Michael Eagen I am a C&E (Christmas and Easter)Catholic and survivor of 12 years of Catholic education. With an entry like that, one might think I'm about to flame the Church and the education it provided me. Nothing could be farther from the truth. I loved my 12 years, the first eight in the hands of the Benedictine Sisters and the last four in those of the Augustinian Fathers. They both did right by me and my three older sisters (who had the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet for their high school years). We were from working to lower middle class backgrounds, and all matriculated at good universities from which we all graduated. We couldn't have done that without the fine start those first 12 years gave us. We all also came of age in the 60s and in my case, early-70s.Having said all that, ad having gone to a well known all boys high school in a major west coast city from 1970 to 1974, I will happily confirm that pretty much everything I saw in this film rang true. We didn't have swimming, but if we had, I have no doubt that it might have been in the nude. Otherwise, we had our share of jerks as teachers, both religious and lay, that we had to navigate, but it is amazing what having some hurdle like that to overcome will do for the "esprit de corps" of the entire student body. These people, and the lengths to which we went to get over on them, became the stuff of legend, and because they often were employed as teachers well beyond their usefulness, they became legends across more than one generation. In fact, they became a kind of whetstone upon which our characters were honed; usually with success. Personally, if I were to do it all over again, I wouldn't change a thing, and one of my great regrets is that I couldn't do for my children what my parents sacrificed to do for all of us. However, the tuition these days has skyrocketed to a layer of the stratosphere where my parents never dreamed of treading. That annual tuition is more than what most public universities are charging these days. Hell, my parents never even made in a year what the schools are now charging for one year. I am managing to put my three through college and consider that I am fortunate to be able to do that. Anyway, it was a great time to be alive, and a great experience that I will cherish to the day I die.

TOMASBBloodhound Goodness, how many years had it been since I'd seen this film? At least 20, I'd guess. And after recently seeing it again, it more than exceeded expectations. Many of the lines were still memorable, and there were some big laughs at things I'd forgotten. Anyone who's seen this will never forget the immortal line, "Caesar, you fat fagot! You always wear gum on your nose?". No matter how many years its been. But the biggest howler I saw was when the boys are all watching an Elvis Presley movie (Blue Hawaii?) and Kevin Dillon asking, "What'd they do to Elvis, cut his balls off or something?". So many funny lines in this film about some rowdy boys attending a Catholic high school in 1965. The film offers an exceptional cast, a thoughtful script, and many, many laughs.Kevin Dillon as the most ornery student doesn't just walk away with this movie. He grabs it and runs away, making one foul-mouthed comment after another. But those around him shine as well. Donald Sutherland as the dean of the school got top billing, but he likely didn't work long on the project as he's only in a few scenes. The always undervalued Andrew McCarthy is pretty much the main character playing the shy new kid in school who has a tough time adjusting to the rougher atmosphere and physical discipline. He's good, but always overshadowed by Dillon. Mary Stuart Masterson is sweet, yet worldly as the girl who runs the drugstore across the street. She's pretty, smart, and has had to grow up rather quickly. Malcolm Danare is hilarious as Caesar, the overweight nerdy intellectual who is constantly feeling the wrath of both teachers and fellow students. Jay Patterson is frightening as Brother Constance who seems to enjoy beating the crap out of any student who even slightly misbehaves. John Heard adds a human touch to the school as a new less-strict member of the faculty. Look out for future gay porn star Stephen Geophreys as a student who cannot stop touching himself. And hell, how did I forget to mention this was Patrick Dempsy's debut, too? The film moves quickly between scenes of comedy and painful punishment of the students. About every negative stereotype about Catholic schools is on display, but since I've never been to one I'll reserve judgment regarding authenticity. Kudos to McCarthy and the other boys for taking their punishment. It really looked like McCarthy was taking those shots by both fist and paddle from Jay Patterson. Ouch! The constant profanity has kept this film off many cable channels for years, but by all means try and catch it on DVD! 9 of 10 stars.The Hound.

pmdwyer-1 I liked a lot of scenes in this film.The drawbridge opening and closing on Rooney's(Kevin Dillons character)dad's new car while trying to score with Janine after getting her drunk is my favorite.This movie does address serious subjects,violence towards schoolchildren,the church's responsibility to remove adults with inability to control abusive behaviour which I sure wish the church had done in the 60's,70's,etc to have prevented acts of pedophilia that came to attention later on and the effects of melancholia(not sure I spelled that right).But it is a comedy and though I only went to catholic school in Philadelphia for 8 years(66-74) it sure did make me laugh at many scenes.Donald Sutherland at the end saying "I always hated that statue" after cleaning bird droppings off the statue having been the standard punishment at St Basils is such a surprise near the end that it shows there were good people teaching at Catholic schools and it was not all abuse and punishment(he suspends them for knocking the head of the statue) and when the kids realize they're off school for two weeks they jump for joy.It is a favorite movie of mine.

Blkynboy This movie depicts a time that has now become a part of history. St. Michael's School closed its doors earlier this year. The neighborhood which was populated by Irish and Italian kids is now primarily Latino and lower-income,who couldn't afford the rising tuition.The situations, as portrayed, were actually quite realistic for an inner-city parochial school. Some might say the brutality toward the boys was extreme- but pretty close to the truth.Actual scenes were used in the neighborhood. The building that housed the candy store is still there, empty and derelict.The movie caught the aura of the era and is becoming a 'cult classic'