There were times when The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys evoked memories of my own Catholic school days not to confirm the film, but to question it. There is a way in which the movie accurately paints its young heroes, obsessed with sex, rebellion and adolescence, and too many other times when it pushes too far, making us aware of a screenplay reaching for effect. The climax is so reckless and absurd that we can t feel any of the emotions that are intended.
Yet this is an honorable film with good intentions. Set in a town in the 1970s, it tells the story of good friends at St. Agatha s School, who squirm under the thumb of the strict Sister Assumpta (Jodie Foster) and devise elaborate plots as a rebellion against her. At the same time, the kids are growing up, experimenting with smoking and drinking, and learning more about sex than they really want to know.