Three O'Clock High

Jerry is a high school student nobody notices. A new arrival called Buddy is said to be dangerous. Jerry touches him in the bathroom that morning and Buddy informs him they will fight in the parking lot at three. The film spreads across that day: seven hours, six classes and every route Jerry tries in order to avoid it. The subject is not the fight but the waiting. Jerry tries paying, leaving school, hiring protection and getting sick; every attempt makes it worse. The whole school knows the time and nobody wants it prevented. The form is unexpectedly ambitious for the genre. The camera glides fast down corridors, the framings come from below and the music is used as though for a thriller; a school fight is rendered with every device of a western duel. The joke is in that excess. It is Phil Joanou's first feature and was made by Steven Spielberg's company. Tangerine Dream provided the score. It drew no interest on release and later became a cult item among eighties high school films. Casey Siemaszko plays Jerry and Richard Tyson plays Buddy. Who it is for: viewers who like eighties high school comedy and formal play. Who it is not for: anyone looking for realism; the film exaggerates everything on purpose.