One thing that's good is its sense of time and place. I didn't go to an overcrowded high school in Ohio during the mid-'80s, yet that sense is so good that every time I have watched this movie, I feel as though I did.
Great soundtrack, too-all terse bass lines, hard-rock guitars, concise beats and melodic vocals. Bands like 38 Special you might not expect to be my cup of tea (though I contain multitudes), but a lot of material on the album,
-which I still have, is the exception that tests the rule.The biggest problem is the script; it can't decide what tone it wants to have, and neither can one or two of the actors. The script mixes black comedy-a teacher dies sitting up at his desk and no one notices for a few periods-with moments we're supposed to take seriously and be moved by. That's hard to do, though not impossible when a director is in firm control of good material. This movie can't seem to decide where its head's at.
Then there's JoBeth Williams, who should have gotten some sort of award for most valiant performance by an actress. Struggling with one of the worst-written parts for a woman of all time, Williams works like hell to make it entertaining, but there's only so much you can do.
By the time the script requires her to try to make it belivable that a young, professional attorney would strip naked and run down the halls of a school (with class in session, yet) to make a point...
...well, I'm assuming she spent a lot of time between takes thinking nostalgically of the script for "The Big Chill" and sipping Vodka.
Side note: While searching for the above image, I discovered that a few years ago when trying to advertise "Boston Public"...
Those who forget history...
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