Heaven Help Us (1985)

Good concept, poorly executed.

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

Great movie. Not sure what people expected but I found it highly entertaining.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

OK, so a couple reviewers thought this film was anti-Catholic, and with that attitude couldn't see the film for what it was. A Comedy, with some Drama, and actually a very very good film. Anti-Catholic? "Bullocks!" I say. If the shoe fits, wear it. I attended 12 years of Catholic school in southeastern Pennsylvania... and while this was a movie, with a fair amount of exaggeration (think Pool scene), it was the best representation of those years that I've ever seen. My H.S. was co-ed, but my fathers was an all boys Catholic H.S. in Philly. His 1950's experience with Brothers was spot-on with the movie. My experience in the 1970's in PA was with Nuns. The Nuns we had in those days were identical to the Sisters shown in this movie. Full black and white attire, including flat-top headgear, and firm white covering across their forehead. Nicknamed Crows, Penguins, etc. (I do not mean to be disrespectful here, just saying...) The opening Church scene was as authentic as it was hilarious. The all- girls Mass Communion scene was genuine. As Altar Boys we served reverently (or else), but our minds were all-American boy. One war story I'll share here: In 6th grade, one boy spit into the hair of a boy sitting in the pew in front of him during our weekly Friday 09:00AM Mass. Sister V. didn't see that happen, but when she dealt with the aftermath in the classroom 20 min's later, the boy that did it was thrown over 2 rows of desks and landed in the isle beside my desk. So absolutely, corporal punishment was dealt out on an "as needed" or even regular basis. You did not run home and tell your mother or father that a Nun hit you, BECAUSE your father would beat the tar out of you for doing something, or being part of something, that required a Nun to hit you. True story. When quarterly Reports cards were handed out by our Parish Priest, you'd have thought God himself was coming to your classroom. And you behaved accordingly, or risked the scorn of an angry Nun, which is far worse than the scorn of an angry woman. My compliments to the entire movie crew, writers, producers, actors, all. The Confessional scene is to die for, and that scene alone is worth the price of admission. The interaction between Michael Dunn and Brother Thaddeus was so good it took me back to my own early 70's catholic school years. 5-Stars from this Altar boy :-) Lastly, just so you know I'm not some mincer with an Ax to grind, if I had to go to school again, I'd want to go through the same experiences again. Catholic School: Tough? Yes. Fair? Most of the time. Worth while? Absolutely. Enjoy the movie.

A real favorite from the 1980s, during the slew of 80s films that took place in the 60s (see Stand By Me, Porkys, Mischief, etc.) Perennial movie nice guy back then Andy McCarthy enrolls at a tough-as-nails Catholic school in 1965. Apparently his parents have just died, and he and his sister move in with their religion-toting grandmother who envisions McCarthy as, if not the Pope, a future priest. But Catholic school or not, your usual assortment of wily teen boys occupy the place. You have the chronic masturbator Geoffrey's, tag-along Dempsey, frumpy nerd Danare, and malcontent Dillon, who hilariously refers to everyone as a "faggot". A forgotten performer would be the strong supporting turn from Jay Patterson as a hot-headed teacher. Before reform by the Catholic church in the 70s, guys like Patterson existed, usually in the form of nuns. He takes their "ruler-to-hand" approach many steps further. The boys deal with them, plus their hormones, various school activities, and spending time at their favorite hang-out. This is where a slight but sweet romance develops between McCarthy and Masterson. She's such a downtrodden personality---with an appropriate speech about "meloncholia"---that the romance lacks punch. Throw in a slight theft from "Risky Business" involving the demise of a father's car, and you have an enjoyable comedy that sustains itself from start to finish. Purpura's script and Michael Dinner's fluid direction aid a fun story with a monster pay-off involving McCarthy and Patterson. Nice Brooklyn period atmosphere and music make this a must-find for obscure 80s comedy.

As a Patrick Dempsey fan, I picked up this movie. Only, Dempsey is hardly in it, and barely has dialogue. It turned out to be a pretty funny little movie about the trials and tribulations of five Catholic School Boys at St. Basils in the 1960s. Our central character is Michael Dunn (Andrew McCarthy), who is new to St. Basils and has yet to learn of it's sadistic rituals and largely paranoid and overbearing Brothers. Dunn makes friends with self-proclaimed genius, Caesar (Malcolm Danare) who's self-gratification can be quite annoying. Dunn and Caesar eventually join forces with underachiever, Rudy (Kevin Dillon), quiet Corbet (a very young Patrick Dempsey), and the horny kid, Williams (Stephen Geoffreys). As such, the five of them get into their fair share of trouble and adolescent antics at St. Basils, which makes for some pretty funny sequences. Mary Stuart Masterson costars as Dunn's girlfriend who runs the soda fountain, a sanctuary to the Catholic School students where they can smoke and cuss and whatever without fearing sanctions from the Brother. She's basically just a nice girl trying to get by and seems like a good match for Dunn. Donald Sutherland plays the rather lackluster headmaster at the school. Wallace Shawn has a small role as the paranoid Brother who fears the potential of the horny student body (just listen to his dumb speech at the dance), and John Heard has a good part as the laidback Brother who seems to be the only buffer between the Brothers and the students. Despite Andrew McCarthy being emphasized as the main character, the whole movie is really Rudy (Kevin Dillon)who has the bulk of funny dialogue and dumb ideas and without which, would probably be just another 'blah' movie. McCarthy's character alone is not all that interesting, and so they needed something to play off of that. And that's what Dillon's character is there for. And it works so well, he basically is the whole movie.I recommend picking up this one if you get a chance, especially if you really like 80s movies.

WARNING POTENTIAL SPOILERS!!!!! I would call this movie a "dramody." It has many comic elements, but it also is the very serious story of a kid whose parents die in a car accident and who has to start life over in a new city.I disagree with the previous reviewers who seem to think that the movie was sadistic and/or anti-Catholic. True, the physical punishment scenes in the movie might repel us today,especially those of us who have young nephews who will be attending Catholic schools in a few years.However, I dare say that the beatings depicted in the movie are relatively mild compared to what used to go on in both private and public US schools, to say nothing of boys' school in the UK prior to 1960. (Also, a word about swimming au naturel- it was quite common for schools with pools, public as well as private, to require boys to swim in the nude.The tradition of required nudity started in the YMCAs of the 1930s, a time when swimsuits made made of terrible fibrous fabrics and messy dyes. The rationale was one of keeping the pool clean. The tradition stuck until the early 1980s, when increased awareness about pedophilia and teenage homosexuality killed the practice.) The movie shows a positive side of Roman Catholicism, with the brothers' deep faith. Sutherland's character is wonderful- a stern but sincere man of God and the church.The boys are rebels, but have an inner goodness that comes out in the end.Wallace Shwan is great in his cameo as "Father Abruzzi" doing a rip-roaring condemnation of LUST! The Catholic Mass is always in the background of the movie, and for me, the sincerity of devotion overcame the cruelty of fallible, sinful men. The love story between Danni and Dunne was an afterthought and needed more development. The story morrors my own struggles at such a school-mean kids, meaner teachers, academic pressure, but the Mass and the Virgin in the background,reminding me that wounds heal in time and in eternity.