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List Price: $14.98 | | Label: MGM (Video & DVD)
Salesrank: 9191
Released: January 18, 2000 |
| Our Price: $5.88 |
| Used Price: $3.88 |
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MPAA Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
Often called 'the black American Graffiti'but with "far more vitality and more variety" (The New York Times), Cooley High takes a nostalgic, poignantand hilariously funny look at black teen life in 1960's Chicago. It's 1964. JFK has just been assassinated. Martha & The Vandellas, Little Stevie Wonder and The Four Tops rule the airwaves. And two high school students discover themselvesand the taste of freedomfor the first time. Preach (Glynn Turman), aserious-minded writer, and his best friend Cochise (Lawrence-Hilton Jacobs), a basketball hero headed for college, are best friends at Cooley High. Together they cut classes to go to the zoo, crash parties, put the hustle on some hustlers and dream about getting out of their impoverished, rough neighborhood. But when an innocent joy ride makes them the targets of two vengeful hoods, their alreadyuncertain futures seem even further out of reach. Featuring a "well-handled mix of comedy and dramawith a soundtrack of Motown gold" (Blockbuster Entertainment Guide) and a "universal appeal"(Los Angeles Times), Cooley High is "the best American comedy so far this year" (Village Voice)!
Description of Cooley High:
Cooley High has frequently been compared to American Graffiti, and for good reason. Like that classic, Cooley High has a loose, multicharacter structure, autobiographical origins, and the rich texture of its time. Set in Chicago in 1964, the movie follows aspiring writer Preach (Glynn Turman) and local basketball star Cochise (Lawrence-Hilton Jacobs, who went on to star in Welcome Back, Kotter) as they wander their neighborhood, drifting in and out of their classes at Cooley Vocational High School. The two friends pull pranks, crash parties, commit petty crimes, and generally try to enjoy their lives in an impoverished urban environment. Preach falls in love with a smart girl named Brenda (Cynthia Davis), whom he wins over by reciting poetry--leading to one of the silliest and sweetest love scenes you'll ever see. When Preach and Cochise go on a joy ride with a pair of young hoods, they end up arrested. Their history teacher, Mr. Mason (a superb Garrett Morris), gets them off, but the hoods think the boys sold them out and come seeking revenge. Cooley High depicts the rough life of African Americans in the 1960s with honesty and humor, offering no easy solutions or pat lessons. It's a roughly made movie, but Turman and Jacobs are both excellent, and there's an attention to reality that makes it engaging, refreshing, and ultimately moving. The soundtrack is a great compilation of 1960s soul, including the Supremes, Martha and the Vandellas, Stevie Wonder, the Four Tops, and Smokey Robinson. An unjustly neglected film that deserves rediscovery. --Bret Fetzer
Cooley High Reviews:
I Love Old School Movies 
2009-06-28 - I grew up loving to watch Cooley High. I song the song "It's So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday" in a 4th grade talent show many years ago. I have Cooley High on VHS and justed wanted the movie on DVD.
Cooley High DVD
2009-06-09 - DVD in excellent condition. Excellent movie that is set in the 60's and filmed in Chicago's Cabrini Green neighborhood. Cooley High was torn down decades ago and is now just a memory.
cooley high
2009-05-23 - I liked this movie. And seeing the actors so young reminded me of the 70s.
COOLEY HIGH
2009-05-15 - GREAT OLD MOVIE,BEFORE WE DECIDED WE NEEDE TO BE GANG BANGERS!MAKES YOU FEEL A WIDE VARIETY OF EMOTIONS.
A GREAT BLACK OLD-SCHOOL CLASSIC MOVIE!
2008-09-14 - On a rainy day, I love to watch Cooley High and listen to the music of my generation. Times were hard, but they were simple. I get excited while trying to remember, what was I doing when that song came was out. Now, I can share Cooley High with my grand children and next generations! This is one of my best purchases!
