CitizenCaine Review of High School High

High School High (1996)

Thin Line Between Spoof And High School High Life

[5/10 · 14 January 2004]

Jon Lovitz stars as a sweetly idiotic idealistic teacher, who thinks he can make a difference at a troubled inner city high school with its own cemetery, no less. Tia Carrere is on hand to provide eye candy in the form of an impossible-to-believe love interest. Mekhi Phifer and Malinda Williams are the high school kids that Lovitz could lose to the gangs. They are both fine and provide more interest to watch then what else goes on at times. The problem with some spoofs, as with this one, are that the gags are sometimes too close to reality. In some cases, so much so that the gags lose their bite. A bumper sticker that says, "proud parent of a D average student" is one such case. It's very funny until you realize how true it has become in today's world. My favorite bit was the protective chicken wire fence between Lovitz and the students, but again it's uncomfortably close to reality in certain schools. The weapons bit too is another example. The first half of the movie was pretty funny and consistently enjoyable, but then the second half deteriorates into a mishmash of scenes that are out of sync with the times (like the drag race), or plot turns that are out of sync with the tone of the film (like the drug plot). I thought the drag race sequence was entirely dated and served no purpose. Then again, David Zucker-affiliated material is so broad at times that you almost expect these kind of disappointments. It's hard to tell what the movie is trying to do or where it's going, as written. It makes the mistake of trying to come out with a happy ending, as if it were a genuine movie made about high school life. John Neville adds credibility as Lovitz' high brow father and Louise Fletcher does a wild turn as the "bitch" of high school principals. ** of 4 stars.