The Chocolate War

The Chocolate War (1988)

Directed by Keith Gordon. Starring Ilan Mitchell-Smith, John Glover, Wallace Langham, Doug Hutchinson, Brent Fraser, Corey Gunnestad, Jenny Wright, Adam Baldwin, Bud Cort. (R)

Low-key but absorbing adaptation of Robert Cormier's controversial young adult novel of the same name depicting a secret student society at a Catholic high school and their power plays to manipulate the system and student body. Directorial debut for Keith Gordon is confident but restrained, allowing the story to unfold at a deliberate pace and create a quiet tension that (unfortunately) promises more than it ultimately delivers. The climax alters the book's flawed ending, but doesn't quite work for different reasons: a "happier" wrap-up with a cynical stinger. Mitchell-Smith's blank, listless performance renders the protagonist as an enigma (we never understand exactly why he does the things he does beyond a sleepy-eyed "whaddya got?" Brando attitude), but Glover and Langham (credited here as Wally Ward) both score bulls-eyes as a cruel headmaster and Machiavellian student respectively. Worth watching whether you've read the book or not.

73/100