Michael Dinner's Heaven Help Us looks like just another '80s high-school romp, but it actually has some deeper thoughts and feelings running through it. While the teenagers and clergy members are, for the most part, written as stereotypes, the talented cast helps smooth over the more obvious moments and hit home runs with the smartest sections of the script. Andrew McCarthy is appealing as the newcomer learning to negotiate his way through the school; John Heard embodies the teacher/guidance counselor/father figure anybody would want; and Malcom Danare and Yeardley Smith share a very funny moment of attraction as two nerdy high-school kids who discuss Freud's explanation of phallic symbols. These people balance out the more obvious characters -- the physically abusive Catholic school teacher (Jay Patterson in a menacing, but one-note performance), Kevin Dillon's wiseass student, the devout mother -- making for a pleasant viewing experience with more charm and warmth than one might expect.
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