the chocolate war movie review

MOVIE REVIEW : Probing the Darkness in ‘The Chocolate War’

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“The Chocolate War” (AMC Century 14) is a first-rate adaptation of Robert Cormier’s dark, cautionary tale about personal freedom, as an idealistic freshman at a Catholic high school for boys unexpectedly defies the system and learns firsthand about the power of manipulation and intimidation.

Years from now, its haunting allegory may be best remembered as the directing debut of Keith Gordon. Although he has co-written and co-produced before (“Static”), Gordon’s primarily been known as an exceptional young actor (“Christine” “Dressed to Kill”). As “The Chocolate War” proves, he’s also a terrifyingly assured director.

The look of the film, its Shaker-like visual severity and the taut control that Gordon exercises is almost astringent. However, his work with his actors is anything but clinical; Gordon, who also adapted the story, has a lovely feeling for nuance and for ensemble.

Brother Leon (John Glover, splendidly malevolent), is not yet head of St. Trinity’s, one of the hubs of this Northwestern city, but he’s palpably close and hotly ambitious for the job. To cement his position as the acting chief administrator, he has come up with an unprecedented quota for the annual chocolate sale: The boys will have to sell twice as many chocolates at double the price of last year.

Almost equal in power to Brother Leon are the Vigils, the secret school club. As the film opens, a pair of the club’s officers, Archie (Wally Ward) and his assistant Obie (Doug Hutchison) sit alone above the football field, picking boys for Vigil “assignments,” excruciating secret tests of loyalty or stamina. It’s an almost surreal scene that reminds you of one of those “angels come to earth” sequences; however the manipulative Archie and the covertly ambitious Obie are anything but angels.

Jerry Renault (Ilan Mitchell-Smith), a smallish freshman whose tenacity at the football tryout catches Archie’s eye, receives one of these assignments. When every boy at St. Trinity’s routinely accepts his quota of chocolates, Jerry’s orders are to refuse; then, after the Vigil-created ban is over, to agree to take his 50 boxes.

Even in the face of Brother Leon’s most sardonic “persuasion”--a masterly display of bullying in which the priest’s cobra-quick changes of logic and mood terrorize the entire class--Jerry holds fast. He’s seen as a nut, then a menace, then as a symbol. Then something in Jerry snaps, almost audibly. Even after his Vigil time-frame is over, Jerry still refuses to sell the chocolates.

Systems work only as long as we let them. Jerry stands firm, a tangible threat to every side. In no time, the Vigils are fighting among themselves and with Brother Leon over absolute control of the school. And in the center is Jerry, thoughtful, resolute and wretched. (Mitchell-Smith gives a beautifully detailed performance.) He has virtually no support at home. His mother has died of cancer just as the school term begins, and his pharmacist-father sees Jerry through a miasma of mourning.

Significantly, the film doesn’t spell out Jerry’s reasons, but we can speculate that it’s in reaction to his father’s resignation and passivity. Only Goober (Corey Gunnestad), his best friend, gives Jerry any encouragement, and that’s wary at best, until Goober too begins to see the levels of corruption on which the school, that microcosm, operates.

Gordon mixes fantasy (not all of it completely successful), flash-forward and an eclectic range of music, from Yaz to Joan Armatrading to Peter Gabriel, to tell his story. It’s not the sort that sends audiences out inspired by the best in their fellow man. Goodness has a very hard time of it, even up through the film’s punishing ending. It’s not accidental that in granting the film rights to two of his songs, Peter Gabriel cites his support of human rights and of Amnesty International. Human rights are clearly at the heart of the darkness here.

However, even with its chilling message, “The Chocolate War” (MPAA-rated R) is a fascinating film done with style, with care and with excellence in every department, from the actors (Hutchison’s owlish Obie; Brent Fraser’s sleek, preternaturally experienced wise guy, Emile Janza, and a delightful moment by Bud Cort as Brother Jacques) to Tom Richmond’s beautiful camera work and David Ensley’s art direction, which is both witty and understated.

‘THE CHOCOLATE WAR’

A Management Company Entertainment Group, Inc, presentation of a Jonathan D. Krane production of a film by Keith Gordon. Producer Krane. Writer-director Gordon, based on the novel by Robert Cormier. Co-producer Simon R. Lewis. Editor Jeff Wishengrad.Camera Tom Richmond. Production design David Ensley. Line producer Ron Diamond. Associate producer Susan I. Spivak. With John Glover, Ilan Mitchell-Smith. Wally Ward, Dough Hutchinson, Corey Gunnestad, Brent Fraser, Robert Davenport, Bud Cort, Adam Baldwin, Jenny Wright.

Running time: 1 hour, 43 minutes.

MPAA-rated: R (under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian).

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The Chocolate War

The Vigils are a gang of students at Trinity Catholic School... part of the tradition. They control the other boys by intimidation and the threat of violence. The Vigils are a gang of students at Trinity Catholic School... part of the tradition. They control the other boys by intimidation and the threat of violence. The Vigils are a gang of students at Trinity Catholic School... part of the tradition. They control the other boys by intimidation and the threat of violence.

• Keith Gordon
• Robert Cormier
• John Glover
• Ilan Mitchell-Smith
• Wallace Langham
• 47 User reviews
• 39 Critic reviews
• 2 nominations

• Brother Leon

• Jerry Renault

• (as Wally Ward)

• Emile Janza
• (as Brent Fraser)
• Brian Cochran

• Brother Jacques

• Gregory Bailey
• Impressed Kid on Bus
• Senior 'Environment' Kid
• Frank Bollo
• All cast & crew
• Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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• Trivia The film's music budget was about $15,000. Most of the artists featured on the soundtrack allowed the filmmakers to use their songs at bargain basement prices. David Bowie wanted $100,000 to use his song "Heroes" during the final scene and credits, so Kate Bush 's "Running Up That Hill" was substituted. In exchange for the use of two of his songs, and in light of the difficult subject matter of the film, musician and activist Peter Gabriel requested that his affiliation and support of the human rights organization Amnesty International be included in the film's post-credits.

[Archie is on the phone with Janza who has just told Archie about him and a gang beating up Jerry]

Archie Costello : [into the phone] WHAT? Janza, can't you do anything right?

Emile Janza : [into the phone] Hey, you said that the guy should take a hint about what he's up against. So, I thought I give him a brutal ass-kicking to show him that it's not nice to mess around with the Vigils. I asked some kids to assist me with the brawl.

Archie Costello : [into the phone] Who were they? I don't want outsiders involved in this!

Emile Janza : [into the phone] Just some animals that live in my neighborhood. They'd beat up their own grandmothers for a dollar.

• Connections Featured in The Celluloid Closet (1995)
• Soundtracks In My Room Performed by Yazoo (as Yaz) Written by Vince Clarke Used with permission of Stainless Music (BMI) on behalf of Sonet Records and Publishing Ltd. Courtesy of Sire Records / Mute Records By Arrangement with Warner Special Products

User reviews 47

• Mean_Joe_Weeks
• Sep 22, 2003
• How long is The Chocolate War? Powered by Alexa
• November 18, 1988 (United States)
• United States
• Cokoladni rat
• St. Edward's Seminary, Kenmore, Washington, USA
• Management Company Entertainment Group (MCEG)
• See more company credits at IMDbPro
• $500,000 (estimated)
• Nov 20, 1988

Technical specs

• Runtime 1 hour 44 minutes

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CPH:DOX 2022

Review: The Chocolate War

by  Vladan Petković

24/03/2022 - Danish director Miki Mistrati's third documentary about the evils of the chocolate industry tackles child slavery in the Ivory Coast

In part thanks to the rise of streaming services, it seems like every other day we can watch a new, in-depth documentary about the atrocities committed by pharmaceutical, oil, mining, internet and food companies. But Nestlé has been a known villain for a long time, at least since Erwin Wagenhofer 's pioneering 2005 film We Feed the World   [ + see also: trailer film profile ] . Now, Danish director Miki Mistrati 's third documentary about the dark side of the chocolate industry, The Chocolate War , has world-premiered in CPH:DOX 's F:ACT Award Competition.

US lawyer Terry Collingsworth has been fighting this war since 2006, when he discovered six cases of child slavery in Ivory Coast, where 40% of the world's chocolate comes from. Six boys from Mali testified on camera that they were abducted at the age of 12 and taken to plantations to work without pay. "That's the age when they are big enough to work but young enough to be afraid of adults," says the lawyer.

It took 11 years for the Federal Court of Appeals in California to accept to review the case that Collingsworth and his litigation partner Paul Hoffman submitted, arguing that the boys can sue Cargill and Nestlé in the USA. The former buys cocoa beans from plantations and sells them to the latter, and their army of super expensive lawyers were able to delay the case on various grounds - one of them being that the companies had no way of knowing children were exploited. But a couple of invoices a Malian human rights advocate finds prove otherwise, and Collingsworth travels to the West African country to meet the six plaintiffs who are now about 20 years old.

Together with two interns in Hoffman's firm, non-threatening young women who speak French and study law at Berkeley, Collingsworth then visits a Cargill cooperative in Ivory Coast, where they learn about lax controls and audits that the companies supposedly implement. The conclusion is that the "UTZ-certified" and "Fairtrade" labels we see on chocolate bars often mean nothing: for example, the International Cocoa Initiative which works to "eliminate child labour and forced labour" in Ivory Coast and Ghana is heavily funded by Nestlé and Cargill who sit on their board. Corporations in all fields regularly establish such bodies as alibis for their crimes.

In parallel, Hoffman is arguing the case at the Pasadena court against a Cargill lawyer who claims the evidence is impermissible because it comes from another country. But the judges are sensitive to the issue of child slavery and allow the case, meaning that Collingsworth and Hoffman can now sue the companies. Of course, the big-money lawyers will appeal to the US Supreme Court, populated by Trump appointees and primarily supportive of corporations.

Style-wise, The Chocolate War is a typical suspenseful investigative documentary, with dramatic music, fast cutting and plenty of contextual narrative titles which make the story crystal clear. It also manages to elicit emotions that go beyond righteous anger, particularly in a scene when Collingsworth and the two interns visit a random plantation, see the child workers for themselves and interview one of them.

The end of this story is nowhere in sight, and the film shows that it takes not only the effort of courts, lawyers and the media, but also requires consumers to act in order to hold corporations responsible. Compared to them, drug cartels seem like pickpockets, and this is why Mistrati has made three films about it. 

The Chocolate War is a co-production between Denmark’s Made in Copenhagen and Norway’s UpNorth Film . DR Sales has the international rights.

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more about: The Chocolate War

Danish director Miki Mistrati's third documentary about the evils of the chocolate industry tackles child slavery in the Ivory Coast   

24/03/2022 | CPH:DOX 2022

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‘The Chocolate War’ Pits U.S. Human Rights Lawyer Against Corporate America

By Lise Pedersen

Lise Pedersen

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After watching Danish director Miki Mistrati ‘s “The Chocolate War,” which is having its world premiere at CPH:DOX this week, chances are you will think twice before buying your next chocolate bar.

That’s what happened to Mistrati back in the early 2000s when he went shopping in his local supermarket. Spoilt for choice, he looked at all the different bars of chocolate and only found one out of seven that bore the Fair Trade mark. “So I began to wonder: if one is Fair Trade, what about the other six chocolate bars?,” he says.

That marked the start of his journey to investigate child slavery in the cocoa plantations of Ivory Coast and Ghana, the two biggest cocoa producers in the world. It started with “The Dark Side of Chocolate” released in 2009 and was followed by “Shady Chocolate” in 2012. “The Chocolate War” is the third installment.

Its main protagonist is prominent American human rights lawyer Terry Collingsworth, who has dedicated his life to fighting some of the world’s biggest corporations. The film follows him as he travels to Africa to gather evidence to try and get Nestlé and Cargill convicted of complicity in child slavery in the U.S. Supreme Court.

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“This third film has basically nothing to do with the first two in terms of the way it’s done: in the first two I was the lead character, I carried out the investigation, whereas this is a film without any voice-over: I wanted to make Terry into a Jason Bourne-like character and give the doc a thriller feel,” he explains to Variety . Mistrati called on Norwegian composer Marius Christiansen to produce the film’s dramatic score.

During his trip to Ivory Coast in late 2019, Collingsworth and two research students from Berkeley University paid an unannounced visit to a center for the rehabilitation of enslaved children supported by the government and NGOs. In one scene, the team is taken on a tour of the center, its library and its dormitory, which appear eerily empty and tidy. Collingsworth makes it clear that he believes the whole place is an empty shell.

When they asked why no children were to be seen in the center, Mistrati said they were given a succession of different answers, ranging from claims the children were in the TV room to the assertion they were sleeping in the dormitory – which is seen to be empty in the footage.

In a recent podcast on the Danish public service radio’s news show “Genstart,” the equivalent of The New York Times’ “The Daily,” Mistrati opened up about a letter he says he received from lawyers representing Ivory Coast’s First Lady, Dominique Ouattara, who presides the foundation that built the center. They ask the film’s production company, Made in Copenhagen, to hand over the entire sequence shot in the center or face defamation charges.

“Of course we won’t hand over our film,” exclaims Mistrati. Asked what the next step is, he says: “I want to get the film out on the U.S. market. The next step is for Terry to get them convicted, which is the only language they understand: if they are convicted, the billions of dollars they will have to pay will stop them right away,” he says.

Mistrati, who grew up in a state-owned apartment in Copenhagen, says he sees himself in Collingsworth and has made it his life mission to bring about change and be the voice of those who are treated unfairly, in particular children.

His upcoming projects include a doc on children’s rights. The director is also working on another case with Collingsworth about the controversial extraction of cobalt in the Democratic Republic of Congo, as well as a doc with the children of ISIS fighters.

Nominated for a F:act Award, “The Chocolate War” has its world premiere at CPH:DOX on March 23. It has been sold widely in territories across Scandinavia and beyond by DR Sales , which has two other films at CPH:DOX: “All That Remains to Be Seen” by Julie Bezerra Madsen in the Nordic:Dox and Politiken:Dox categories, and “Terroir to Table” by Rasmus Dinesen in the Danish:Dox Section.

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The Chocolate War Reviews

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A freshman at a Catholic prep-school rebels against a priest who demands that the kids sell candy. Thought at first he refuses in order to go through a hazing ritual designed by older students, he soon begins acting the same way of his own accord.

Keith Gordon, after 10 years of appearing in front of the camera (ALL THAT JAZZ, CHRISTINE), made his directing debut at age 27 with this dark, dazzling film in the tradition of IF... and LORD OF THE FLIES. Working from his own adaptation of Robert Cormier's novel, Gordon uses an inventive narrative technique and stylish visuals to tell the story of a teenager who takes a stand against an oppressive system but, in so doing, ends up playing the system's game. Set at Trinity, a Catholic boys' high school, the film revolves around 15-year-old Mitchell-Smith, the "new kid." He comes to the attention of Ward and Hutchison, two members of the Vigils, the school's secret society of bullies, and sadistic, pointer-wielding instructor Glover, who moves from the classroom to the principal's office when the school's headmaster takes ill. Glover is also in charge of the school's annual chocolate sale and hopes to impress the board of trustees by selling twice as many boxes of sweets as he did the year before. With assistance from the bullying Vigils, Glover nearly achieves his goal--the only student not fulfilling his quota is Mitchell-Smith, who refuses in order to prove something to himself. With much of his film's direction dictated by dream logic, Gordon uses an arresting visual style to immerse the viewer in Mitchell-Smith's world. Despite his limited budget, the writer-director presents an array of memorable images. Mitchell-Smith's character is not as well developed as we might want it to be (though much can be inferred from his dreams). Still--aided by strong performances by Adam Baldwin, Ward, and Glover--Gordon has created a deeply involving film. It has much to tell us, not just about a particular adolescent challenge, but also about the difficulty of nonconformity and how easily means and ends become confused.

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"Chocolat" is about a war between the forces of paganism and Christianity, and because the pagan heroine has chocolate on her side, she wins. Her victory is delayed only because, during Lent, a lot of the locals aren't eating chocolate.

The movie takes place "once upon a time" in a French village where utter tranquillity, by which is meant stagnancy, has reigned since time immemorial, until "a sly wind blew in from the north," bringing with it Vianne ( Juliette Binoche ), who opened the chocolate shop, after which nothing was ever again the same.

The movie is charming and whimsical, and Binoche reigns as a serene and wise goddess. Like Catherine Deneuve's, her beauty is not only that of youth, but will carry her through life, and here she looks so ripe and wholesome that her very presence is an argument against the local prudes. Whether her character has deeper agendas, whether she is indeed a witch, as some believe, or a pagan priestess, as she seems to hint, is left unresolved by the movie--but anyone who schedules a fertility celebration up against Easter Sunday is clearly picking a fight.

The town is ruled by Comte de Reynaud ( Alfred Molina ), whose wealth and books do not console him for the absence of his wife, who is allegedly visiting Venice, but may just have packed up and moved out. Reynaud styles himself as the local arbiter of morals, even writing the sermons which Father Henri ( Hugh O'Conor ) delivers from the pulpit while the complacent aristocrat's lips move contentedly in unison.

There are troubles in the town, quickly confided to Vianne, who consoles Josephine ( Lena Olin ) after she is beaten by her husband Serge ( Peter Stormare ). It is a convention in such stories that husbands tend toward wife-beating, and a quiet argument is made for the superior state of Vianne, who is the unmarried mother of Anouk ( Victoire Thivisol ), and thus harbors no potential brute beneath her roof. She does, however, have an interest in the opposite sex, represented by Roux ( Johnny Depp ), who anchors his houseboat in the nearby river and shocks the bourgeoisie with his communal lifestyle.

Vianne's chocolates contain magic ingredients like the foods in "Like Water for Chocolate," and soon her shop is a local healing center. One confection seems to work like Viagra, while others inspire love, not lust, and inspire an old man ( John Wood ) to screw up his courage and confess to a local widow ( Leslie Caron ) that he has adored her forever. Even Armande ( Judi Dench ), Vianne's opinionated old landlady, melts under the influence and ends her long hostility to her daughter ( Carrie-Anne Moss ).

"Chocolat" was directed by Lasse Hallstrom (" The Cider House Rules ," " What's Eating Gilbert Grape ," "My Life as a Dog"). It's the sort of movie you can enjoy as a superior fable, in which the values come from children's fairy tales but adult themes have been introduced. It goes without saying in such stories that organized religion is the province of prudes and hypocrites, but actually "Chocolat" is fairly easy on the local establishment--they're not evil people, although they resent outsiders like the Depp character; they're more like tranquil sleepwalkers who wake up to smell the coffee, or in this case, the chocolate. Even Reynaud is converted and is shocked when he finds that his reckless language has inspired a local dimwit to set a dangerous fire.

I enjoyed the movie on its own sweet level, while musing idly on the box-office prospects of a film in which the glowing, life-affirming local Christians prevailed over glowering, prejudiced, puritan and bitter Druid worshippers. That'll be--as John Wayne once said--the day.

Roger Ebert

Roger Ebert was the film critic of the Chicago Sun-Times from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, he won the Pulitzer Prize for distinguished criticism.

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Chocolat (2000)

Rated PG-13 For A Scene Of Sensuality and Some Violence

121 minutes

Juliette Binoche as Vianne

Victoire Thivisol as Anouk

Johnny Depp as Roux

Hugh O'Conor as Pere Henri

Lena Olin as Josephine

Peter Stormare as Serge

Judi Dench as Armande

Directed by

• Lasse Hallstrom
• Robert Nelson Jacobs

Based On The Novel by

• Joanne Harris

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Robert Cormier’s The Chocolate War is a much-banned, malevolent gem

With series like the Harry Potter, Twilight, and Hunger Games books becoming international mega-bestsellers, young-adult fiction is now a thriving genre that draws readers of all ages. YA Why? is a periodic book-review column that looks at YA releases from the perspective of what they do or don’t do with familiar YA tropes, whether they appeal to a broad audience or strictly to the younger set, and why we might want to read them.

Book: Robert Cormier’s The Chocolate War , published March 12, 1974

Plot: Behind the scenes at an exclusive prep academy called Trinity, a secret society called The Vigils dominates the students through psychological warfare and systematic victimization. Sociopathic junior Archie Costello, The Vigils’ “assigner,” plans venomous pranks, and The Vigils force students—particularly the most vulnerable, intimidated, approval-seeking ones—to carry them out. Freshman Jerry Renault, emotionally bruised after his mother’s death, is handed a typical assignment, to spend two weeks publicly defying Trinity’s traditions by refusing to take part in the school’s annual chocolate sale. Dangerously unpredictable acting headmaster Brother Leon is livid; he illicitly overextended Trinity’s finances to buy twice as many chocolates as the school sold in past years, and he needs the school’s unstinting cooperation to sell the candy and protect his job. But after the two-week prank ends, Jerry still refuses to sell the chocolates, in spite of increasing pressure from his frightened peers, The Vigils, and Brother Leon. The standoff quickly turns into a war between the entire school and one teenager who isn’t even sure why he’s refusing to go along with the crowd.

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Series status? Written as a stand-alone novel, though Cormier wrote a sequel, Beyond The Chocolate War , in 1985. While The Chocolate War is considered an all-time classic, the sequel is much less studied and much less acclaimed, but it is worth reading, particularly given how it pays off some of the first book’s minor side stories.

YA cliché? Cormier was one of the founding fathers of modern young-adult literature. The cynicism of his books for and about teenagers—particularly I Am The Cheese , After The First Death , The Bumblebee Flies Anyway , and Fade , in addition to the Chocolate War books—was unparalleled in his time; to the degree that there are young-adult clichés in this book, it’s because of writers imitating him after the fact. Given that the book was written in the ’70s, it has none of today’s most familiar YA signifiers, like love triangles and future dystopias. But it does deal with a familiar topic for YA fiction from any era: the power of peer pressure, the strength it takes to surmount it, and the power of an individual making personal decisions instead of acquiescing to the status quo and the will of the pack. What distinguishes The Chocolate War , though, is the startling implication that there’s no glory or triumph in individuality, that the in-group has nigh-unlimited power, and that anyone resisting them is just giving them an excuse to exercise their vindictiveness to its limit. It’s a bleak message in a bleak book, but it evades the usual “hero individual” cliché by a mile.

Bad sign: One of the book’s few missteps occurs early on, when Jerry Renault encounters a hippie teenager who repeatedly accuses him of being a “square boy” for keeping a schedule, going to school every day, and being “middle-aged at fourteen, fifteen, already caught in a routine. Wow.” Embarrassed, Jerry heads for his bus, and the hippie tells him “Go get your bus, square boy. Don’t miss the bus, boy. You’re missing a lot of things in the world, better not miss that bus.” Not only does the characterization of the hippie and his crowd date the book somewhat—which is unfortunate, since it’s otherwise admirably timeless—it’s clunky, particularly when Jerry starts resisting Trinity’s chocolate drive while vaguely recalling the hippie’s admonition that he’s missing out.

Good sign: Overall, though, The Chocolate War is a stunningly crafted book that builds amazing tension out of what sounds like a banal conflict. Cormier tightens the screws early by making it clear that this isn’t just a confrontation between cranky adolescents over candy: In an early chapter, he sets up Brother Leon as a manipulator with a sadistic streak to rival Archie Costello’s. There’s a riveting inevitability to the sequence where he pulls a straight-A student to the front of the classroom, strikes him in the face with a blackboard pointer and pretends it’s an accident, then builds a chain of illogic that makes the boy either a cheater or an arrogant blasphemer: “Are you perfect, Bailey? All those A’s—that implies perfection. Is that the answer, Bailey? Only God is perfect, Bailey. Do you compare yourself with God, Bailey?” As the other boys squirm in discomfort at Bailey’s ridiculously unjust public torture, Cormier establishes, in a microcosm, how Trinity works: Everyone is afraid to assist a victim, lest they become victims themselves. And when someone does finally, anonymously speak up from the back of the room—“Aw, let the kid alone”—Brother Leon promptly turns that minor rebellion into an object lesson for everyone else by reversing himself, comforting Bailey, and blaming everyone else for not helping him. In The Chocolate War , there are no right or safe choices against bullies, who find a way to turn every situation to their advantage.

Young-adult appropriate? The Chocolate War has been repeatedly challenged or banned in libraries and schools, largely for its violence and its several brief-but-frank masturbation scenes. Brutality and sex aside, though, it’s a book specifically designed with teenagers in mind, a book about what it’s like to be that age and confused about how to deal with peer pressure. Some adults have certainly said the ending—which directly answers Jerry’s ongoing, T.S. Eliot-derived question, “Do I dare disturb the universe?” with a resounding, “Hell no, it’s too dangerous”—is too cynical and defeatist for younger readers, but it remains a refreshingly bitter antidote to all the thousands of can-do, hero-makes-good stories out there.

Old-adult appropriate? Adults who had to read The Chocolate War in school or have never encountered it except by reputation as a standard middle-school study-object may be surprised at how well it reads later in life. It’s an impeccably crafted, poisonous little gem that builds tension in a variety of intelligent ways, and crafts characters quickly but with depth. Archie is a ball of sheer malevolence, but he secretly feels the self-pity of a character who doesn’t consider himself a villain. The chapters focusing on his right-hand stooge Obie and The Vigils’ head man, Carter, emphasize how tragedies happen not just because of cruel individuals, but because of the people who hate what they do, and abet them anyway out of weakness, apathy, boredom, a wish to be on the inside, or any number of other reasons. Brother Leon in particular adds to the discomfort with his collusion with The Vigils— The Lord Of The Flies covered similar ground by showing how vicious children might become with no civilizing influences or adult supervision, but The Chocolate War outdoes it by addressing how adult pressures and tacit approval might actually push boys further into savagery than they could go otherwise. Adult readers might feel less of a sense of honesty and truth about The Chocolate War ’s sheer ugliness, but they’re more likely to appreciate its sheer technique, and how much terrifying mileage it gets out of the question “How far can this face-off possibly go?”

Could use less: Lingering on the characters’ lascivious but often distanced thoughts about girls, which generally focus in detail on bouncing breasts and rounded asses. Yes, all of the characters are teenage boys, who often aren’t thinking about much else. Yes, teenage boys masturbate. Yes, part of the point of the book is that violence in teenage boys can be a sublimation of and an outlet for sexual frustration. Even given all that, though, the wank fantasies can be wearying.

Could use more: Of the subsidiary characters Cormier touches on in passing. Several supporting characters are given a single chapter to themselves in order to build the story—to show the effect Jerry’s resistance is having on different corners of the school, to further show the extent of Brother Leon’s manipulations and his corruption—but Cormier apparently can’t resist characterizing each of those boys in depth and detail, to the point where they’re each living out their own interesting stories. Those sidebars seem frustratingly unfinished when he never returns to them. Beyond The Chocolate War does provide payoff for several of them, but those threads might have been better served via inclusion in the first book.

For fans of: Unhappy endings.

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The Chocolate War Reviews

Audiences are not going to find a neat moment of closure in this film. But they might leave the picture enlightened about the real cost of chocolate.

Full Review | Apr 1, 2022

Movie Review: The Chocolate War

© 2002 - Monica Sullivan - Air Date: 8/7/02

The Chocolate War

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Jerry, a new student at an elite Catholic prep school, must face the hazing practices handed down by the Vigils, a group of powerful students. When teacher Brother Leon pushes the students to sell chocolates for a fundraiser, the head of the Vigils, Archie, gets Jerry to reject selling for 10 days. However, Jerry decides to keep up the refusal past the original time frame, which pits him against the Vigils and the school staff.

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THE CHOCOLATE WAR

by Robert Cormier ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 12, 1974

Mature young readers will respect the uncompromising ending that dares disturb the upbeat universe of juvenile books.

Vicious and violent mob cruelty in a boy's prep school is not a new theme but Cormier makes it compellingly immediate in this novel of Trinity High, a boys' day school with the close, concentrated, self-contained atmosphere of a boarding school, temporarily headed by the venomous, manipulating Brother Leon and unofficially run by power-obsessed senior Archie Costello, the ingeniously audacious "assigner" for a secret organization called the Vigils.

A typical Vigils assignment, which no student would consider refusing, is to spend the night undoing the screws of all the desks and chairs in one classroom, so that they collapse on touch next morning. More serious though is the assignment given to freshman Jerry Renault, who must refuse for 10 days to participate in the chocolate sale on which Brother Leon has staked his position. In strong, staccato scenes that shift from one boy to another Cormier tells about Jerry's persecution when he decides spontaneously to go on saying no after his ten days are up and Brother Leon induces Archie to see this as defiance of the Vigils. No underworld gang closing in on a victim is more menacing than this teenage army led by a Leon-Archie alliance against one boy whose locker poster reads "Do I Dare Disturb the Universe."

Pub Date: March 12, 1974

ISBN: 978-0-394-82805-3

Page Count: 272

Publisher: Pantheon

Review Posted Online: March 16, 2012

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1974

TEENS & YOUNG ADULT SOCIAL THEMES | TEENS & YOUNG ADULT SCHOOL & FRIENDSHIP

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More by Robert Cormier

BOOK REVIEW

by Robert Cormier

IF HE HAD BEEN WITH ME

by Laura Nowlin ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 1, 2013

There’s not much plot here, but readers will relish the opportunity to climb inside Autumn’s head.

The finely drawn characters capture readers’ attention in this debut.

Autumn and Phineas, nicknamed Finny, were born a week apart; their mothers are still best friends. Growing up, Autumn and Finny were like peas in a pod despite their differences: Autumn is “quirky and odd,” while Finny is “sweet and shy and everyone like[s] him.” But in eighth grade, Autumn and Finny stop being friends due to an unexpected kiss. They drift apart and find new friends, but their friendship keeps asserting itself at parties, shared holiday gatherings and random encounters. In the summer after graduation, Autumn and Finny reconnect and are finally ready to be more than friends. But on August 8, everything changes, and Autumn has to rely on all her strength to move on. Autumn’s coming-of-age is sensitively chronicled, with a wide range of experiences and events shaping her character. Even secondary characters are well-rounded, with their own histories and motivations.

Pub Date: April 1, 2013

ISBN: 978-1-4022-7782-5

Page Count: 336

Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire

Review Posted Online: Feb. 12, 2013

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2013

TEENS & YOUNG ADULT ROMANCE | TEENS & YOUNG ADULT SOCIAL THEMES

More by Laura Nowlin

by Laura Nowlin

More About This Book

SEEN & HEARD

IF ONLY I HAD TOLD HER

by Laura Nowlin ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 6, 2024

A heavy read about the harsh realities of tragedy and their effects on those left behind.

In this companion novel to 2013’s If He Had Been With Me , three characters tell their sides of the story.

Finn’s narrative starts three days before his death. He explores the progress of his unrequited love for best friend Autumn up until the day he finally expresses his feelings. Finn’s story ends with his tragic death, which leaves his close friends devastated, unmoored, and uncertain how to go on. Jack’s section follows, offering a heartbreaking look at what it’s like to live with grief. Jack works to overcome the anger he feels toward Sylvie, the girlfriend Finn was breaking up with when he died, and Autumn, the girl he was preparing to build his life around (but whom Jack believed wasn’t good enough for Finn). But when Jack sees how Autumn’s grief matches his own, it changes their understanding of one another. Autumn’s chapters trace her life without Finn as readers follow her struggles with mental health and balancing love and loss. Those who have read the earlier book will better connect with and feel for these characters, particularly since they’ll have a more well-rounded impression of Finn. The pain and anger is well written, and the novel highlights the most troublesome aspects of young adulthood: overconfidence sprinkled with heavy insecurities, fear-fueled decisions, bad communication, and brash judgments. Characters are cued white.

Pub Date: Feb. 6, 2024

ISBN: 9781728276229

Page Count: 416

Review Posted Online: Jan. 5, 2024

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2024

TEENS & YOUNG ADULT SOCIAL THEMES | TEENS & YOUNG ADULT FICTION | TEENS & YOUNG ADULT ROMANCE

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The chocolate war, common sense media reviewers.

A kind of "Dangerous Liaisons" for teenagers.

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this book.

This book helps teen readers examine some of life&

This book forces readers to face the reality of ev

Is Jerry a hero? A scapegoat? Is his act of defian

Fight scenes realistically and graphically describ

Several frank references to masturbation and to bo

Conversations between teenage boys contain frequen

Parents need to know that The Chocolate War remains one of the best books for teens when it comes to examining moral issues. The intensity of emotion will challenge readers to form opinions and engage. It's brilliantly written and examines some serious moral problems that are very age-appropriate and relevant for…

Educational Value

This book helps teen readers examine some of life's hardest questions, posing moral issues in a way that are guaranteed to start conversations.

Positive Messages

This book forces readers to face the reality of evil, and examine how to confront it. The effect is powerful and it lingers long after the book is shut and sitting on the shelf.

Positive Role Models

Is Jerry a hero? A scapegoat? Is his act of defiance negative or positive? The dilemma posed by the actions of the characters have good and poor role models. The Vigils order boys to vandalize a classroom and defy teachers. Abully steals gas, and forces a student to buy cigarettes. Brother Leondeliberately embarrasses students, hits one student with a pointer,ignores violence, and encourages the Vigils.

Violence & Scariness

Fight scenes realistically and graphically described.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Sex, Romance & Nudity

Several frank references to masturbation and to boys' fantasies about girls.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

Conversations between teenage boys contain frequent use of moderate, and occasional extreme, sexual, bathroom, and religiously themed profanity.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that The Chocolate War remains one of the best books for teens when it comes to examining moral issues. The intensity of emotion will challenge readers to form opinions and engage. It's brilliantly written and examines some serious moral problems that are very age-appropriate and relevant for teens. This is a book for teens who don't require a happy ending with everything tied up in a neat little package.

Where to Read

Community reviews.

• Parents say (10)
• Kids say (23)

Based on 10 parent reviews

There's so much bad in the world, I don't understand a book that adds to it.

I love this book and so will your 10 year old., what's the story.

When high school teen Jerry Renault refuses to sell chocolate during his school fundraiser, his decision kicks off a stream of events that cause the school to unravel. Is he a hero or a scapegoat? The school divides on the subject. The book has some terrifying characters including a vicious student and the corrupt temporary headmaster who controls the school, targeting freshman Jerry Renault when he quietly resists them. With the whole school against him, Jerry stands alone. The book raises deep questions of good, evil, independence, and compliance. All serious grist for a developing teen's mill. This dark, disturbing novel towers as one of the true classics of Young Adult Literature.

Is It Any Good?

This difficult read deals with life's cruelty, and deals with complex issues with intensity. Evil in all its ugliness pervades the story, which Robert Cormier sets in a private Catholic school, presenting evil as something that can invade even our own protected lives.

Only a few villains cause all the mayhem, and the book exposes them early. However, Cormier won't spare us from life's nasty truths. Readers might wonder, "Would any of us have done better, or would we make the same easy compromises as Cormier's characters?" For that reason, this book remains relevant: It forces readers to face the reality of evil, and examine how to confront it.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about the significance of the quote on a poster in Jerry's locker -- "Dare I disturb the universe?" -- and how it relates to the book as a whole.

What take-away do your teens have about whether Jerry's actions are positive or negative?

If you wantedto "disturb the universe" in your own way, how would you do it?

Who arethe most powerful characters in Cormier's book?

What does that sayabout the very nature of power itself?

Book Details

• Author : Robert Cormier
• Genre : Literary Fiction
• Book type : Fiction
• Publication date : January 1, 1974
• Number of pages : 272
• Award : ALA Best and Notable Books
• Last updated : June 10, 2015

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