Te Pego Lá Fora

I have just discovered this film recently. It was never very popular, and I don't know why. I am surprised that a few people can't stand this film. After viewing the DVD a few times, I can honestly say that overall this is not a bad film. The directing is superb. I liked the way the director uses time...the passage of time...and shows its relationship and importance to the story. I also liked the camera blocking, and angles. My favorite shot is of the bully walking out of the school just before the fight: The camera zooms in and tilts up at a low level. A technique taught in film school to show a subject as "larger-than-life", or menacing over something. The acting was also excellent. Richard Tyson is great as the bully. His deep voice is well suited for this role, and is especially noted if you have a subwoofer. Yeah, I wouldn't want to fight him, either... Although the story is "typical", I like the plot-line. Throughout the whole story, the plot slowly builds to an amazing climax, then drops suddenly, and levels off. Its a perfect plot-line. Although, some parts of the story are "far-fetched". Such as, Jerry pretending to fall in love with his English teacher. One thing to remember, though, this is fiction. Sometimes in fiction, things happen that are unlikely in real life. That's why its called "fiction". Other than the bland "typical" story, I could not find anything wrong with this film. I have yet to even find so much as a continuity error. In conclusion, if you are looking for "content" you will be disappointed with this film. However, if you are looking for a well-directed film with good use of camera blocking and angles, and actor positioning, you will find this to be a very enjoyable film. ACTING: 9.1 / 10 DIRECTING: 9.4 / 10 STORY: 8.8 / 10

AVERAGE: 9.1 / 10 A lost Gem, and a must see for "film people".

You sense you're in for something a bit different when you hear the ticking of the clock in the first few seconds of the movie - a countdown to a personal doomsday for Jerry Mitchell (Siemaszko), in charge of the high school bookstore and a writer for the school paper. He's assigned to write an article on the new kid, Buddy Revell (Tyson). Only Revell is no kid; he's a hulking mass of unstoppable destruction and patently psychotic. As mentioned beforehand in the picture, he's also a 'touch-freak' so when Mitchell makes the fatal error in the bathroom, it's so foolish of him, you might think he deserves his fate. But no one deserves the amount of psychological torture he endures for the next few hours. Does all this sound like a comedy? Probably not, but it is - a dark satire on high school comedies. And it works like crazy.

As you watch Mitchell spiral downward further and further into an abyss, you begin to wonder where he'll end up. His many efforts to free himself, involving school security, robbery, pay-offs, and teacher seduction, only further entangle him in a nightmarish situation, heightened by various hints of how bloody his beating will be. You slowly realize, as the clock ticks towards an inevitable showdown, that Mitchell will get no sympathy, even from his friends; it's a stunning depiction of how necessary is an individual's self-reliance and self-direction of their own destiny. The whole thing would've fallen apart if there hadn't been a showdown, if Mitchell managed to avoid the confrontation. But there is a Showdown, with all the spectacle of a Roman coliseum and the roar of crowds - it's an exciting climax. The funniest scene for me was Mitchell in the office of 'Voytek Dolinsky', the school's gestapo disciplinarian.

This is a consistently overlooked and under-rated film. Fans of movies like Rushmore and Election may be surprised to learn that even during the John Hughes (Pretty in Pink, Sixteen Candles, etc.) era there were still hip, funny movies being made about the high school experience.

The movie is shot in a mildly surreal "Coen brothers-esque" fashion that makes it a joy to look at, while the script is sharp and inventive. Despite its abstract nature, the script is very true to the realism of adolescent intimidation. Also not to be overlooked are some very clever performances by some lesser known performers which come off as very convincing.

Don't get me wrong, this is not a great film, very few are. If you consider Rushmore a 10 in this genre than Three O'clock High is about a 6 1/2 or a seven, but still well worth viewing.

Three O' Clock High Suburban High School Masterpiece - 10 (classic)

At age thirteen, I was beginning to question my place in the flux of society. Did I belong to that group or that group? Little did I know that I was to hit puberty soon, whereupon a new cocktail of hormones would knock my brain out of childhood and into the world of minimum wages, TV, and weapons of mass destruction.

No other movie I can think of captures that sense of stark naked individuality as poignantly as THREE O'CLOCK HIGH. This brilliant film features a hero and a villain, both of whom are loners. The hero, played by Casey Siemaszko, is a born loser, the one who realizes that his fly is open during public speaking class and faces the laughter of all the normal kids. The villain, a young and fresh Richard Tyson, who was born to play this role, is the psychotic biker thug who never says a word and never allows anyone to touch him. The two loners have an unlucky encounter one morning, and as Jerry Mitchell apologizes he accidentally touches Buddy Revell's jacket. That's where the shat goes down, and soon the whole school is abuzz with the latest news: fight at three o' clock. Buddy Revell vs. Jerry Mitchell.

THREE O' CLOCK HIGH is directed and edited with supreme wit. Every second of the day is stretched to darkly humorous extremes. Each tick of the clock brings the audience closer to doom and a zoom closer into Jerry's sweaty forehead. Anyone who's set foot in an American school will be up in stitches suffering from that kind of uncontrollable laughter that bubbles up from the sternum. As he over-interprets the things he sees around him, Jerry Mitchell's fear reaches out through the screen and tickles your stomach. No other pathetic loser role has been played as well ever or since in my opinion.

I don't think that any of the cast & crew of this classic film have had the industry standard "illustrious" career, but who cares? They all came together in 1987 to make a movie that changed the course of my life. Stephen Spielberg was involved in THREE 'O CLOCK HIGH's production, but I don't know exactly where. Anne Ryan did a stellar job as Jerry's proto-goth girlfriend. Who knows what she's doing now? By now the children of 1987 are all grown up and running the rat race in a gerbil wheel.

THREE O' CLOCK HIGH will resurface all of the high school emotions that you want to forget. Do you remember wetting your pants, the puppy dog love, or being abandoned by your close friends? One thing is for sure. Watching this movie will evoke those emotions, including the deepest of thrills - overcoming the odds and getting that half-assed paper in on time.

Jimboduck.

Why is this movie not up there with 'The Breakfast Club,' 'Heathers,' and other teen rite-of-passage classics? 'Three O'Clock High' is hilarious. The cinematography is as well-executed as the script, and laughs appear at just about every turn. The mixed nuts in the cast give great deadpan performances (Jeffrey Tambor kills me every time as he heartbrokenly surveys the vandalized school supply store -- 'what kind of animals would DO this?' he almost weeps), playing up the comic absurdity of the script. A wonderful farce that hasn't lost a bit of its charm in 12 years. Why Anne Ryan, the hero's girlfriend, disappeared after this movie is a mystery to me -- she should have become another Winona Ryder. Don't pass this one up if your local video store has bothered to keep it on the shelf. You can thank me later. And if you're leery because the movie tanked at the box office, remember, Milli Vanilli's record sold seven million copies, so trusting the mainstream public is not always the best idea...