The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys R1

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Travis Willock reviews

The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys R1
Distributed by
Columbia Tristar Home Entertainment

    Cover

  • Cert: R
  • Cat.no: 00172
  • Running time: 105 minutes
  • Year: 2002
  • Pressing: 2002
  • Region(s): 1, NTSC
  • Chapters: 20
  • Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1
  • Languages: English
  • Subtitles: English, Spanish
  • Widescreen: 1.85:1
  • 16:9-Enhanced: Yes
  • Macrovision: No
  • Disc Format: DVD 9
  • Price: $27.98
  • Extras:Audio Commentary, Animated Scenes Collection with commentary byTodd McFarlane, Anatomy of a Scene, Production Notes, Cast and FilmmakerBios, Featurette, Deleted Scenes, Interviews, Theatrical Trailer, TVSpots, Illustrations, Trailer Gallery, DVD-ROM Content.

    Director:

      Peter Care

Screenplay:

    Jeff Stockwell and Michael Petroni

Cast:

    Tim: Kieran Culkin
    Marge: Jena Malone
    Francis: Emile Hirsh
    Father Casey: Vincent D ‘Onofrio
    Sister Assumpta: Jodie Foster
    Wade: Jake Richardson

Coming-of-age filmsnowadays are defined as gross out, sex and drugfilled teen comedies that DO NOT deserve the name. Once in awhile amovie comes along that does deserve the name of coming-of-age. Itdelivers on terms of characters you actually care about and ones who youmay be able to identify with. Not to mention the cool animatedsequences.

The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys had it’s title as it’s worst enemy butlike most movies with this fault it’s better than anyone thinks. Fourboys are growing up in a Catholic school in the early to mid 70s . Ofcouse they like to cause trouble and read comic books and talk aboutgirls. They have an arch nemesis of a teacher named Sister Assumpta(Jodie Foster) who they refer to as Peg Leg in their awesome animatedsuperhero dreams. Each boy has a hero alter ego and occasionallyanimated scenes featuring these heroes pop up.

The boys hatch a plan to steal a cougar and let it run free in theschool but not before they steal a sacred statue. But during the courseof the movie their friendships start to pull apart as one gains agirlfriend.

The cast delivers a stellar job. Especially Kieran Caulkin and JenaMalone who I can see great things for ahead. Jodie Foster plays the PegLeg well and shows she doesn’t always have to play the same character.

The script is superbly written containing some of the most originalplots and turns in years. The film always keeps you interested, nomatter it be the boy’s schemes or the dialouge. The only problems withthe movie is that some plot holes are left open (especially at the end)and some Catholics may and probably will be offended (we all know howthey acted about Dogma-give me a break). But this is still a great movieand it definitely came from left field. Check it out.

Altar Boys has a soft color pallete that can only be described as washedout. I’m not sure if this was intended but given the clean look of theprint I think it was. Presented in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen thistransfer leaves a little to be desired. Colors are dull at times andpixelization can be seen occasionally. But the print does have a niceclean image free of scratches and dirt. Decent.

Audio is presented in Dolby Digital 5.1 and Dolby Surround. For a movieas dialouge driven as this there really isn’t much to say. Just that itgets the job done as dialouge is audible at all times. You can’t expectmuch here.

Columbia has gone the full nine and released this as a pretty goodspecial edition. Like 20th Century Fox realized with Donnie Darko theyknew they had a cult hit on their hands. Here’s how it stacks up:

  • Audio Commentary: A decent track that provides some good info.
  • Anatomy of a Scene: Originally aired on The Sundance Channel. Runs 30minutes and is presented in non-anamorphic 1.77:1 widescreen.Interesting featuretette really and produced well.
  • Animated Scenes: A chance to watch each animated segment from the filmwith or without commentary by art director and Spawn creator ToddMcFarlane. Runs 11 minutes and each scene has been cropped to full framefor some reason.
  • Deleted Scenes: 5 minutes total and shown in non-anamorphic 1.85:1widescreen. These are presented in rather messy quality and most arejust extended cuts.
  • Illustrations: A chance to view some of the drawings the boys did during the movie in slide form.
  • Featurette: 4 minutes total. Mostly just interviews on story as usual.More of an HBO promo or something.
  • Interviews: Runs 13 minutes. Interviews with the cast and crew.Reinforms what we already know about the plot.
  • Theatrical Trailer: A well produced trailer that would gained myattention if seen at the theater. Runs 2 minutes and is full frame.
  • TV Spots: 2 are here an both are practically identical.
  • Trailers: Trailers for Panic Room and other ThinkFilms productions.

A few extras stand out and make this a stellar release from Columbia.

The packaging is amaray and features a cast shot of the original posteras its cover. 20 chapters break up the film. Menus are done well withcomic book style fashion.

Overall, this is a very good recommend for a rent at least. A goodmovie, good transfer, and some worthwhile extras make this worth checkingout.

FILM CONTENT
PICTURE QUALITY
SOUND QUALITY
EXTRAS


OVERALL
Review copyright © Travis Willock, 2002.

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