[year/rating] 1987 PG-13 [genre] Teen Comedy [director] Phil Joanou [starring] Casey Siemaszko Anne Ryan Richard Tyson Stacey Glick

Tagline

Jerry Mitchell just bumped into Buddy Revell. Now Jerry isn't thinking about math or english. Because at three o'clock, he's history.

Summary Capsule

Geek accidentally makes a mortal enemy of the new kid in school, and is plunged into a surreal nightmare. He also has to pursue three separate women, but that's all in the course of his day!

Mutant Meter

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Justin's Rating: Oh, if only all teachers were that hot. And turned on by book reports.
Justin's Review: Hello, and welcome to Obscure Eighties Movies 402. Please take your seat, and pull out your notebook and writing utensils. The learning is about to commence.

Jerry (Casey Siemaszko) is a nerd. If he were in a modern teen movie, he’d most likely fulfill the essential role of Background Party Geek #4 or even Pre-Death School Chum. However, this being back in the era where nerdery and geekdom raged hard, Jerry is our main fella. He’s likable, if looking like he recently arrived from 1954, and he’s got the nicest younger sister ever seen in movie history, a fiercely loyal best friend, and a hot weirdo girl to hang out with. Life isn’t bad.

"This movie gives us good reason to mourn what we’ve since lost in this genre. It’s wonderfully weird."

Not bad, that is, until Jerry accidentally makes mortal enemies with the new school bully, and is challenged to a fight at three o’clock that day. Looking helplessly at his stringy muscles and oh-so-delicate complexion, Jerry wises up and realizes that this might just be the last day he ever sees. What to do? Run away? Hire a bodyguard? Tattle? Frame the jerk? Seduce a teacher with a growled-out book report? Why pick one when you can have all of the above?

Three O’Clock High ran low under my 80’s radar for many a year, which makes it a pleasant surprise to uncover. I consider the 80’s the golden era for comedies, and even though Three O’Clock High can’t boast much in the way of originality, this movie gives us good reason to mourn what we’ve since lost in this genre. It’s wonderfully weird.

For me, the best part about many 80’s comedies is that they’re carefree, and honestly out to give the viewers a good time. That might mean rifling through all the tricks in the book, from sped-up shots to slapstick to highly unrealistic setups, but as long as we got entertained, all is forgiven. Nowadays, even in comedies Hollywood has to be more "realistic", focusing on teens who just can’t be kids; they have to be overly intelligent, impossibly good-looking sexual predators. Back in the 80’s, we could have a main character who was strange looking and an unknown actor -- check out Real Genius. We could have wildly unrealistic characters who we ended up loving just because we’d love to meet people like that. The main focus wasn’t pimping the punk soundtrack, or making the audience feel vastly inferior to the "hip" movie high schoolers. In my opinion, if you want to know the main difference between 80’s and modern teen comedies, I’d say look at how the movie leaves you in the end. If you’ve been given a good happy ending, if you don’t feel embarrassed or uncomfortable at having seen any of the parts of the movie, if it’s something that twenty years from now you won’t be ashamed to having liked… then it’s probably 80’s.

While Three O’Clock High indulges in plenty of the period’s comedy traits, it does skirt the line between ludicrous and serious in a way I didn’t expect. The bully situation Jerry faces isn’t dealt with lightly. In one darker scene, Jerry’s bodyguard gets his finger broke and face smashed in just to prove how deadly the bully is. Jerry obviously didn’t deserve this trouble, but he can’t run from it either. A great running gag throughout the flick is the constant references in classes and the pep rally to violence, and there’s probably a commentary here on how we can’t always run from our troubles -- sooner or later, we’re forced to face some of them.

I wouldn’t have thought that mixing elements from The Karate Kid and Better Off Dead would be a good thing, but hey, even perfectionists like myself have 350 off days a year. Revisit a time when nerds ruled the planet. See it. Love it. Own it.

The hunt... begins Atlas Hugged Nevermind that it's probably illegal and unethical -- it's hot!

Didja Notice? [some sources: IMDb]

• The weird camera movement in the opening shot
• Sniffing your clothes to see if they’re good
• Washing Machine Cam
• Microwaves are versatile
• SUPRMOM
• Diet Coke is good to rinse out after brushing while driving
• Red means stop
• Hey, it’s Yeardley Smith (the voice of Lisa Simpson) as a cheerleader!
• Every high school has a supermodel. They come standard now.
• Ethan, the spirit guide
• The Wonderful World of Insects! Chapter 8!
• This school sees a lot of violence, particularly with its cheerleaders
• Skinner from X-Files as the campus cop
• The noises as the camera focuses on the wall decorations in the dean of discipline’s office
• Stitches category -- heh
• How not to break into a cash register
• Yay, dominos!
• Teachers like to be seduced by hot book reports
• Jerry has three girls hitting on him within five minutes… what a player!
• The Vertigo shot
• A buck a sheet

Is It Worth Staying Through End Credits?

There’s a closing scene with various voice-overs reflecting the opening school scene.

Intermission! [some sources: IMDb]

Casey Siemaszko might not be the most name-recognizable actor from the 80's, but he's been in more movies you've seen than you realize. From playing 3-D (one of Biff's gang) in Back to the Future (and part II) to roles in Stand By Me, Young Guns, and Breaking In (with Burt Reynolds), Casey's one of those hard-working second tier actors who rarely get the main role, but provide excellent support from the sidelines.

Steven Spielberg was the executive producer, but he asked to have his name removed from the credits.

Groovy Quotes

Jerry: I guess I should’ve known from the beginning, it was gonna be one of those days.

Brei: So the new look is all black, huh?
Girl: No, not really. I just had a feeling about today.

Brei: That’s why they call it Continuation, so you can continue murdering people and still graduate.

Girl: I don’t do homework in bed.

Jerry: I know this is a little weird, me asking who you are, standing side-by-side at the urinals…

Brei: Your face looks like non-fat milk.

Kid: Now THAT’S what I call a book report!

Brei: Jerry, cripple the d**k!

Buddy Revell: You and me, we're gonna have a fight. Today. After school. Three o'clock. In the parking lot. You try and run, I'm gonna track you down. You go to a teacher, it's only gonna get worse. You sneak home, I'm gonna be under your bed.

If you liked this movie, try these:

• Better Off Dead
• Karate Kid
• Back to the Future