btm1 I never read or even heard of the book so I had no idea what to expect. What I saw were characters that were caricatures and a director who thinks that good cinema is focusing on a person who is standing still and unsmiling like a 19th century portrait photograph. A catholic school is the setting and the teacher-monk is evil, sadistic and a megalomaniac. The campus secret society is headed by a student who is evil, sadistic and a megalomaniac. The painfully shy A-student looks at girls but won't express any interest in them even when one of them separates from her group and comes over to talk to him. Is there any new message in this film? I have to confess that I cannot give a fair review to this movie because I turned it off after 30 minutes. It was too painful to watch long enough to find out.

jnatch I'm a fan of Keith Gordon. I've liked all his films which I've seen, which was all but 2, before this. I will say his direction wasn't bad at all on this film. Even the dialouge in his script isn't laughably bad. But this premise! Possibly the stupidest premise I have ever seen. I had no idea what the film was about but I didn't think "chocolate war" was literal. A bunch of high school boys selling chocolate? What would possess anyone to give him funding for such an atrocious idea? I had to laugh at some scenes. KG does a good job to set up drama with pacing, editing, cinematography and acting but then you realize what the drama is - some boxes of chocolates are missing. Oh my god!!!!! I peeked in on the commentary at a few spots and its funny I heard KG putting himself down. It was a first film and was pretentious as he admits. I think he is one of America's most underrated directors but I am glad he saw the light and began doing adaptations. I can't believe IMDb gives this a 6.7, should be a 1.5.p.s. yes, yes I "get" that the chocolate storyline is a vehicle for the deeper things the film is trying to say about class distinction, standing up to bullies, male comradary, blah, blah. The story sucks!edit: p.s. after posting I realized it IS an adaptation. The opening credits end with "written and directed by Keith Gordon" which is usually only done when it is an original screenplay (more young pretentiousness?). That may help explain the funding and gives KG a slight break but I still stand by what I say about the premise being ridiculous, no matter how the film compares to the book.

katie8283 I was excited when I happened to catch The Chocolate War on TV a few years back. I had read the book and loved it, so was interested to see whether the film version would live up to the novel. For the most part, it was pretty good, but I was disappointed that the ending had been changed significantly from the book. The film's conclusion, in my opinion, lacks the punch of the original and wimps out by giving Jerry a happier (if not exactly happy) ending. The conclusion is why I love Robert Cormier's novel so much. It was the antithesis of a happy, Hollywood ending in every conceivable way--the bad guy wins, the good guy wishes he had given up. I found the brutal honesty refreshing. It's not so much that the film gives the good guy a happy ending, although it does leave him infinitely better off than the novel, but that it gives the bad guy the punishment he deserves. I feel the conclusion was the most important part of the story, and the changes in the film make it feel anti-climactic and fall flat.

faithmbc Pretty good movie. I have this taped off TMC, and the book is great. At the Trinity all-boys Catholic high school, there is a secret society of Seniors called the Vigils that like to hand out special assignments to the other students. The Vigils and the power-hungry Brother Leon are what make Trinity a rotten school. When the annual chocolate sale approaches, everyone participates, except Freshman Jerry Renault. This kind of sparks a conflict everyday when Brother Leon will call the names to see how many boxes each kid has sold, and Jerry always says no. He stands up to Brother Leon, Archie, and the school bully, Emile Janza. I was neither impressed or disappointed by the ending, which was very different from the books. *********out of**********. Rated R for Violence and Language.