Cooley
High (***)
review by Jon
Waterman
The film tells the story of a group of friends living in 1960s
Chicago. It follows their joys and struggles while living in
the projects, going to school, and attempting a social life.
Everything’s going about as well as it can where they
live, until they get caught up with some criminals. Two of
the friends get falsely arrested for stealing a car. When they’re
released from jail and the true criminals aren’t, they
have to find some explanation or else there’ll be hell
to pay once those bad guys get out.
This movie is very unusual and interesting, not because of
the issues it deals with, but rather the ones that aren’t
mentioned at all. The approach of “Cooley High” is
to show the audience what life is like within the small world
of these teenagers. Although the movie takes place in the mid-1960s,
there is virtually no mention of the Civil Rights Movement
or its leaders. Even more remarkably impressive (and admirable)
is the lack of racial material. The movie isn’t about
how black kids have it worse than whites. Whites don’t
enter into it. It’s about how these black youth deal
with what they’re handed on a day-to-day basis. In that
respect, I give a lot of credit to screenwriter Eric Monte.
However, the overall thematic elements don’t come across
as strongly as all that while watching the film straight. It
comes off as being a rather humdrum dramedy. The first half
focuses on trying to make us laugh, which is mostly unsuccessful
(how unfortunate, considering Monte was a staff writer for “All
in the Family” and “Good Times”). The second
half switches it all around and gets surprisingly serious on
us -- complete with a shocking, eye-rubbingly quick and unsatisfying
ending. What I can only assume is being attempted here is that
the filmmakers want to show us the unpredictable nature of
their neighborhood and to show how quickly things can spiral
out of control when you make such a stupid decision like getting
involved with criminals. But really, what I saw is a lackluster
comedy turn into an ultra serious quasi-commentary.
Director Michael Schultz keeps the visual side consistent
and utterly realistic. The atmosphere of the locations exuded
the vibe that the script should have been alluding to from
the start. It’s not terribly gritty or dark, but you
definitely tell that it’s not the happiest, sparkling
section of the world, either. It avoids the extremes. The acting
is quite solid and once again comes through right down the
middle. Not even the supporting characters really stray and
go over the top. The motivations may not always be understandable
or really defined well enough, but the delivery works. Add
to this a fantastic score full of recognizable pop hits from
the era and the end result is a film well worth watching, but
would be a guaranteed classic with a better focus.
respond to jon@filmbrats.com
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