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Cooley High

Cooley High

Comedy · Drama · Romance · 1975

In the mid-1960s, a group of high school friends who live on the Near North Side of Chicago enjoy life to the fullest...parties, hanging out, meeting new friends. Then life changes for two of the guys when they are falsely arrested in connection with stealing a Cadillac. We follow their lives through to the dramatic end of high school.

Movie details

Cooley High

“Where the Student Body Was a Chick Named Veronica... The Senior Prom was a 'belly rub' and the Class of '64 ran a Permanent crap game in the Men's Room!”

1975 Comedy · Drama · Romance 1h 47m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

7.0 / 10

Community rating

In the mid-1960s, a group of high school friends who live on the Near North Side of Chicago enjoy life to the fullest...parties, hanging out, meeting new friends. Then life changes for two of the guys when they are falsely arrested in connection with stealing a Cadillac. We follow their lives through to the dramatic end of high school.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over Cooley High?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Michael Schultz

Written by

Eric Monte

Glynn Turman

Glynn Turman

Leroy "Preach" Jackson

Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs

Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs

Richard "Cochise" Morris

Garrett Morris

Garrett Morris

Mr. Mason

C

Cynthia Davis

Brenda

C

Corin Rogers

Pooter

Maurice Leon Havis

Maurice Leon Havis

Willie

J

Joseph Carter Wilson

Tyrone

Court is in session

Put Cooley High on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Sentimental Softie

“Sincerity is not manipulation.”

The film risks embarrassment to make emotion communal, and that openness is harder than fashionable detachment.

The prosecution The Cool Ironist

“The strings are showing.”

Every cue tells you exactly what to feel and when, leaving sentiment to do the work character should have done.