The Worst Film Ever

Powerful

Good movie, but best of all time? Hardly . . .

This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

Back when there were real comedies in Hollywood.It is lovely. The best about it is that it isn't a parody. It's a comedy concerning a teacher-with-underachiever-students, having little spoofs of some movies here and there.The formula is familiar since Blackboard Jungle (1955), and To Sir with Love (1967). Actually, this kind of movies don't stop. It never has a time of prosperity, maybe due to the fact that teaching is a continuing exam, since the circumstances are always changing, bringing new generations with new ways to deal with them. Ironically, the same year of (High School High) witnessed also (To Sir, with Love II) the TV sequel, and close movies like (The Substitute), and (Eddie).It doesn't pick clips from previous movies and toy with them as movies, from the same year, did such as (Spy Hard) and (Don't Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood). It shows an easy yet well-made story. Some perfect slapstick, lines, puns, and simple parody comedy. And the result didn't contain things like being forced, bad taste, toilet humor, or all what I watch in the comedies of today! The cast did a fine job, especially the minor parts. It's only Louise Fletcher who didn't amuse me, giving a one-note sullen face all along. The thing about Jon Lovitz is that he's Jon Lovitz in every movie or TV show. That's not a bad thing at all, but maybe it affected his career in a bad way. Although I love the guy, I even watched the movie more than once to savor him better, but sometimes his confused moves do bug.The twist of the Principal being the bad guy, who forged her students' results, was wild. Yet I can accept it as a far try to present a satire that agrees with this movie's farcical time and general innocence. So, accordingly, when a school reaches being that bad, and stays as that, then the Principal must be a real *criminal* ! It's one small movie (it's even less than 90 minutes). But there are plenty of good dialogs (I love "Where The Hell is Our Dinner ?!!" the most), and detailed scenes (look at how the school was shown at the start). I can't forget the final encounter of the "new" students with their Principal in which they got to beat her by their hard study and right answers; see, this movie is constructively motivational on a deep level yet in its own way ! Even at one point the movie delivers a sad scene in a very special way; and I mean the moment of Richard Clark leaving the school, feeling the failure, with a rain over his head only, namely departing "under a cloud" literally. I love the genius blues melody in the background, the serious – rarely seen – performance of Lovitz, and the smart lines during it.Some criticized it as a predictable, formulaic...Well, so most of the comedies, rather most of Hollywood movies. However the question would be did the amount of entertainment manage to rule or not? And this time it did. So it's predictable, formulaic, yet clever and seductive to watch. I miss this kind of comedies. Now I can't find anything but teens trash, stupid family movies, and disastrous parodies like (Disaster Movie) !

High School High is a very decent spoof comedy written by comedic geniuses Pat Proft and David Zucker. You recognize all these ordinary high school dramas like Dangerous Minds, The Substitute, High School Confidential and many others. And off-course there's many very absurd scenes that is very common to screenplays by Zucker.Also you can enjoy performance of Jon Lovitz. His character Richard Clark isn't stupid and clumsy like we know all Leslie Nielsens characters but just naive. At the same time Lovitz doesn't leave a strike that he is taking it all too seriously. Louise Fletcher's and Tia Carrere's performances were in full seriousness at the same time. They both played like in usual roles in usual high school films.High School High is a bit underrated but might not be as brilliant than the other films by Zucker/Craft but still it has it's moments.

Jon Lovitz is possibly the most under-rated Saturday Night Live alumnus. While Mike Myers, Adam Sandler and others have gone on to bigger things, Lovitz has primarily been background fodder for the other ex-cast members. And he's good at this, but he's also good on his own - as this movie proves. High School High was the best school movie parody of its time (before "Not Another Teen Movie"), taking "Dangerous Minds" and making a plot we should actually care about and enjoy. And we also have Tia Carrera (not to be confused with Asia Carrera).Lovitz plays a history teacher who wants to turn a school full of unwanted students into a fleet of tomorrow's best and brightest. With help from his street smarts and an intense chicken race scene, he might just accomplish his goals. But, oh no, what happens when a rival gang steals the tests or the class valedictorian turns to dealing drugs? You're just going to have to watch and see. Recommended (unless you don't like Lovitz, but then you have no sense of humor anyway).

I've seen the movie about nine or ten times, so naturally many of the jokes--which I found hysterical at first--aren't that funny anymore. But I don't think they could've done a much better job at spoofing high school flicks like "Dangerous Minds," "Lean on Me," "The Blackboard Jungle" and "To Sir, With Love." There are lots of witty moments that hit the bullseye.The jokes are not over-the-top, nor are they filthy and vomit-inducing like many recent spoofs. It's from the writers of "The Naked Gun" and the talent really shows. Jon Lovitz is funny, like usual. Tia Carrerre has never looked hotter, and serves as great eye candy. Louise Fletcher is appropriately creepy as the principal, who is sort of like a female version of Joe Clark--she also roams the hallways with a baseball bat. The young stars like Guillermo Diaz, Mekhi Pfieffer, Natasha Gregson Wagner and Brian Hooks are very good and their timing is just right.I would probably praise this movie a lot more if I submitted this comment after my first viewing, but trust me--it's very funny! But, like many broad comedies of this kind, it's not as enjoyable on repeat viewings. After having seen the latest spoof, "Not Another Teen Movie," I'm able to appreciate this film a lot more. This is a spoof with wit and structure, and even has a few subtle in-jokes: the school is titled Marion Barry High. You get it? My score: 7 (out of 10)