Review of The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys (2002) by Babette H — 22 Oct 2007

*Spoilers* I really wanted to like DLAB because it seemed a very inventive departure from typical coming-of-age/high school stories (December Boys, anyone?), but as a film it rubbed me the wrong way. I thought it tried to do too much and incorporated details that didn't really develop or add to the characters, such as with the brief hint that Tim has a troubled home life, or the whole incest aspect. I found myself not really attaching to or caring about any of the characters the way I did with similar films like Stand By Me. Also, the performances are not stellar. I thought Donny was particularly poorly acted; he sounded so consistently apathetic, and the fight scene between him and Francis just seemed very fake. And Jodie Foster was just flat and dry in this role, not interesting or even menacing enough to take seriously as an antagonist. And did anyone else notice her accent disappears halfway through?

However, I loved the character of the priest, and wish we could have seen more of him. Keiran Culkin did a very fine job. I remained interested in this film just to see what would happen to his character. He is a subtle and mature actor and he brings a great worldliness to Tim. Otherwise I can't recommend this for much more.