The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys

Plot

Set in the early 1970s in a suburban town in the Southern United States, the film follows the lives of protagonist Francis Doyle, and three of his friends, Tim Sullivan, Wade Scalisi and Joey Anderson. The four boys all attend a private Catholic school named St. Agatha's, which they detest. The boys rebel by smoking pot, drinking, obsess over girls, listening to hard rock music and playing pranks on their teachers, such as stealing their school's statue of St. Agatha and keeping it in their clubhouse. The four friends dedicate much of their time to a comic book of their own creation titled The Atomic Trinity in order to escape the monotony and avoid the difficulties in their own lives.

After receiving a love note from Francis, which was actually written by Tim, Margie Flynn becomes a major presence and weaves her way into the lives of these four friends. She and Francis have an obvious connection that progresses into much more. At times, Francis must choose between his friends and Margie, which causes the group of friends to fall apart. The boys' lives are also translated into segments of animation based on the characters of The Atomic Trinity: Brakken, The Muscle, Captain Asskicker and Major Screw; Nunzilla, based on their peglegged, overly repressive Catholic school teacher Sister Assumpta; and Sorcerella, based on Margie Flynn.

After a school field trip to the zoo, Tim and Francis have the idea of playing another prank on Sister Assumpta. They decide to drug the cougar at the local zoo and then transport it to Sister Assumpta's office to scare her. When they learn how serious Tim and Francis are, the other half of the Atomic Trinity wimp out, which leaves an unlikely group of friends consisting of Margie, Tim and Francis. Francis soon learns that Margie had been sexually assaulted by her own brother. During gym class, Donny, Margie's older brother, bullies Tim during class. Tim, out of pressure and his own impulsive nature, insults Donny for molesting his own sister. He regrets telling Donny, who beats him up, and then tells Francis who becomes angry with him. Donny takes Tim and Francis's comic, The Atomic Trinity, and gives it to the nun. The violent, blasphemous and inappropriate drawings in the notebook cause Tim and Francis to be suspended, pending expulsion from the school.

In an act of final retribution, Tim, Francis, Wade and Joey attempt to steal a cougar to place inside the school to cover up a wrecking of the school they did that night. At the zoo, a makeshift tranquilizer created from several narcotic drugs is used to put the cougar to sleep. The other three boys go down to the gate to retrieve the cougar in a cage, while Tim impulsively climbs over the fence into the cougar's den. He checks to see if the cougar is alive, and happily replies that it is. When the other boys reach the gate to retrieve the cougar, another cougar leaps at Tim, mauling him to death. At Tim's funeral, Francis quotes the poem "The Tyger" by William Blake, whom Sister Assumpta earlier condemned as a "dangerous thinker". Francis places the book at the stolen statue of St. Agatha in their hideout, and starts a new comic series dedicated entirely to the character based on Tim, Skeleton Boy.

Cast

Production

In order to adapt the book effectively, director Care and producer Jay Shapiro decided to use segments of animation throughout the film. Since most of the book is from Francis' perspective and takes place in his mind, they needed to find a way to stay true to this "internal narrative". "Animation seemed like a natural way to go in and out of this interior world and use that as the thread that ties everything together," says Shapiro. The sequences were created by Todd McFarlane, and they are visually similar to basic superhero comic strips. Screenwriter Jeff Stockwell helped to create the storyline for the animated sequences.

Cinematography is done by Lance Acord, who also worked on Being John Malkovich and Buffalo '66. Production design was done by Gideon Pointe, who also worked on Buffalo '66, as well as American Psycho.

Casting

Casting the characters of Francis Doyle and Tim Sullivan was essential to the film's success. Filmmakers say that Emile Hirsch was the first actor that had that innocence and naivete that they were looking for. Similarly, filmmakers believed that Kieran Culkin had a similar personality to Tim. "I think he is going through a lot of similar things [in his own life]," states Jodie Foster, producer and star of the film.

Neither filmmakers nor Foster had planned on her also playing the part of the stern Catholic school teacher and headmistress, Sister Assumpta, as well as being producer. Foster was somehow attracted to the role, and called producing partner Meg LeFauve up with the offer to play this role, who graciously accepted, saying that it's not "traditional casting to see a young beautiful woman in that kind of a role."

Setting

Although the novel by Chris Fuhrman was set in 1970s Savannah, Georgia, the filmmakers wanted a more "universal look" and decided not to specify a place. Principal photography took place in North and South Carolina. There was also a lot of debate about whether the characters should have Southern accents, but to keep with this "universal feeling," the producers decided against any strong accents.

Reception and awards

The film has received fairly good praise for an independent film. The New York Times called it a "bracingly truthful" coming-of-age film from the directorial debut of Peter Care. According to critics, the film takes one back to those awkward stages in life, a place most are not too keen on returning to, with ease and compassion. However, the film does have its flaws, according to a New York Times reviewer who wrote that "the movie struggles to compare the boys' comic-book vision with William Blake's Songs of Innocence and of Experience and Songs of Experience, becoming its one glaringly off-key note."

Roger Ebert gave the film two and a half stars, calling it "an honorable film with good intentions." Ebert goes on to say that the screenplay is trying too hard to impress and falls short of achieving the "emotional payoff" it is searching for.

In 2002, the film and director Care won the award for Best New Filmmaker from the Boston Society of Film Critics. In 2003, the film won the Independent Spirit Award for Best First Feature.

Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a rating of 77%, based on various critical reviews with the consensus: "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." A vocal fan of the animated sequences was Armond White of New York Press, who singled them out for praise.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack was composed by Marco Beltrami and was released in 2002 by Milan Records. A good part of the songs on the soundtrack were specifically written and performed for this film by Queens of the Stone Age guitarist Joshua Homme. In addition, the Crosby, Stills and Nash song "Do It for the Others" lets the audience know what the time period and setting probably are.

1. "The Atomic Trinity" - Joshua Homme
2. "The Atomic Trinity vs. Heaven's Devils" - Marco Beltrami
3. "The Empty House" - Marco Beltrami
4. "The Couch" - Marco Beltrami
5. "Hanging (aka Ramble Off)" - Joshua Homme
6. "Margie's Confession" - Marco Beltrami
7. "The Atomic Trinity vs. Heaven's Devils, Round II" - Marco Beltrami
8. "St. Agatha" - Marco Beltrami
9. "On the Road Again" - Canned Heat
10. "Francis and Margie" - Joshua Homme
11. "Stoned" - Joshua Homme
12. "Dead Dog, Part II" - Marco Beltrami
13. "Skeleton Boy is Born" - Marco Beltrami
14. "Do It for the Others" - Stephen Stills
15. "Story of the Fish" - Marco Beltrami
16. "For the Gods / Act Like Cougars" - Marco Beltrami
17. "Torn Apart" - Marco Beltrami
18. "Someone is Coming" - Marco Beltrami
19. "Eulogy" - Marco Beltrami
20. "All the Same" - Joshua Homme