bnorthup
09-03-2002, 11:31 AM
Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys (R)
At the Myrna Loy
3 stars
Through adolescence, darkly
By Brent Northup
The lyrics of adolescent music are the dark poetry of each succeeding generation. Rather than trying to purge the words from albums, we’d be better off tuning into them as a warning of a struggling time of life – and offering what help we can to usher the next generation through life’s toughest years.
“Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys” provides a disturbing portrait of adolescence. Despite the provocative title, this movie is not about the current controversies in the Catholic Church. Rather it’s a timeless tale of kids coming of age, in awkward, dangerous ways.
Set in the 1970s in North Carolina, “Altar boys” follows a group of four boys – plus a girlfriend – through a defining period of their lives.
The kids are students at St. Agatha’s, a parochial school run by Sister Assumpta (Jodie Foster), a stern taskmistress who stalks sinners like a cougar after injured prey. Her goal is to reform them, of course, but she wears her habit with so much starch that she is unable to change the habits of her flock.
The tale starts as pranks and kisses. Boys will be boys! They steal a prized statue of Mary. They seek romance with a sweet neighborhood girl. They invent and draw an action comic strip about characters such as Asskicker and Nunzilla. They plot to steal a cougar from the city zoo.
Then the clouds roll over the good times, and tragedies unfold. The sweet girl has dark family secrets. Sister Assumpta finds the comic book – and seeks to expel those who stole the statue. Even more angry, they seek revenge. There are no smiles or laughs in the movie’s disturbing final act.
Depending on the disposition of the moviegoer, the movie can be either filled with hopelessness or hope.
The easy interpretation of “Altar Boys” is a depressing one – that religious education is as apt to destroy students as to lead them to heaven, that adolescence is a dark hole ready to pull even good kids into the swirling downward spiral.
But with a touch of faith and optimism, it’s also possible to see “Altar Boys” as reassuring. Although errors in judgement lead to tragedy, there are moments when we realize these are good boys, whose religious values are in tact. One of them picks up a dying dog off the road to carry it to a doctor. Another is deeply touched by the confession of his girlfriend and tries to help her.
These are good kids, of that I’m certain. The fact that the script evolves into a Shakespearean tragedy where their flaws lead to their downfall does not overshadow the fact that they have good hearts and evolving souls.
Ultimately, “Altar Boys” is a somber hymn asking us to be attentive to the angst of those young folk around us. The film encourages us to follow Father Gene Peoples’ sage advice to “be sad, not mad” at those who struggle – and to lend our young friends in turmoil an optimistic open palm of assistance, not a pessimistic closed fist of anger.
END
At the Myrna Loy
3 stars
Through adolescence, darkly
By Brent Northup
The lyrics of adolescent music are the dark poetry of each succeeding generation. Rather than trying to purge the words from albums, we’d be better off tuning into them as a warning of a struggling time of life – and offering what help we can to usher the next generation through life’s toughest years.
“Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys” provides a disturbing portrait of adolescence. Despite the provocative title, this movie is not about the current controversies in the Catholic Church. Rather it’s a timeless tale of kids coming of age, in awkward, dangerous ways.
Set in the 1970s in North Carolina, “Altar boys” follows a group of four boys – plus a girlfriend – through a defining period of their lives.
The kids are students at St. Agatha’s, a parochial school run by Sister Assumpta (Jodie Foster), a stern taskmistress who stalks sinners like a cougar after injured prey. Her goal is to reform them, of course, but she wears her habit with so much starch that she is unable to change the habits of her flock.
The tale starts as pranks and kisses. Boys will be boys! They steal a prized statue of Mary. They seek romance with a sweet neighborhood girl. They invent and draw an action comic strip about characters such as Asskicker and Nunzilla. They plot to steal a cougar from the city zoo.
Then the clouds roll over the good times, and tragedies unfold. The sweet girl has dark family secrets. Sister Assumpta finds the comic book – and seeks to expel those who stole the statue. Even more angry, they seek revenge. There are no smiles or laughs in the movie’s disturbing final act.
Depending on the disposition of the moviegoer, the movie can be either filled with hopelessness or hope.
The easy interpretation of “Altar Boys” is a depressing one – that religious education is as apt to destroy students as to lead them to heaven, that adolescence is a dark hole ready to pull even good kids into the swirling downward spiral.
But with a touch of faith and optimism, it’s also possible to see “Altar Boys” as reassuring. Although errors in judgement lead to tragedy, there are moments when we realize these are good boys, whose religious values are in tact. One of them picks up a dying dog off the road to carry it to a doctor. Another is deeply touched by the confession of his girlfriend and tries to help her.
These are good kids, of that I’m certain. The fact that the script evolves into a Shakespearean tragedy where their flaws lead to their downfall does not overshadow the fact that they have good hearts and evolving souls.
Ultimately, “Altar Boys” is a somber hymn asking us to be attentive to the angst of those young folk around us. The film encourages us to follow Father Gene Peoples’ sage advice to “be sad, not mad” at those who struggle – and to lend our young friends in turmoil an optimistic open palm of assistance, not a pessimistic closed fist of anger.
END