No. 5: THREE O'CLOCK HIGH
Reviewed by Sam Hatch
AS THIS IS PART OF A RETRO NOSTALGIA BINGE AS OPPOSED TO A TRADITIONAL REVIEW, THERE MAY BE SPOILERS PRESENT IN THE TEXT.
The 80s is well known for its wealth of teenager oriented high school classics, most of them crafted by the de facto master, John Hughes. But when push came to shove, somehow this little also-ran picture by U2: Rattle and Hum director Phil Joanou wormed its way into my brain as my favorite piece of the genre.
The 'Brat Pack' are nowhere to be found in this film, and most of its cast never went on to bigger and better things. The biggest name at hand is Casey Siemaszko (Young Guns, etc.), who plays Jerry Mitchell, a hypoglycemic ubernerd who dries his shirts in the microwave, drives his mom's uncool station wagon (complete with custom 'SUPRMOM' plates) and prides himself on his meticulous management of the school supply store at Weaver High. Jeffrey Tambor plays Mr. Rice, the teacher in charge of the store project, and needless to say he and the faculty have nothing but the utmost respect for Jerry.
Jerry's sole friends are the clownish Vincent and Anne Ryan's Franny, a pasty goth chick who is his girlfriend by default, always waiting for the perfect astrological moment for them to 'bond'. The fly in Jerry's curricular ointment comes in the form of one-man mangling machine Buddy Revell, a mop-topped, black Camaro-driving, leather jacket wearin' ruffian who may possibly have killed a kid in his previous school, and is now being transferred to Weaver. The rumour mill scenes are great, and the students create such a frenzied buildup that Buddy's eventual arrival inspires pants wetting in just about everyone, jocks included.
Jerry's weaselly cohort on the school paper committee gleefully volunteers him to be the welcoming committee representative, and urges him to break the ice with Buddy and write a piece about him. Jerry foolishly tries to psyche himself up for the encounter by underplaying the severity of the situation. Surely this freakishly tall monstrosity is simply a misunderstood paper tiger?
Unfortunately for Jerry, he wraps up the conversation (side by side at the urinals, no less!) by lightly slapping Buddy on his leather-clad arm in a friendly gesture. He then learns that Buddy does not take kindly to people knowing about him, not to mention touching, and thus the film becomes a reimagining of the classic western High Noon, as Buddy informs Jerry that they will have to fight at the end of the school day, at Three O' Clock exactly. Jerry's overworked brain thinks of every possible scheme to avoid the fight, none of which work very well. The upside is that his antics cause him to be the talk of the school, and as the fight grows ever closer, his reputation has already been elevated to that of a semi-badass.
He tries paying Buddy off, he tries paying Jocks to preemptively beat Buddy for him, he tries trashing the school store and escaping school grounds The latter ploy sees him getting caught by a skinhead security officer (The X-Files' Mitch Pileggi as Duke Herman, aka 'the Duker') who brings him before the eyes of Mr. O'Rourke, whose desk is littered with books on Nazism and the like. These shenanigans lead up to the awesome book report scene in which Jerry's nothing-to-lose attitude takes over - he struts around class wearing shades and forcefully locks lips with the hot English teacher, immediately establishing himself as a high school legend. By the time Franny decides that the stars are right for them to make love, Jerry now has a teacher and the most popular girl in school on his jock as well.
There are so many things I loved about this film, the first being primarily the one-day nature of the storyline. Sure, Ferris Bueller had already done a brilliant job with that timeframe, but I loved how Three O'Clock High posited that a life could completely change in between a mundane morning and the end of a school day. In a Fight Clubbish sense, it also posits the idea that once you have nothing to lose, you can do or be anything. I also loved the wild, vertiginous camerawork. Phil Joanou was well known for his video work, and he used talented filmmaker Barry Sonnenfeld as his cinematographer here. As a budding film enthusiast, the inventive visual style of this film immediately kicked it up a few notches above John Hughes' work in my eyes. There are many odd, skewed angles at play, primarily of the menacingly bland classroom clock in particular. Sometimes it felt as though Sam Raimi was somehow involved in the film.
The music by Tangerine Dream was another draw, and I loved the Football Pep Rally scene in which the lights in the auditorium go dark and a pummeling barrage of drums ensue while cheerleaders beat a pinata-esque replica of an opposing team's player, eventually knocking its head loose. The head lands in Jerry's lap, and is a screaming skull with glowing red eyes, presaging his likely death in a few hours. Cool stuff. Visceral, yes – but also a clever commentary on violence amongst teens and how it is both reviled and encouraged by ‘civilized' adults. (On a funny side note, take an online trip to Roger Ebert's vintage review and see him miss every single point of the film!)
And as much as I loved Tony Bill's My Bodyguard, this film decidedly refuses to go down a similar character path. Buddy and Jerry never become best friends. On the flipside, neither are they mortal enemies. Buddy doesn't hate Jerry, in fact he's embarrassed for him when Jerry can't summon the courage to face him. But the fight is a matter of principle and if must beat him into next month, he will. Jerry can never worm his way out of the path of the oncoming train - the fight must happen, and does. It gave hope to the geeks of the land, and although I was never one of them (don't laugh), I could appreciate a film that spoke on their behalf. Damn, where I'd leave that pocket protector...