Full Review

It's rare that the cinema does right with an acclaimed theater piece, adapting it with fidelity, and even keeping the original cast intact.

But so it is with "The History Boys" (Fox Searchlight), an adaptation of Alan Bennett's award-winning London and Broadway play about a group of 1980s' northern England public school boys (age 18) trying out for Oxford and Cambridge under the rival tutelage of a wise if unconventional teacher named Hector (Richard Griffiths) and young, more pragmatic recent graduate Irwin (Stephen Campbell Moore).

The eight young men, who inhabit their parts expertly after their long stage experience in the roles, include Dominic Cooper as the rakish Dakin; Samuel Barnett as Posner, the youngest of the group, an outsider for being both gay and Jewish; James Corden as Timms, the class clown; Andrew Knott as the funky Lockwood; Jamie Parker as Scripps, the most religious of the group; Russell Tovey as Rudge, who is more interested in sports than scholarly pursuits; and Sacha Dhawan as the Muslim Akhtar.

Joining the wonderfully tart Frances de la Tour as history teacher Mrs. Lintott and Clive Merrison as the ambitious headmaster are new characters art teacher Mrs. Bibby (Penelope Wilton), and gym instructor Mr. Wilkes (Adrian Scarborough), both of whom fit in seamlessly with the others.

Those who only know Griffiths for his role as Harry Potter's uncle will be impressed with his range here, and the poignant moment when he breaks down in tears in the classroom, when the smart-aleck students inadvertently interrupt a heartfelt revelation.

Director Nicholas Hytner has opened up the play intelligently for the screen, though a certain talkiness can't be avoided. Still, the wordy scene where Hector elucidates a Thomas Hardy poem to Posner may be the film's finest moment.

Bennett's witty dialogue and his themes of what we can truly know of history, the apparent randomness of life's events, and how we are shaped by education are thought-provoking, and will reward the patient listener.

But certain troubling elements -- like the married Hector's regrettable penchant for inappropriately touching the students when he rides them home on his motorbike, and which ultimately results in his dismissal -- and Irwin's and young Posner's latent homosexuality, though discreetly handled, will limit the film's appeal for many Catholics. But the overarching themes are those previously described. There's only one bedroom scene, and that is between the Don Juan Dakin and a girlfriend.

For those who can see past the problematic aspects as endemic to the hormone-charged boys school environment, this film offers an economical -- and more intimate -- way to experience one of the top theatrical events of the past season.

The film contains some rough language, innuendo and other sexual elements, implied premarital couplings, and some lightly irreverent remarks. The USCCB Office for Film & Broadcasting classification is L -- limited adult audience, films whose problematic content many adults would find troubling. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is R -- restricted. Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian.

Movies have been evaluated by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishop's Office for Film and Broadcasting according to artistic merit and moral suitability. The reviews include the USCCB rating, the Motion Picture Association of America rating, and a brief synopsis of the movie.

The classifications are as follows:

• A-I -- general patronage;
• A-II -- adults and adolescents;
• A-III -- adults;
• A-IV**
• L -- limited adult audience, films whose problematic content many adults would find troubling. L replaces the previous classification, A-IV.
• O -- morally offensive.