Angus (1995)

Director:

Patrick Read Johnson

Writers (WGA):

Chris Crutcher (short story)
Jill Gordon (screenplay)

Release Date:

15 September 1995 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama

Tagline:

For everyone on the outside looking in... your moment has arrived!

Plot:

A miserable fat teenager secretly has a crush on the class beauty, ends up becoming the surprising participant to dance with her at a high school dance, meaning he's got to get his act together with the help of his best friend.

Plot Keywords:

Dance | Grandfather | High School | Crush | Coming Of Age

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Perry Anzilotti	...	Tuxedo Salesman
Kathy Bates	...	Meg Bethune
Robert Curtis Brown	...	Alexander
Kevin Connolly	...	Andy
Tony Denman	...	Kid
Yvette Freeman	...	Science Teacher
Salim Grant	...	Mike
Epatha Harris	...	Ellen, Election Girl
Steven Hartman	...	Rick - Age 11
Robin Lynn Heath	...	Jody Cole
Grant Hoover	...	Angus - Age 8
Evan Kaufman	...	Alex Immergluch
James Keane	...	Coach
Irvin Kershner	...	Mr. Stoff
Michael McLeod	...	Rick - Age 8

Also Known As:

Angus - Voll Cool (Germany)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for some coarse adolescent language.

Runtime:

90 min

Country:

USA | UK | Germany | France

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

Australia:M | Germany:6 (w) | Iceland:L | Spain:T | UK:12 | USA:PG-13 (certificate #34013)

Filming Locations:

Owatonna, Minnesota, USA

Company:

Atlas Entertainment

Trivia:

Weezer was asked to write a song inspired by this film and Rivers Cuomo read the script and wrote two songs: "Wanda" in which he sings from a first persons point of view with lyrics such as: "my mom drives a big rig, and my daddy's gay" which referenced the the original script, and "You Gave Your Love to me Softly". Only the latter was used.

Goofs:

Continuity: After Angus drops Melissa at her house, they are talking. Every time the camera angle changes, his hair is in a different style.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Angus: My mother named me after my father, Angus; a cow's name, which didn't help matters much, because I was a big kid. My mother was in labor with me for two days, but it was my father who died during child birth. He had a heart attack waiting for her to deliver, but this wasn't really my problem. In fact, I perceived my family situation as relatively normal, until I began to collect expert opinion around kindergarten.

Movie Connections:

References Superman (1941)

Soundtrack:

If I Didn't Love You

Not your typical Teen Movie

I grew up with this movie, I enjoyed it so much. I watched it every week of my childhood. I wasn't really one of those kids who got picked on, I just thought Angus was a true (real life) hero and I looked up to him. There isn't too many one dimensional characters in this film. Everyone has feelings and the movie does a great job of showing their feelings. I have not read the short story, but if it's anything like this movie it'll be great.

Like all teen movies it has a strong message that is spelled out for everyone. Unlike other teen movies this one seem to show everyone's side of high school life, even though the two main character's are "outcast" they're not really nerds. they both play on the football team and one of them is really good. You don't really expect that from "losers". The whole movie has great gags that everyone can enjoy and they're really funny.

Charlie Talbert plays Angus Bethune (Great name, right?) his best friend Troy Wedberg is played by Chris Owen (Can't Hardly Wait) and he is just hysterical throughout the whole movie. George C. Scott (Patton) plays Angus' grandfather that is always falling asleep and he plays the role of dad to Angus giving him advice. Kathy Bates (Misery) does a great job as Angus' mother, Kathy Bates is just a great actor. Then we have James Van Der Beek (Varsity Blues) playing the bully and he does do a great job at it and Ariana Richards (Jurassic Park) plays Melissa Lefevre which Angus has a crush on.

Overall I recommend this movie to anyone that likes teen movies such as the breakfast club, can't hardly wait, and sixteen candles. As longs as you went to public high school this film can't get old.