The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys (5 Stars)

This is a fascinating story about four 14-year-old boys who go to a Catholic school. Set in the 1970's, their passion isn't religion, it's comics. Marvel comics, to be precise. Francis is a skilled artist. He draws himself and his friends as a group of superheroes called the Atomic Trinity -- can't he count? -- and the main supervillain is Nunzilla, a personification of their class teacher. The film's strength is the contrast between the innocence of the young boys and the evil they do in the eyes of the Church. In many ways this is similar to Peter Jackson's "Heavenly Creatures". A great film!