The Dangerous Lives of Alter Boys (***1/2)
review by Jon Waterman

Every young man’s life has a “cougar incident.”  Well, maybe not.  Every young man wishes he has a “cougar incident.”  Something to tell his grandkids about so they can call him a liar and walk away disappointed.  For Tim and Francis, the cougar incident was their “cougar incident.”
 
The incident I’m referring to is an elaborate prank to get a cougar inside the office of Sister Assumpta (the school teaching nun with a wooden leg).  Now, they have their reasons, of course.  The nun stole the blasphemous comic book they had been working on and suspended them for drawing such explicit things.  Equal punishment for equal crimes.  Hey, she started it!  Meanwhile, on the other side of the fold, a budding relationship between Francis and Margie starts to get a little more complex.
 
The essence of the film is clear.  It’s about growing up.  Youthful rebellion should be done while the youth and the want for rebellion still exists.  It should be done without hesitation, because, sooner than expected, something will happen that will take the innocence and the desire away.  It’s about living life to it’s fullest.  These kids don’t want to grow up.  They do the grown-up things as a defense mechanism.  No one that age knows how wonderful it is to be that age.  The film captures this youthful spirit wonderfully.
 
Illustrating the film are illustrations.  After important sequences are played out in live action, we see how it affects the comic book world that the boys are creating.  The two parallel each other almost to the point of repeating the narrative.  The artwork works superbly as an animated comic book.  The color schemes and character designs are dead on.
 
The great thing about this film is that everyone has problems, even if they aren’t explored in the space of the narrative.  Everyone struggles with their identity, even “Peg Leg” (Jodie Foster) and Father Casey (Vincent D’Onofrio).  Vince became my favorite character, despite the small amount of screen time he enjoys.  His confusion and inadequacies shine through in a wonderfully humorous way.  Tim (Kieran Culkin), Francis (Emile Hirsch) try to find happiness and acceptance with destruction and mischief, while Margie (Jena Malone) just looks for happiness and acceptance in general (and in Francis).
 
Director Peter Care and writers Jeff Stockwell and Michael Petroni have created a wonderful film about the hardships of adolescent lives.  Surprisingly, parental interference hardly occurs and I think that’s one of the reason this film succeeds.  Instead of relying on the conventional standbys, the film limits adult/child interaction and focuses on how they interact and learn from each other.  A smart approach and a smart film.

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