Three O'clock High

Sometimes, I just don't understand the vagaries of what survives to become a classic and what gets largely (and unfairly) forgotten. I guess it's a lesson in name recognition. Under ideal circumstances, Phil Joanou's Three O'clock High (1987) should be mentioned in the same breath with other '80s coming-of-age classics like The Breakfast Club (1985), Pretty in Pink (1986), and Say Anything (1989). It might be that TOcH is relegated to third tier '80s teen comedy because it wasn't directed by John Hughes. Or Cameron Crowe. Because, truthfully, who the hell is Phil Joanou, anyway? And it might be this film has been overlooked because it contains not one single member of the infamous Brat Pack, not even the quasi-members like Charlie Sheen, Mary Stuart Masterson, or Kiefer Sutherland. The best TOcH has to offer along those lines is Casey Siemaszko, the sort of 'friend of a friend' of the Brat Pack. With bit roles in the first two Back to the Future movies, Stand by Me (1986), and TV's "St. Elsewhere" (1984), and a co-starring turn with Brat Packers Emilio Estevez, Charlie Sheen, and Kiefer Sutherland in 1988's Young Guns, Siemaszko was always playing second fiddle. Lastly, and most probable, TOcH's disappointing staying power may just be Steven Spielberg's fault. That's right, Spielberg, the reigning king of film in the 1980s, produced this film. Kinda makes you scratch your head and wonder what happened. I submit for your perusal a short list of '80s films either produced or directed by the illustrious Mr. Spielberg: E.T., Poltergeist, Gremlins, Back to the Future I and II, The Goonies, Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, and the first three Indiana Jones movies. So, here's the rub: for undisclosed reasons, prior to the film's release, Spielberg removed his name from TOcH. I think this implicit snub did this deserving film in before it ever got the chance to shine.

The movie follows our protagonist, Jerry Mitchell (Siemaszko), highschooler, good student, responsible and burgeoning businessman, school reporter, and all around good guy. The problem is, Jerry's not too fond of confrontation, and he's especially not that fond of excessive pain. But that's just what awaits him at the end of the school day, 3 o'clock, in the school parking lot. Jerry falls afoul of his newest school newspaper assignment: transfer student, hulking monster, and all around badass Buddy Revell (Richard Tyson). You see, Buddy doesn't like to be touched. Or talked to. Or bothered. Or for people to know about him. And he's about to turn Jerry into an object lesson by mashing him into the pavement. The film unfolds over a single schoolday, as we follow Jerry's slow and inexorable transformation from model student into an unhinged, desperate detention case. Along the way, Jerry manages to destroy school property, rob the school supplies store, lose the trust of his mentor (an understated and awesomely mustachioed Jeffrey Tambor), come under the scrutiny of the scarily Nazi-esque principal, an become entangled in a love rectangle involving his crazy New Age girlfriend, the school 'hot girl', and his cougar-licious English teacher.

The thing I really love about this movie is it manages to avoid the trap of overdramatic angst that John Hughes always fell into with his films. Hughes never seemed to realize that the complexities of life as a disaffected high schooler could be conveyed with a little more cinematic flair and a little less scripted exposition. Joanou successfully deconstructs Jerry over the course of 7 hours, without the need for angst-riddled soliloquies, parents, group hugs, or spontaneous dance montages. The fabric of Jerry's existence becomes a function of his single-minded dread, and all his neuroses, his complexities, his worries about past, present, and future are expressed subtly, under a different name.

And speaking of subtlety, the film's antagonist is also a study in subtle complexity. Is he really as hardassed as everyone thinks? Or is his present situation an accidental response to and result of a past that may or may not actually exist? A make-believe attitude compensating for a fabricated life story? Facing a notoriety he only partially deserves and doesn't want, Buddy lashes out in the only way he believes is available to him: inexorable violence. Buddy is in fact living a vicious cycle of violence and infamy, doing what everyone expects him to do while vainly hoping that everyone else will not react to him the way he expects them to. It's a complicated analysis for something that's rendered innocuously simple under Joanou's direction.

Supported by a solid if not super talented cast and some inventive camera work and imaginative sets, Three O'clock High is well worth a watch.

Storyline & plot: 8/10
Cinematography & effects: 7/10
Music & mood: 6/10
Performances: 6/10

The Reverend says: 7/10