Wayne K
A darker high school comedy than others of its ilk, Three O’Clock High tries it’s best to squeeze every last drop out of its pretty thin premise. The lead, played by Casey Siemaszko, is a charming guy, flawed but doing his best, and the characters that orbit around him are a charmingly offbeat bunch. Sadly, the character that so much of the story is based around, Buddy Revell, educational outcast and proverbial talk of the town, is so underdeveloped that you can’t help but question and doubt everything about him. There’s no reason for him to act the way he does, or feign stupidity, or even be in high school at all, considering he looks about 25. Not exactly a unique phenomenon in movies like this, but the guy looks like the kind of person you’d pay to M.O.T. your car, not compare calculus homework with. If he had some deep-seated insecurities that he was painfully ashamed of then it would be easier to buy his anger. As such, he just seems aggressive for the sake of the plot. It does get a few laughs here and there, mostly at the expense of the stories ridiculousness, and I like how the ticking clock element is used, being a constant reminder of the pressure the lead is under, rather than just popping up when the plot needs to be moved along. I like the ways its shot as well, with much more visual flair and smooth cameras movements than your average comedy. It’s a shame the antagonist wasn’t more fleshed out, and the conflict made more believable or, God forbid, amusing. As it is, its reaches the lofty heights of ‘just fine.’
Rated 3/5 Stars •
Rated 3 out of 5 stars
12/02/24
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ערן א
great movie!! saw it 20 times and loved any second of it.
Rated 4.5/5 Stars •
Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars
10/15/24
Full Review
Augustine J
I really liked this movie. It has one of my favorite opening credit sequences, with everything going wrong, it's a good scene. This movie is also a great metaphor for the inevitability of having to face your fears, you can try to run from them but in the end, you have to confront them. For a movie without any major stars it managed to be a really good flick. Check it out.
Rated 4.5/5 Stars •
Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars
03/13/24
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Idiot
Best high school movie ever. A wild ride all the way through. Builds up to a huge after school fight that doesn't disappoint.
Rated 5/5 Stars •
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
12/12/23
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Dave B
Loved this movie when it came out still do. Great little fun film
Rated 4/5 Stars •
Rated 4 out of 5 stars
09/08/23
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allan c
Okay, I know this is not really a five star film, but it's one of my all-time favorites and that's why I've rated it as such. Also, "Three O'Clock High" is probably the second best non-John Hughes high school comedy of the 1980s ("Valley Girl" get's the #1 spot and "Real Genius" a very close #3). The story here, as the title alludes, is "High Noon" with teenagers. Casey "Young Guns" Siemaszko plays a nerdy school newspaper geek who offends the new kid, Richard "Two Moon Junction" Tyson, who supposedly killed a guy at his last school, and then challenges Siemaszko to a fight after school. Siemaszko spends the rest of the day trying to get out of the fight to hilarious effect. There are so many memorable things about the film, but I think most memorable is the exuberant stylized direction by Phil Joanou and the excellent photography by the Coen Brothers regular director of photography Barry Sonnenfeld, right before he went on to direct his own films, such as "The Addams Family," "Men in Black" and "Get Shorty." In lesser hands, this with would have simply been a mildly entertaining comedy, but with Joanou and Sonnenfeld behind the camera, it has the same wild energy and creativity of the Coen Brothers or Sam Raimi. The film is also memorable for it's supporting cast, which includes Jeffery Tambor ("Arrested Development"), Phillip Baker Hall ("Hard Eight"), John P. Ryan ("Bound"), Mitch Pileggi ("The X-Files"), and Paul Feig ("Heavyweights"). &ou may not have heard of these folks, but you'd instantly recognize them. It's also of note that Steven Spielberg, who's mentored Joanou when he worked on his TV show "Amazing Stories," was the executive producer on the picture, but Spielberg asked to have his name removed from the credits. That could be attributed to Spielberg being surprised after screening the film and asking Joanou, "What happened to Karate Kid? You made a Scorsese film!" And true, the film is more akin to "After Hours" than "The Karate Kid," but I think that's why I love it. Overall, I believe this is a pretty irresistible film that I think just about everyone will love. If you've never seen "Three O'Clock High," do yourself a favor and check it out.
Rated 5/5 Stars •
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
03/31/23
Full Review
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