Average Rating: 6.5/10
Reviews Counted: 109
Fresh: 84 | Rotten: 25
The inter-cutting of animation by Spawn's creator, Todd McFarlane, doesn't always work, but the performances by the young actors capture the pains of growing up well.
Average Rating: 6/10
Critic Reviews: 30
Fresh: 19 | Rotten: 11
The inter-cutting of animation by Spawn's creator, Todd McFarlane, doesn't always work, but the performances by the young actors capture the pains of growing up well.
liked it
Average Rating: 3.6/5
User Ratings: 15,621
The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys brings Chris Fuhrman's well-received, posthumously published teen novel to the screen. Set in the 1970s, the film concerns two rebellious Catholic schoolboys -- bashful, pensive Francis (Emile Hirsch) and whip-smart, impulsive Tim (Kieran Culkin) -- who spend their free time pulling elaborate pranks and creating a comic book featuring themselves and their friends, Wade (Jake Richardson) and Joey (Tyler Long), as superheroes. Their alter egos are brought to life
Jun 14, 2002 Wide
Nov 5, 2002
$1.5M
ThinkFilm
All Critics (116) | Top Critics (32) | Fresh (86) | Rotten (25) | DVD (11)
Works as pretty contagious fun.
Although McFarlane's sequences are inventive, the rest of the film moves languidly.
I thought the young actors were strong, but the material is too thin and too cliched, even with Todd McFarlane's animated sequences to stretch the story to feature length.
It's not serious enough to be profound, and not ribald enough to be giddy.
While there are times when the film's reach exceeds its grasp, the production works more often than it doesn't.
Steers refreshingly clear of the usual cliches.
Reflected back through adolescent eyes, Jodie Foster's dreaded nun transforms through the devilish comic imagination of Francis' pen into a kind of motorcycle gang leader of a band of brutish cleric Heaven's Angels terrorizing earth's youth.
Esforça-se ao máximo para arrancar lágrimas do espectador, mas, com exceção da performance cativante de Culkin, o filme empalidece diante de tantos outros do gênero.
Devious, delinquent, and diverting.
A fairly formulaic '70s-set coming-of-age tale that's ultimately distinguished by the passion of its makers and players.
Review, synopsis and complete list of bonus features for one of the most original movies of 2002.
The only bright spot in the whole movie is Vincent D'Onofrio's performance as a priest.
Ultimately feels empty and unsatisfying, like swallowing a Communion wafer without the wine.
Best suited for those who can recall their stifling and intense Catholic School education from back in the day, Altar Boys is certainly a worthwhile way to spend 90-some minutes.
I did not care much for the last part of the film, but the three-quarters of it is good enough that I'm recommending it.
Even though it is infused with the sensibility of a video director, it doesn't make for completely empty entertainment
often successful in capturing the turbulent emotions of the early teen years... not nearly as convincing when it attempts to create a believable environment or forge a dramatic path.
Worth seeing (at least the first 90 minutes) for Hirsch, Malone and Culkin.
Aged cliches and gimmicks vie with fresh ideas for supremacy in The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys; the outcome at best is a draw.
'The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys manages to capture that impossible time when idealism clashes with reality and religion, wrapped inside a delicious nostalgia...'
Based on the title, you might think this has something to do with the church sex abuse scandals that were all over the media around the time this film came out. In actuality, it's based on a book (which I haven't read) about two best friends and altar boys in the 1970s who resort to making their own lurid comic book,
September 17, 2011Super Reviewer
I hate the phrase 'Coming of age' but until I can think of a better one it will have to do. Of course growing up was never this cool for me and I was an Alter Boy, it was far more awkward. That said, what it does capture, quite brilliantly, is the conflict with hypocrisy that adult life can bring - using animation, bad
November 18, 2010Super Reviewer
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