Three O'Clock High

Jerry Mitchell is a studious high schooler who writes for the school paper. When he is assigned to profile Buddy Revell, a newly transferred student with a reputation as a violent delinquent, Jerry approaches the interview with some unease. A small misstep, an accidental touch, turns the encounter hostile: Buddy challenges him to a fight in the school parking lot at three o'clock that afternoon. Jerry spends the rest of the day scrambling for a way out of a confrontation he is badly overmatched for, while everyone around him learns about the scheduled bout.

The film was directed by Phil Joanou, his first feature, from a screenplay by Tom Szollosi and Richard Christian Matheson, and produced by David E. Vogel. Casey Siemaszko plays Jerry, with Richard Tyson as Buddy, Annie Ryan as Franny Perrins, Stacey Glick as Brei Mitchell, Jonathan Wise as Vincent Costello and Jeffrey Tambor as Mr. Rice. Released in 1987, it is a comedy that unfolds largely within a single school day, building its tension from Jerry's countdown to the parking lot appointment.

Made for about six million dollars, it took in roughly four million worldwide, a modest return on its budget. On IMDb it holds 7.1 out of 10 from around 14,000 votes, while on TMDB it sits at 6.8 from roughly 314 votes, a narrower and more mixed sampling. A critics' rating of 5.9 from 15 reviews lands below the larger audience score.