DeuceWild_77
The teen movies of the 80's decade were dominated by the cheesy / romantic / well-intentioned cinema of John Hughes; the "Lemon Popsicle" sex teen movies clones such as Bob Clark's "Porky's" trilogy, "Fast Times at Ridgemont High" or "The Last American Virgin" and the Spielberg's executive produced adventure / fantasy teen flicks such as "Back to the Future" or "The Goonies".Phil Joanou's first venture as a director was an unconventional teen comedy for its time called "Three O'Clock High", set in an all american High School like the majority of Hughes' (and non-Hughes) flicks of this genre, inspired by the classic western "High Noon" starring Gary Cooper (in an Oscar winner role) and Grace Kelly and based in real life situations of the two screenwriters during their High School years.Joanou, a fan of Scorsese's "After Hours", released 2 years prior and also an unusual comedy, but set in the adult world, based its directing style and fancy cinematography straight for the teen movie genre with the help of the inovator cinematographer, Barry Sonnenfeld (an usual collaborator of the Coen brothers at that time) to acquire a 'cartoon-ish' / comic book style through stylized camera angles and proper lightning effects resulting in a visually nifty film which also benefited from a skillful editing giving the movie its congruous
frantic pace.Besides the greatness of its technical aspects, the movie is also clever in its storytelling, the rivalry between the nerd, Jerry Mitchell and the "new kid on the block", the bad boy, Buddy Revell changes stereotypes through the course of the action with Mitchell being accused of theft, illegal weapon possession and even for cheating at the exam and Buddy, the long-haired' black leather jacket outsider being more smart & sensitive than people would give him credit for.Casey Siemaszko, after a string of good supporting roles in famous teen movies such as "Back to the Future", "Secret Admirer" and "Stand by Me" was given the lead role of Jerry Mitchell and he's perfectly cast giving life to his character, a nervous, unpopular & nerdy high schooler about to face his rite of passage to becoming a confident young man after his feud with the troubled misfit, played here by Richard Tyson, in his debut role, who delivered an interesting (and imposing) performance as Buddy Revell, even if his screentime is kind of short.The supporting players are filled with great character actors such as the always sinister, the late John P. Ryan ("Runaway Train", "Avenging Force", "Class of 1999"); Jeffrey Tambor and Mitch Pileggi (future Wes Craven's "Shocker" and better known as Skinner in the hit TV show, "The X-Files").Some may say, including the late Roger Ebert in his review, that this movie resembles a lot of an early teen movie starring Chris Makepeace, Adam Baldwin & Matt Dillon called "My Bodyguard", which is a great (and earlier) entry on the High School genre, but ultimately, "Three O'Clock High" is way more creative, memorable and well paced and much more worthy in the rewatchable factor.Steven Spielberg, who executive produced this movie, ordered to get his name removed from the credits after he watched a rough cut of this.
Apparently, the big bearded wanted another "The Karate Kid" or a more conventional / cheesy High School teen flick and this kind of offbeat comedy startled him. He had already done the same two years before with "Fandango", the debut movie of director Kevin Reynolds which featured a young Kevin Costner in his first leading role. In my point of view, Spielberg made a big mistake of disowned both films, because they're way original and inventive and still hold up well today and maybe with the Spielberg name envolved, they could have had more chances at the box office, instead of being flops that ran into obscurity (only cinephiles know the existence).Also worthy of a mention is the memorable music score by Tangerine Dream and the additional music provided by Sylvester Levay.In short, "Three O'Clock High" deserves to be in the Top 10 of the best High School teen movies from the 80's, it's a great watch and one of the last breath of a genre that started the downfall in popularity at the same time as the end of the decade was approaching...On a side note, the hit TV Show for Fox Network that premiered in '90, "Parker Lewis Can't Lose" stole the concept, ideas, the cinematography and directing style of this one.
Universal Pictures and Joanou should have sued Columbia Pictures Television for producing such a blatant rip-off.
wotstaters
Roger Ebert is one of the highest regarded film critics on the planet, but his review of this movie is so bizarre and out of touch that it's laughable. For those in a hurry: There's a simple, violent theme running through the movie that is both entertaining and dreadful. Jerry (Casey Siemaszko), a meek and unlikely hero, has an unfortunate encounter with a psychotic transfer student, Buddy (Richard Tyson), that leads to Buddy threatening Jerry to a fight after school. Most of the movie revolves around Jerry trying to find some way to escape his destiny but the more he struggles, the more the noose tightens. Well-meaning friends exacerbate the situation, the adults in the movie are self-centered and clueless and Buddy is a pitiless, force-of-nature juggernaut brushing aside any attempt to deny him his bloody satisfaction. This struggle sets the stage for several very funny scenes that also ratchet the tension quite nicely while leading the viewer to the final showdown.END OF REVIEWThis is a greatly underrated teen comedy that will also resonate with many adults. The film's poor reception may have been due to lackluster marketing as I do not remember seeing the movie in theaters or advertised anywhere. There's a rumor that the director angered someone on the production team (Steven Spielberg was an executive producer that later asked his name to be removed) and this may have been a factor.Back to Ebert: the theme of the movie may have cut too close to Ebert's own high school experiences for his comfort or maybe he's forgotten what that period of life is really like. The teenage years usually are the most violent and there is often very little help outside of your immediate peer group. Ebert's taking the obtuse school official to task for not believing Jerry's predicament is ridiculous because this is exactly what adults tend to do: form a preconceived notion about a teen and then view everything through that lens. Witness today how some schools will suspend both parties in a fight, even if one individual does not fight back or defend themselves. Jerry is victimized by both Buddy AND the adults. In a larger sense, Buddy is a metaphor for that dreaded life event--a demonic boss, a false arrest, an unexpected sickness or infirmity-- that all people will face at some point. When it happens you can choose to cower in fear, or, summon your courage and boldly turn to face the whirlwind.
Predrag
This movie portrays what many, many American males went through in high school. Being bullied. This movie's not only puts to rest old demons that still sometimes haunt grown men when they think about high school (by seeing Jerry beat up the bully instead of the other way around), but it was so funny that I can't resist watching it whenever it is on cable! The crazy antics that occur in every high school in America (and abroad), are displayed by the nutty teachers, the rabid dogs that sometimes pass for school security guards, and the crazy girl that likes you for who you are so much that she wants to "bond" with you on a display table in the school store. It is just excellent! The film is just plain funny and will really take you back to your high school years and all the uncertainty that came along with them. Casey Siemaszko was perfect for the role. The film's director, Phil Janou, essentially shot the film as a series of still photographs that had dialogue thrown in. That was perfect because to me that's how much of high school seemed.Overall rating: 7 out of 10.
