Heaven Help Us (film)
Encyclopedia
Heaven Help Us is a 1985 comedy-drama
film starring Andrew McCarthy
, Mary Stuart Masterson
, Kevin Dillon
, Donald Sutherland
, Wallace Shawn
, Stephen Geoffreys
, John Heard, and Patrick Dempsey
.
While attempting to adjust to his new life, Michael also must adjust to the stricter rules and teaching methods of the brothers who run the school. He also manages to befriend his fellow students, rebelling and discovering who they are, along with a reluctant, yet streetwise young Brother.
) and his young sister Boo (Jennie Dundas), following the deaths of their parents, have been sent to Brooklyn to live with their Irish-Catholic grandparents (Kate Reid
& Richard Hamilton
). He is enrolled at St. Basil's, a strict Roman Catholic school and church, where his grandmother is determined to see him fulfill his parents' dream of him joining the priesthood after graduation. The movie takes place during the time when the Catholic Church was changing their forms of discipline, liturgy, and sacraments. While some places had modified already by then, St. Basil's held on to strict tradition, including Latin Mass
.
Dunn befriends Caesar (Malcolm Danare), an over-weight, bespectacled student with a high-pitched voice and even higher test scores and grades. After resisting conformation with the other students, Caesar ultimately gives in and helps the transfer student, Dunn, catch up with the rest of the class. However, because of Cesar and Dunn's association, foul-mouthed class bully and underachiever Ed Rooney (Kevin Dillon
begins to bully Dunn.
Not long after this confrontation, Dunn witnesses a prank Rooney plays on Caesar. Dunn enters the classroom at the beginning of his English-Lit class just in time to see Rooney take out a screwdriver and remove the screws from Caesar's desk. Minutes later, Cesar arrives, sits on the desk and crashes to the floor. The teacher, Brother Constance (Jay Patterson) orders all the boys on their knees "until the joker comes forward". Dunn then whispers to Caesar that he tried to warn him, but his whisper is caught by Constance. During Brother Constance's further demand for the villain to come forward, Cesar (the over achiever) corrects the Brother's grammar saying, "It's ...to whom brother, not to who..." The Brother was angered and forced Cesar to crawl on his knees in the classroom repeating the phrase "to whom Brother, to whom Brother..." repeatedly. Due to the whisper to Cesar, Brother Constance becomes convinced that Dunn knows the perpetrator. Dunn, not willing to give up the name of the joker, calls Dunn to the front of the classroom. Constance continues trying to get the prankster's name out of him by striking Dunn's open palms with a wooden paddle, which he has sadistically labeled with the word "PATIENCE". Meanwhile, Cesar continues punishment. Fed up with Dunn's refusal to rat out Rooney, Constance shoves him towards the floor in the center of the classroom. Dunn looks up at Rooney from the floor, who delivers a sly grin at him. Dunn lunges towards Rooney, taking him to the floor and the pair are separated by Constance and the novice friar, Brother Timothy (John Heard), who has been observing Constance's classroom teaching and discipline methods that day.
Both are sent to headmaster Brother Thadeus' (Donald Sutherland
) office, and during a moment alone, Rooney, impressed by Dunn's refusal to snitch on him, attempts to patch things up between them, but Dunn wants nothing to do with him. When Brother Thaddeus was called from his office, another brother was asked to "keep an eye" on the boys in the other room. The Brother turned on the intercom to listen in on the boys. To the brothers surprise, Rooney says, "Fuck this!" and proceeds to call Brother Constance a "Fagg!" Of course Rooney was again in trouble for that antic. Later, Rooney tries again in the schoolyard to patch things up with Dunn, but this time tells him that if they don't become friends, then he has to continue in his harassment in order to save face. Reluctantly, Dunn befriends Rooney, along with his friends Williams, a sexually frustrated kid who is frequently caught masturbating (Stephen Geoffreys
) and Corbett, the dull one of the bunch (Patrick Dempsey
). Dunn also befriends Danni, (Mary Stuart Masterson
), a rebellious teenage high school drop-out tomboy who runs the soda fountain across from the school and takes care of her mentally infirm father (Jimmy Ray Weeks).
Looking for mischief by St. Basil's students,Danni's fountain shop is raided numerous times by the Brothers. After the raids, the fountain shop is always left a shambles. This last time, however, Dunn, who escapes detection, helps Danni clean things up.
Other hilarious episodes happen. At the sacrament of confession, Rooney looks at the lists of sins the guys all committed and has them swap them around so each list does not sound so bad. When Caesar enters the confessional, Father Abruzzi (Wallace Shawn
) becomes preoccupied with another student misbehaving in the church. At that point, Rooney goes into the priest's booth and acts as the priest hearing Caesar's confession and then giving him the penance of befriending Rooney and making sure he gets Rooney passing grades. As a result, Caesar joins the four and befriends them while tutoring Rooney.
Later in the movie, while the students are attending a St. Basils school dance, Father Abruzzi gives a classic speech to the school along with the girls' school nearby regarding the evils of the flesh and "lust" and how that will condemn them to hell. That night, after getting bored at the dance, Rooney and Janine (Dana Barron
), a student at the neighboring Virgin Martyr Girls Academy, drive Caesar and Janine's friend Kathleen (Yeardley Smith
) around Brooklyn and get Rooney's father's 1966 Lincoln Continental
stuck on a drawbridge. After getting his girlfriend drunk somewhere near the riverside, Rooney tries to make the moves on his Janine. Janine, being so drunk, vomits on Rooney as he is getting his face and hands down Janine's blouse. Minutes later, unbenouned to anyone, a tug boat signals the drawbridge to open up. This is the same bride that Rooney parked his father's brand new Lincoln! When Rooney realizes what's happening, he runs back to the car to find Cesar is making out with the girl he went in the car with. Rooney couldn't get the car out fast enough and is smahed to pieces and crushed by the drawbridge opening and closing.
Later, Pope Paul VI
visits New York City (which he actually did in 1965) and St. Basil's school and the neighboring school takes a field trip to Manhattan to see him ride in the Pope-mobile in a parade. Brother Constance, of course, nearly tears up when he sees the Pope riding by almost as if he believes "someday, I'll be the Pope." Meanwhile, the five friends sneak off to a nearby movie theatre, where they see Elvis Presley
's "Blue Hawaii
". Rooney, the foul-mouthed friend syas, "what the hell is Elvis' goddamn problem any ways?" After the movie, they are caught missing, and Brother Constance orders them to clean a statue of St. Basil's with toothbrushes, which is covered with bird droppings, on the school courtyard after Sunday Mass for punishment.
The friendship between Dunn and Danni further develops, which one day culminates in a passionate kiss under the boardwalk on Coney Island in a rainstorm. One day, during one of the Brothers' routine "raids", Danni takes a stand and locks them out. When they look into the windows and try to take names, she closes the blinds. The Brothers leave, but later at dinner, they discuss the episode at the soda fountain. At the urging of Brother Constance and gym teacher Brother Paul, and at the reluctance of Brothers Thaddeus and Timothy, they notify social services.
A few days later, Dunn and his friends walk up to the fountain and find police cars and a couple of the school's Brothers surrounding the door as Danni's father is led out of the front door in handcuffs. Fearing the worst, Dunn rushes in and finds that social workers are getting ready to take Danni away. A shaken Dunn takes Danni in his arms. Weeping, she wants him to promise he won't be sad over her departure. He refuses and watches helplessly as she's taken away in a car.
Rooney, angry at the loss of his hangout and at the Brothers for ruining his friend's life, develops another prank with the help of Caesar, Williams and Corbett. One night before Easter recess, the boys sneak onto the grounds and decapitate the statue of St. Basil in the school court.
During an assembly the last day before Easter recess, Rooney presents Dunn with a duffel bag containing the missing saint's head, right as Brother Thadeus is addressing the student body with the phrase "of what is ahead for you...". Brother Constance shows up, knowing he's found the vandals, and quietly orders them out of the assembly.
Constance first locks the quintet in a closet, where they discuss possible options. Moments later, they're retrieved by Brother William, who brings the quintet into the gym, where Constance has set up an exercise horse and a wide leather strap. He tells the boys that the guilty can confess now or all will suffer for it. Dunn, though innocent, speaks up. As Constance attempts to lead Dunn up to the horse, Rooney clears Dunn's name...but fingers Williams...who fingers Corbett...who fingers Caesar. Not willing to listen any further, Constance calls Corbett to the horse and delivers five blows from the strap to Corbett's rear. He repeats the same procedure with Williams, delivering six this time.
When he comes to Caesar, he is presented with a laminated doctor's note, presumably to exempt him from corporal punishment. Constance says he'll return it to him after he's finished and orders him to the horse. Caesar pleads for mercy, but Constance drags the cowering Caesar on the floor, beating him with the strap while doing so. Unable to watch such brutality any longer, Dunn shoves Constance to the floor, ordering him to leave Caesar alone. Constance gets to his feet, and Dunn flees the gym with the Brother in pursuit. The other boys in turn run after Constance.
The chase ends in the auditorium as Thadeus is concluding his remarks to the student body. Dunn rushes in, knocking over a series of music stands and chairs, followed by Constance, who tries to call him out. He then tries to take Dunn by force, but Dunn resists. Constance backhands him, swearing for the first time, shouting "Bastard!" as he does. As Constance tries to explain himself before Thadeus, Dunn sees that he's been cut on his cheek from Constance's ring. He jumps to his feet and delivers an uppercut to Constance, knocking him to the floor and causing pandemonium as the student body rises to its feet and cheers for Dunn.
The boys are sent to the headmaster's office, where they are joined by Brothers Thadeus, Timothy and Constance. Constance tries to have all five expelled on the grounds of assault. Timothy argues self-defense, and Thadeus calls the boys in and asks for a reason not to expel them. Dunn, seeing a possible exit from the priesthood through his expulsion, accepts the blame and says he should be expelled. Thadeus counters by saying that since all acted as one, all shall bear the consequences. Dunn protests by saying he instigated the melee. Thadeus disagrees, saying he understands it was Constance who started it.
Constance blanches at Thadeus' remark. Not explaining anything further in front of the boys, Thadeus suspends all five for two weeks and sends them out of his office. Brother Dominic (Douglas Seale
), Thadeus' secretary, then comes into his office and hands him a document that he immediately signs as Constance tries unapologetically to defend himself.
Thadeus hands Constance the signed document, which orders him transferred out of St. Basil's and to where he won't be working with children at all. Angry at what he perceives as betrayal, Constance declares that he will demand an investigation into the matter, taking it to the bishop if necessary. Thadeus, unmoved by Constance's remarks, orders him out of his office. Timothy is then offered Constance's job, which he immediately accepts.
The film ends with the five main characters walking out of the school downtrodden after having been suspended, and then joyfully realizing they won't have to go to school for the next two weeks. A voice-over epilogue follows from Rooney, stating that everyone graduated in 1966 "except me". Corbett married Janine & they have six kids, Williams works as a projectionist at a Times Square porno theatre, Caesar graduated with honors from Queens College and went on to become a psychiatrist, Dunn (who presumably didn't become a priest) eventually was reunited with Danni at Woodstock (Both became part of the flower child
movement) and were married, Rooney went to beauty school "where everybody graduated...except me", but became a shampoo boy at a Bensonhurst hair salon, where "the hours suck, the pay sucks, and I'm surrounded by 'funny guys', but the tips are great! Thank you, God!"
Comedy-drama
Comedy-drama is a genre of theatre, film and television programs which combines humorous and serious content.-Theatre:Traditional western theatre, beginning with the ancient Greeks, was divided into comedy and tragedy...
film starring Andrew McCarthy
Andrew McCarthy
Andrew Thomas McCarthy is an American actor. He is known for his roles in the 1980s films St. Elmo's Fire, Mannequin, Weekend at Bernie's, Pretty in Pink, and Less Than Zero, and more recently for his role in the television shows Lipstick Jungle, White Collar and Royal Pains.-Career:McCarthy...
, Mary Stuart Masterson
Mary Stuart Masterson
Mary Stuart Masterson is an American film, stage and television actress and director.-Early life:Masterson was born in New York City to writer/director Peter Masterson and actress Carlin Glynn. She has two siblings: Peter Masterson Jr., and Alexandra Masterson, who are both involved in the...
, Kevin Dillon
Kevin Dillon (actor)
Kevin Brady Dillon is an American actor best known as Johnny "Drama" Chase on the HBO dramedy Entourage. He has been nominated for three Primetime Emmy Awards and a Golden Globe Award for his performance on the show.- Early life :...
, Donald Sutherland
Donald Sutherland
Donald McNichol Sutherland, OC is a Canadian actor with a film career spanning nearly 50 years. Some of Sutherland's more notable movie roles included offbeat warriors in such war movies as The Dirty Dozen, , MASH , and Kelly's Heroes , as well as in such popular films as Klute, Invasion of the...
, Wallace Shawn
Wallace Shawn
Wallace Michael Shawn , sometimes credited as Wally Shawn, is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, author, voice artist, and intellectual. His best-known film roles include Wally Shawn in My Dinner with Andre , Vizzini in The Princess Bride , and debate teacher Mr...
, Stephen Geoffreys
Stephen Geoffreys
-Life and career:Born Stephen Geoffrey Miller in Cincinnati, Ohio, Geoffreys first began acting on the stage. In 1984, he was nominated for Broadway's Tony Award for "Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical" for his performance in a play based on the The Human Comedy...
, John Heard, and Patrick Dempsey
Patrick Dempsey
Patrick Galen Dempsey is an American actor, known for his role as neurosurgeon Dr. Derek Shepherd on the medical drama Grey's Anatomy. Prior to Grey's Anatomy he made several television appearances and was nominated for an Emmy Award...
.
Story
The movie is set in 1965 at an all-boys Catholic High School in Brooklyn, New York. McCarthy plays the film's lead, Michael Dunn, a new student at Saint Basil's. Michael and his sister have been sent to live with their Catholic grandparents upon the death of their parents. It's not made clear whether the parents died at the same time or a few years apart, but it's presumed by Michael's age that both died young through tragedy. Michael previously attended a Catholic school in Boston.While attempting to adjust to his new life, Michael also must adjust to the stricter rules and teaching methods of the brothers who run the school. He also manages to befriend his fellow students, rebelling and discovering who they are, along with a reluctant, yet streetwise young Brother.
Plot
Boston teenager Michael Dunn (Andrew McCarthyAndrew McCarthy
Andrew Thomas McCarthy is an American actor. He is known for his roles in the 1980s films St. Elmo's Fire, Mannequin, Weekend at Bernie's, Pretty in Pink, and Less Than Zero, and more recently for his role in the television shows Lipstick Jungle, White Collar and Royal Pains.-Career:McCarthy...
) and his young sister Boo (Jennie Dundas), following the deaths of their parents, have been sent to Brooklyn to live with their Irish-Catholic grandparents (Kate Reid
Kate Reid
Kate Reid, OC was a Canadian stage, film and television actress.-Life and career:Daphne Kate Reid was born in London, England, the daughter of Canadian parents, Helen Isabel and Walter Clarke Reid, who was a former Bengal Lancer in the Indian army and a retired colonel...
& Richard Hamilton
Richard Hamilton (actor)
Richard Hamilton was an American film, television, theater, and radio actor. He was raised in California, where he worked at the Pasadena Playhouse, before moving to Broadway. There, he performed in award-winning productions of Buried Child and Mornings at Seven...
). He is enrolled at St. Basil's, a strict Roman Catholic school and church, where his grandmother is determined to see him fulfill his parents' dream of him joining the priesthood after graduation. The movie takes place during the time when the Catholic Church was changing their forms of discipline, liturgy, and sacraments. While some places had modified already by then, St. Basil's held on to strict tradition, including Latin Mass
Latin Mass
The term Latin Mass refers to the liturgy of the Roman Catholic Mass celebrated in Latin.The term is frequently used to denote the Tridentine Mass: that is, the Roman-Rite liturgy of the Mass celebrated in accordance with the successive editions of the Roman Missal published between 1570 and 1962...
.
Dunn befriends Caesar (Malcolm Danare), an over-weight, bespectacled student with a high-pitched voice and even higher test scores and grades. After resisting conformation with the other students, Caesar ultimately gives in and helps the transfer student, Dunn, catch up with the rest of the class. However, because of Cesar and Dunn's association, foul-mouthed class bully and underachiever Ed Rooney (Kevin Dillon
Kevin Dillon
Kevin Dillon is an American actor.Kevin Dillon is also the name of:*Kevin Dillon , character from Rodman Philbrick's young adult novel Freak the Mighty and the film based on it, The Mighty...
begins to bully Dunn.
Not long after this confrontation, Dunn witnesses a prank Rooney plays on Caesar. Dunn enters the classroom at the beginning of his English-Lit class just in time to see Rooney take out a screwdriver and remove the screws from Caesar's desk. Minutes later, Cesar arrives, sits on the desk and crashes to the floor. The teacher, Brother Constance (Jay Patterson) orders all the boys on their knees "until the joker comes forward". Dunn then whispers to Caesar that he tried to warn him, but his whisper is caught by Constance. During Brother Constance's further demand for the villain to come forward, Cesar (the over achiever) corrects the Brother's grammar saying, "It's ...to whom brother, not to who..." The Brother was angered and forced Cesar to crawl on his knees in the classroom repeating the phrase "to whom Brother, to whom Brother..." repeatedly. Due to the whisper to Cesar, Brother Constance becomes convinced that Dunn knows the perpetrator. Dunn, not willing to give up the name of the joker, calls Dunn to the front of the classroom. Constance continues trying to get the prankster's name out of him by striking Dunn's open palms with a wooden paddle, which he has sadistically labeled with the word "PATIENCE". Meanwhile, Cesar continues punishment. Fed up with Dunn's refusal to rat out Rooney, Constance shoves him towards the floor in the center of the classroom. Dunn looks up at Rooney from the floor, who delivers a sly grin at him. Dunn lunges towards Rooney, taking him to the floor and the pair are separated by Constance and the novice friar, Brother Timothy (John Heard), who has been observing Constance's classroom teaching and discipline methods that day.
Both are sent to headmaster Brother Thadeus' (Donald Sutherland
Donald Sutherland
Donald McNichol Sutherland, OC is a Canadian actor with a film career spanning nearly 50 years. Some of Sutherland's more notable movie roles included offbeat warriors in such war movies as The Dirty Dozen, , MASH , and Kelly's Heroes , as well as in such popular films as Klute, Invasion of the...
) office, and during a moment alone, Rooney, impressed by Dunn's refusal to snitch on him, attempts to patch things up between them, but Dunn wants nothing to do with him. When Brother Thaddeus was called from his office, another brother was asked to "keep an eye" on the boys in the other room. The Brother turned on the intercom to listen in on the boys. To the brothers surprise, Rooney says, "Fuck this!" and proceeds to call Brother Constance a "Fagg!" Of course Rooney was again in trouble for that antic. Later, Rooney tries again in the schoolyard to patch things up with Dunn, but this time tells him that if they don't become friends, then he has to continue in his harassment in order to save face. Reluctantly, Dunn befriends Rooney, along with his friends Williams, a sexually frustrated kid who is frequently caught masturbating (Stephen Geoffreys
Stephen Geoffreys
-Life and career:Born Stephen Geoffrey Miller in Cincinnati, Ohio, Geoffreys first began acting on the stage. In 1984, he was nominated for Broadway's Tony Award for "Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical" for his performance in a play based on the The Human Comedy...
) and Corbett, the dull one of the bunch (Patrick Dempsey
Patrick Dempsey
Patrick Galen Dempsey is an American actor, known for his role as neurosurgeon Dr. Derek Shepherd on the medical drama Grey's Anatomy. Prior to Grey's Anatomy he made several television appearances and was nominated for an Emmy Award...
). Dunn also befriends Danni, (Mary Stuart Masterson
Mary Stuart Masterson
Mary Stuart Masterson is an American film, stage and television actress and director.-Early life:Masterson was born in New York City to writer/director Peter Masterson and actress Carlin Glynn. She has two siblings: Peter Masterson Jr., and Alexandra Masterson, who are both involved in the...
), a rebellious teenage high school drop-out tomboy who runs the soda fountain across from the school and takes care of her mentally infirm father (Jimmy Ray Weeks).
Looking for mischief by St. Basil's students,Danni's fountain shop is raided numerous times by the Brothers. After the raids, the fountain shop is always left a shambles. This last time, however, Dunn, who escapes detection, helps Danni clean things up.
Other hilarious episodes happen. At the sacrament of confession, Rooney looks at the lists of sins the guys all committed and has them swap them around so each list does not sound so bad. When Caesar enters the confessional, Father Abruzzi (Wallace Shawn
Wallace Shawn
Wallace Michael Shawn , sometimes credited as Wally Shawn, is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, author, voice artist, and intellectual. His best-known film roles include Wally Shawn in My Dinner with Andre , Vizzini in The Princess Bride , and debate teacher Mr...
) becomes preoccupied with another student misbehaving in the church. At that point, Rooney goes into the priest's booth and acts as the priest hearing Caesar's confession and then giving him the penance of befriending Rooney and making sure he gets Rooney passing grades. As a result, Caesar joins the four and befriends them while tutoring Rooney.
Later in the movie, while the students are attending a St. Basils school dance, Father Abruzzi gives a classic speech to the school along with the girls' school nearby regarding the evils of the flesh and "lust" and how that will condemn them to hell. That night, after getting bored at the dance, Rooney and Janine (Dana Barron
Dana Barron
Dana Barron is an American actress who has starred in film and on television. Barron is best known for her role as the original Audrey Griswold in the 1983 film National Lampoon's Vacation which she reprised in 2003's Christmas Vacation 2: Cousin Eddie's Island Adventure for NBC television.-Early...
), a student at the neighboring Virgin Martyr Girls Academy, drive Caesar and Janine's friend Kathleen (Yeardley Smith
Yeardley Smith
Yeardley Smith is a French-born American actress, voice actress, writer and painter. She is best known for her long-running role as Lisa Simpson on the animated television series The Simpsons....
) around Brooklyn and get Rooney's father's 1966 Lincoln Continental
Lincoln Continental
The Lincoln Continental is an automobile which was produced by the Lincoln division of Ford Motor Company from 1939 to 1948 and again from 1956 to 2002...
stuck on a drawbridge. After getting his girlfriend drunk somewhere near the riverside, Rooney tries to make the moves on his Janine. Janine, being so drunk, vomits on Rooney as he is getting his face and hands down Janine's blouse. Minutes later, unbenouned to anyone, a tug boat signals the drawbridge to open up. This is the same bride that Rooney parked his father's brand new Lincoln! When Rooney realizes what's happening, he runs back to the car to find Cesar is making out with the girl he went in the car with. Rooney couldn't get the car out fast enough and is smahed to pieces and crushed by the drawbridge opening and closing.
Later, Pope Paul VI
Pope Paul VI
Paul VI , born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini , reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church from 21 June 1963 until his death on 6 August 1978. Succeeding Pope John XXIII, who had convened the Second Vatican Council, he decided to continue it...
visits New York City (which he actually did in 1965) and St. Basil's school and the neighboring school takes a field trip to Manhattan to see him ride in the Pope-mobile in a parade. Brother Constance, of course, nearly tears up when he sees the Pope riding by almost as if he believes "someday, I'll be the Pope." Meanwhile, the five friends sneak off to a nearby movie theatre, where they see Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
's "Blue Hawaii
Blue Hawaii
Blue Hawaii is a 1961 musical film set in the state of Hawaii and starring Elvis Presley. The screenplay by Hal Kanter was nominated by the Writers Guild of America in 1962 in the category of Best Written American Musical. The movie opened at no...
". Rooney, the foul-mouthed friend syas, "what the hell is Elvis' goddamn problem any ways?" After the movie, they are caught missing, and Brother Constance orders them to clean a statue of St. Basil's with toothbrushes, which is covered with bird droppings, on the school courtyard after Sunday Mass for punishment.
The friendship between Dunn and Danni further develops, which one day culminates in a passionate kiss under the boardwalk on Coney Island in a rainstorm. One day, during one of the Brothers' routine "raids", Danni takes a stand and locks them out. When they look into the windows and try to take names, she closes the blinds. The Brothers leave, but later at dinner, they discuss the episode at the soda fountain. At the urging of Brother Constance and gym teacher Brother Paul, and at the reluctance of Brothers Thaddeus and Timothy, they notify social services.
A few days later, Dunn and his friends walk up to the fountain and find police cars and a couple of the school's Brothers surrounding the door as Danni's father is led out of the front door in handcuffs. Fearing the worst, Dunn rushes in and finds that social workers are getting ready to take Danni away. A shaken Dunn takes Danni in his arms. Weeping, she wants him to promise he won't be sad over her departure. He refuses and watches helplessly as she's taken away in a car.
Rooney, angry at the loss of his hangout and at the Brothers for ruining his friend's life, develops another prank with the help of Caesar, Williams and Corbett. One night before Easter recess, the boys sneak onto the grounds and decapitate the statue of St. Basil in the school court.
During an assembly the last day before Easter recess, Rooney presents Dunn with a duffel bag containing the missing saint's head, right as Brother Thadeus is addressing the student body with the phrase "of what is ahead for you...". Brother Constance shows up, knowing he's found the vandals, and quietly orders them out of the assembly.
Constance first locks the quintet in a closet, where they discuss possible options. Moments later, they're retrieved by Brother William, who brings the quintet into the gym, where Constance has set up an exercise horse and a wide leather strap. He tells the boys that the guilty can confess now or all will suffer for it. Dunn, though innocent, speaks up. As Constance attempts to lead Dunn up to the horse, Rooney clears Dunn's name...but fingers Williams...who fingers Corbett...who fingers Caesar. Not willing to listen any further, Constance calls Corbett to the horse and delivers five blows from the strap to Corbett's rear. He repeats the same procedure with Williams, delivering six this time.
When he comes to Caesar, he is presented with a laminated doctor's note, presumably to exempt him from corporal punishment. Constance says he'll return it to him after he's finished and orders him to the horse. Caesar pleads for mercy, but Constance drags the cowering Caesar on the floor, beating him with the strap while doing so. Unable to watch such brutality any longer, Dunn shoves Constance to the floor, ordering him to leave Caesar alone. Constance gets to his feet, and Dunn flees the gym with the Brother in pursuit. The other boys in turn run after Constance.
The chase ends in the auditorium as Thadeus is concluding his remarks to the student body. Dunn rushes in, knocking over a series of music stands and chairs, followed by Constance, who tries to call him out. He then tries to take Dunn by force, but Dunn resists. Constance backhands him, swearing for the first time, shouting "Bastard!" as he does. As Constance tries to explain himself before Thadeus, Dunn sees that he's been cut on his cheek from Constance's ring. He jumps to his feet and delivers an uppercut to Constance, knocking him to the floor and causing pandemonium as the student body rises to its feet and cheers for Dunn.
The boys are sent to the headmaster's office, where they are joined by Brothers Thadeus, Timothy and Constance. Constance tries to have all five expelled on the grounds of assault. Timothy argues self-defense, and Thadeus calls the boys in and asks for a reason not to expel them. Dunn, seeing a possible exit from the priesthood through his expulsion, accepts the blame and says he should be expelled. Thadeus counters by saying that since all acted as one, all shall bear the consequences. Dunn protests by saying he instigated the melee. Thadeus disagrees, saying he understands it was Constance who started it.
Constance blanches at Thadeus' remark. Not explaining anything further in front of the boys, Thadeus suspends all five for two weeks and sends them out of his office. Brother Dominic (Douglas Seale
Douglas Seale
Douglas Seale was a British stage and film actor.He provided the voice of Krebbs in The Rescuers Down Under . Two years later, Seale voiced the Sultan in Aladdin. He also appeared in several movies including Amadeus and Ernest Saves Christmas...
), Thadeus' secretary, then comes into his office and hands him a document that he immediately signs as Constance tries unapologetically to defend himself.
Thadeus hands Constance the signed document, which orders him transferred out of St. Basil's and to where he won't be working with children at all. Angry at what he perceives as betrayal, Constance declares that he will demand an investigation into the matter, taking it to the bishop if necessary. Thadeus, unmoved by Constance's remarks, orders him out of his office. Timothy is then offered Constance's job, which he immediately accepts.
The film ends with the five main characters walking out of the school downtrodden after having been suspended, and then joyfully realizing they won't have to go to school for the next two weeks. A voice-over epilogue follows from Rooney, stating that everyone graduated in 1966 "except me". Corbett married Janine & they have six kids, Williams works as a projectionist at a Times Square porno theatre, Caesar graduated with honors from Queens College and went on to become a psychiatrist, Dunn (who presumably didn't become a priest) eventually was reunited with Danni at Woodstock (Both became part of the flower child
Flower child
Flower child originated as a synonym for hippie, especially the idealistic young people who gathered in San Francisco and environs during the 1967 Summer of Love. It was the custom of "flower children" to wear and distribute flowers or floral-themed decorations to symbolize altruistic ideals of...
movement) and were married, Rooney went to beauty school "where everybody graduated...except me", but became a shampoo boy at a Bensonhurst hair salon, where "the hours suck, the pay sucks, and I'm surrounded by 'funny guys', but the tips are great! Thank you, God!"
Cast
- Andrew McCarthyAndrew McCarthyAndrew Thomas McCarthy is an American actor. He is known for his roles in the 1980s films St. Elmo's Fire, Mannequin, Weekend at Bernie's, Pretty in Pink, and Less Than Zero, and more recently for his role in the television shows Lipstick Jungle, White Collar and Royal Pains.-Career:McCarthy...
- Michael Dunn - Mary Stuart MastersonMary Stuart MastersonMary Stuart Masterson is an American film, stage and television actress and director.-Early life:Masterson was born in New York City to writer/director Peter Masterson and actress Carlin Glynn. She has two siblings: Peter Masterson Jr., and Alexandra Masterson, who are both involved in the...
- Danni - Kevin DillonKevin DillonKevin Dillon is an American actor.Kevin Dillon is also the name of:*Kevin Dillon , character from Rodman Philbrick's young adult novel Freak the Mighty and the film based on it, The Mighty...
- Ed Rooney - Donald SutherlandDonald SutherlandDonald McNichol Sutherland, OC is a Canadian actor with a film career spanning nearly 50 years. Some of Sutherland's more notable movie roles included offbeat warriors in such war movies as The Dirty Dozen, , MASH , and Kelly's Heroes , as well as in such popular films as Klute, Invasion of the...
- Brother Thadeus - John Heard - Brother Timothy
- Stephen GeoffreysStephen Geoffreys-Life and career:Born Stephen Geoffrey Miller in Cincinnati, Ohio, Geoffreys first began acting on the stage. In 1984, he was nominated for Broadway's Tony Award for "Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical" for his performance in a play based on the The Human Comedy...
- Williams - Malcolm Danare - Caesar
- Patrick DempseyPatrick DempseyPatrick Galen Dempsey is an American actor, known for his role as neurosurgeon Dr. Derek Shepherd on the medical drama Grey's Anatomy. Prior to Grey's Anatomy he made several television appearances and was nominated for an Emmy Award...
- Corbett