Cheap The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys (DVD) (Kieran Culkin, Jena Malone) (Peter Care) Price

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Customer Reviews of The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys

A fun, beautiful teen coming-of age story
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.

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unique film concept
... I seriously doubt most teen age boys would be so stupid as to try to kidnap a live cougar. However, the rest of the plot is very much believable & in the end has allot of good messages. Such as Sister Asumpta (Jodie Foster) is really looking out for the boys best interests in the end (showing authority figures are not always so bad as we imagine them), and Francis (Emile Hirsch) learns the true value of honesty, friendship, & intimacy. Also, Francis doesn't even have sex with his love interest(showing you can be close to some one without going all of the way). Also, as happens with his best friend Tim (Kieran Culkin), Francis learns its best not to put into action all of the bad thoughts in your head & maybe just act them out in cartoons instead. In the end there are allot of valuable messages for teenagers with the proper guidance from a loving adult (another message hidden in the film). The unique combination of animation & live action added to the plot of the film & also reflected the original story scource which was a comic book fairy tale. Jodie, Kieran, Emile, Jena Malone all gave believable & excellent performances, actors which I look forward to seeing again.

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Totally great
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.