, and this film was no exception to the greater amount of work I've seen of his: small parts, huge impressions. Jodie Foster is...well, she's Jodie Foster: if I need to say more, you haven't seen enough of her films. But these young actors are ones to watch for, I believe.

The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys is probably my favorite book of all time. Jena Malone is unbearably cute. This was without a doubt the most disappointing moviegoing experience of my life. Kiernan Culkin and Malone both turned in good performances, but the movie was lacking in too many areas to mention them all. Bottom line, read the book, or rent this movie in a few months (if you can find it) only to admire Jena Malone and the fairly interesting animation from that guy who did "Spawn." The character interaction was horrible, the story was muddled and unrealistic, and what was an amazing novel is now a pointless movie...I've been wanting to make a film out of this book for years, and now its been done and destroyed. It's a damn travesty if I've ever seen one.

'The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys', directed by Peter Case, is a coming of age story about two boys, Francis (Emile Hirsch) Tim (Kieran Culkin) who supplement their boredom at Catholic school and their home lives by playing pranks and working on their own comic book. Their main nemesis in life, who they turn into the villain in their book, is their teacher, Sister Assumpta. (Jodie Foster) I wish that I could add more to the synopsis, but there's not a lot more to tell. The film centers around the hijinks of these characters, then tries to throw in some character development that generally go absolutely nowhere. Most of the film is spent planning a prank on the Sister that goes awry, but after awhile it becomes so boring that when the climax of the film arrived I didn't remotely care. 'The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys' has been praised for its creativity and the mixed genres, (the film turns into a Todd McFarlane produced form of anime at times) but even these moments were just plain boring. Jodie Foster, as always, is wonderful in the film, but despite the fact that she is supposedly the evil nemesis, she has an aggregate screen time of perhaps ten minutes, so there wasn't enough of her to truly enjoy. Generally, films that deal with topics such as incest, ghosts, and untamed youth are at least thought-provoking, but 'The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys' didn't provoke anything in me but boredom. 'Coming of age' films have been done many times before, but they can still be effective if done well. (See a film as recent as 'The Virgin Suicides') Unfortunately 'The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys' doesn't come remotely close to approaching effective, or well done. I expected more out of a Jodie Foster production and am disappointed I didn't get even an average film. --Shelly

The Dangerous Lives of Alter Boys is kind of like a cross between The Virgin Suicides and Stand By Me. Set in the 70's (featuring many cool 70's haircuts) in small town Georgia, the story focuses on Francis, a 14-year-old dreamer and troublemaker. He and his pals, Tim, Wade, and Joey cope with life under the oppressive rule of one-legged nun Sister Assumpta (Jodie Foster) at the Puritan Christian high school they're unfortunate enough to attend. One of their methods of escape is the 'The Atomic Trinity' comic book. Each of them have their own character with superpowers (such as The Muscle, Captain Asskicker and Skeleton Boy), battling against the tyrannical regime of Nunzilla/Pegleg (a gross caricature of Sister Assumpta). These fantasy stories make up the terrific animated sequences of the film. The cool thing is that they are not so totally removed from the reality of Francis, Tim, Wade and Joey. The boys soon find their way into a lot of trouble though. After stealing the school's nun statue mascot the quartet plan to steal a cougar from the zoo and put in Sister Assumpta's office. A mad plan yes, but their determination and invention behind it is very clever. Some scenes of the film are very emotional, so if you have soft spot you'll find it tough to get through the scene where Tim finds a dying dog by the side of the road or Francis reading a poem at the funeral. Francis' relationship with Margie (the very cute Jenna Malone) also takes many curious and unique turns. The scene with the ghost watching them sleep was pleasingly weird. Taken from the one and only book (posthumously) by Chris Fuhrman (a book I must get as soon as I see), The Dangerous Lives of Alter Boys is attractively shot, wonderfully acted and definitely worth getting. The DVD is in 1.85:1 widescreen (strangely non-anamorphic, though the region 2 version is) with Dolby 5.1 sound and a mild bunch of extras.