Cooley High

Hello all. This is the best movie of the 70's and one of the best of all time. If you haven't seen it yet you must see it soon. This is probably Lawrence Hilton Jacobs's first starring role. He is great in the movie and he is very underrated. Glynn Turman shines as Preach. He is also very underrated. This whole movie really captured what it was like back in the 60's for young blacks. It is heartwrenching and very moving. It has comedy and it has heartache. I recommend that everyone see this movie. It is the best. You will not be disappointed.

This this coming of age dramedy set in Chicago in the early 60's, we follow a group of highschool friends as they navigate through the ups and downs of their lives. The two central characters are Leroy "Preach" Jackson (Turman) and his best friend Richard "Cochise" Morris (Hilton-Jacobs.) Both of these boys have promising futures. Preach is a great writer but a lazy student, and Cochise has just received a college scholarship for basketball. When they're not hanging out at the local diner shooting craps with their friends, or hanging out at a friends house or chasing girls, they're skipping school, riding the trains through Chicago or going to quarter parties on the weekends.

Things go wrong when Preach and Cochise make the mistake of getting involved with two hoods and go joyriding in a stolen car. The police pursue them and they are arrested. But thanks to the efforts of a concerned teacher (SNL's Garrett Morris) they are released. But the two hoods are not, and vow to get revenge on Preach and Cochise, thinking they blamed the whole thing on them.

This movie is very episodic, but it still works because thats what life is, a series of episodes. Some funny, some sad, some romantic, some bizarre. The film never gets boring because all the characters are so well played and realistic, and the situations are all believable and relatable. Like Preach romantically pursuing a beautiful girl, or a party turning violent when some asshole decides to start a fight, or dealing with a bratty younger sibling. But even when a situation isn't personally relatable, like the guys pretending to be undercover cops to con a hooker out of some money so they could get all their friends into a movie, the sequence is still hilarious.

'Cooley High' was the basis for the classic 70's sitcom 'What's Happenin!' which aired on ABC from 1976-1979. Even though the show is most famous for the character Rerun, he is not in this film, nor is there any character remotely like him. The humor of that show was very broad, but still funny. The humor of 'Cooley High' is truer to life, and thus more entertaining.

Additionally, the soundtrack is wonderful. Classic songs from that period by Diana Ross & The Supremes, The Temptations, Martha & the Vandellas, and Smokey Robinson play throughout the film, adding to the fun, youthful, exuberant tone of the film.

While this seems to be a black equivalent to "American Graffitti", I would hardly call this "Blaxploitation". Really not in the same boat as "Sweet Sweetbacks Badass Song", all those Pam Grier movies by Jack Hill, and the usual sort. Interesting to see Lawrence Hilton Jacobs in something other than "Welcome Back Kotter", or his low-rent action films. Interesting to note that "Kotter" comes up in a few posts, but I didn't see anyone mention that the TV show "What's Happening" (and the later, "What's Happening Now" I suppose), was based on, and inspired by this film, which is why I wanted to see it in the first place. This film is vastly superior to "What's Happening" (for many reasons, most obviously, the lack of the "Rerun" character), and has real heart. Also, it features some excellent use of Godzilla footage in the theatre scenes, something I always appreciate. If you haven't seen it, you really should.

It's 1964 Chicago. Preach and Cochise are best friends in the black high school, Edwin G. Cooley. They with two other friends skip school to go to the zoo. In a different incident, Preach is throwing dice in a local diner. When he shows interest in Brenda, Cochise bets him a dollar to hook up with her. The two joins other guys in a joyride which gets them into trouble. Mr. Mason is a teacher trying to guide Preach.

This is a coming-of-age teen drama in black cinema. The performances are good with some future veteran actors. It's episodic in nature. There are some humorous moments. It needs to get into the joyride earlier in the first act so as to make it the central point in a three act movie. It's more like a series of incidents that forms the highs and lows of the two young men's friendship and a blossoming romance. This has a realism and the sense of place.

Now, I am not prone to much emotion, but I cried seeing this movie. It certainly has more appeal among blacks than other ethnic groups, but there is something here for everyone. The classic song "It's so Hard to Say Goodbye" really makes this one worth watching at least once.