New Port South - A Review

The John Hughes Files
September 8, 2001
By Scott Collins

With many too many films aimed at teenagers these days smacking of the idiotic, unfocused nature of the teen sex and slasher films of the early 1980s, it was more than a little refreshing to see the return of John Hughes with his latest production, "New Port South." Unfortunately, it is a terrible shame that few, if any, teens will even see this movie due to the complete lack of promotion on the part of Touchstone Pictures. It deserves to be seen.

"New Port South" is a atmospheric and somber tale concerning the exploits of a disenchanted student named Maddox, who is not too far removed from John Bender of "The Breakfast Club" or even Robin from "Reach The Rock". Maddox is a junior, attending the eponymously named high school of the title, which is consistently seen in an apparantly barren, snowy landscape in Illinois. The school is sadly, much like most high schools, where creativity is shunned in favor of order and rules. Feeling more enclosed and oppressed, Maddox, who compares the school to an asylum, becomes obssessed with the legacy of former NPS student, John Stanton, who was expelled and institutionalized two years prior, and has now escaped. These events spark Maddox (and two artistically inclined friends) into organizing a student led revolt against the system through striking artwork and mixed media presentations.

What made this film different than most of it's kind, it that this is not a simple, "teens are right, authority is wrong" depiction. The screenplay, which was written by Hughes' son, James Hughes, goes to great lengths to give the students and faculty equal time, showcasing the duality in each. When I was a teenager, I felt many times like Maddox, a person being put through their paces like a mouse scurrying through a maze for cheese. And even now, at 32, when I listen to the stories of the teenage children of my friends, I feel much empathy for them because their schools are much more stifled than they were in the 80s. It seems as if they have no room to breathe. Yet, Maddox is also seen as misguided, misinformed and too single minded to even understand the nature of revolt and its consequences.

Todd Field plays Mr. Walsh, a history teacher, Maddox's nemesis, as well as the almost controlling voice in the ear of the school's conflicted principal. While he is seen as a teacher who has crossed a line from essentially being a public servant into one who lusts for control at any cost, he is not a monster. He represents the teachers who often feel they are walking into a war zone, wondering just how, why and when things changed so drastically and how to deal with it all. I am a preschool teacher and even at that age, I see the conflict teachers go through in order to foster a child's creative spirit and self-esteem while also giving them the rules and boundaries which will help them grow. I also work with teachers, like Mr. Walsh, who have forgotten that they work at school for the children, not the other way around. Teaching, if performed correctly, is an (almost) entirely selfless act, and many teachers transform it into the most selfish of occupations. Remarkably, James Hughes, being so young, is in tune with all of those observations and turned in a honest and truthful screenplay.

Much credit deserves to be given to first time director Kyle Cooper, who never overplays his hand and gives the film a tense, quiet, and isolated tone enhanced by the chilly electronic score of Telefon Tel Aviv (and additonal music supervised by Hughes' other son, John Hughes III). Here's hoping that despite the dismal box office that is destined for this film (I was the only person in the theater), Cooper and James Hughes can re-team for a future film. Or at least, provide a commentary track for DVD!

Finally, there's the man himself, John Hughes, working as producer and mentor on this project. It was good to see his name connected to a film like this. Not that it had to do with teenagers but a project of thought and quality. James Hughes' screenplay lacks the zippy, always quotable dialogue of his father's films but it contained the same sense of truth that made the 80s films so beloved. As a longtime fan, it saddens me to see Hughes' name attached to dumbed down Disney pictures which make a fortune while movies like "Reach The Rock" and this new film go unnoticed and unseen. I think it is a time for a revolt against the film community and the powers that be who create films aimed at teens which show a complete lack of respect for the audience. Post-Hughes films like "Clueless", "Rushmore", "Heathers", and even this summer's underseen "crazy/beautiful" are too few and far between with all of the "American Pie"s and slasher films around, populated with fashion magazine ready 25 year olds.

If any of you out there plan on seeing "New Port South", take my advice: see it this week -- it most likely won't be around next week.