The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys (2002)

The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys throws together live action and animation, lighthearted teen romance and serious family trauma, and raucous comedy and heavy, melodramatic tragedy. It's an intriguing mixture that doesn't quite gel. The film is at its best when it focuses on the simple joys of teens hanging out. In showing the four altar boys of the title fine-tuning their comic book characters or just thinking up more elaborate ways to get into trouble, director Peter Care and screenwriters Jeff Stockwell and Michael Petroni, abetted by a talented young cast, capture the perfect naturalistic tone. This is also true of the scenes in which Francis (Emile Hirsch) and Margie (Jena Malone) timidly explore their budding romance. The animation sequences by Todd McFarlane (Spawn) are sometimes jarringly bombastic, but they do capture a distinctly adolescent penchant for turning the real troubles of the world into dark, but manageable fantasy. The filmmakers chose to discard novelist Chris Fuhrman's specificity about the locale (the book takes place in Savannah), presumably to make the story more universal. This was a blunder, as the vagueness about where and when the film is set makes it less effective storytelling. There's also an awkwardness in the way the film will veer suddenly into tragedy, and some viewers will find the boys' exploits, particularly in the film's dramatic climax, more than a little hard to swallow. But the film is still fairly strong. Cinematographer Lance Acord (Buffalo 66, Being John Malkovich) does good work. Hirsch, Malone, and Kieran Culkin deliver creditable performances, and Jodie Foster and Vincent D'Onofrio lend excellent support. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide