Film
What's on at the cinema plus reviews of the latest movie and DVD releases
Bookmark this pageHigh Season (1987)
Director: Clare Peploe
Movie review
From Time Out Film Guide
Gag-wise, this spoof from the Zucker Bros - actually just David plus major production help and lightweight scriptwriting assistance from Robert LoCash and Pat Proft - is an under-achiever. Lovitz plays the naive teacher son of a WASP headmaster who escapes the paternal shadow by accepting a post in the internecine groves of Marion Barry High. His beliefs set him at odds with rival Latino/Afro gangs and headmistress Louise Fletcher, who wields a baseball bat, but soon gets him 'skin-slapping' with 'educational assistant' Victoria (Carrere). Strangely, the director plays too much of the movie straight, slow and slushily romantic. This grants us dangerous leisure time to notice the script's dependence on racism, sexism and homophobia, ensuring that the moments of unrestrained, non-PC excess (a hilarious travesty of Chinatown clichés, for instance) prove the most rewarding.Author: WH
Cast & crew
Director: Clare Peploe
Producer: Clare Downs
Cast: Jacqueline Bisset, James Fox, Irene Papas, Sebastian Shaw, Kenneth Branagh, Lesley Manville, Robert Stephens full cast
Duration: 101 mins
Most popular on this site
Top Stories
A Bond a day: No. 11 'Moonraker'
Time Out revisits the 21 Bond movies day by day to celebrate the release of 'Quantum of Solace'
The essential guide to the London Film Festival
Get the inside track on the all the films and events you'll want to catch at the Times BFI 52nd London Film Festival
Terence Davies: interview
Wally Hammond talks to visionary British director Terence Davies about his deeply personal and long-awaited new documentary ‘Of Time and the City’
W.
Read our early review of Oliver Stone's George W Bush biopic, 'W.', playing at this year's London Film Festival
Ten friendly ghost movies
To celebrate the release of 'Ghost Town' in which Ricky Gervais plays a New York dentist who can see dead people, Time Out counts down ten great friendly ghost movies.
What do you think?
Post your review now