Tedfoldol everything you have heard about this movie is true.

TaryBiggBall It was OK. I don't see why everyone loves it so much. It wasn't very smart or deep or well-directed.

Catangro After playing with our expectations, this turns out to be a very different sort of film.

Nicole I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

Michael_Elliott With Honors (1994) *** 1/2 (out of 4)Brendan Fraser plays Monty, a Harvard student who believes that his thesis is going to send him into the perfect life with the perfect job. The only problem is that the papers fall into the hands of a homeless man named Simon (Joe Pesci) who plans on using them to get things that he needs.WITH HONORS was released to some really horrible reviews and I still remember going to see it on its opening weekend and leaving the theater wondering what everyone had missed. The film took a real beating from critics and it didn't do too well at the box office but for my money it was one of the better movies released that year. Is it a masterpiece? Of course not but it's certainly a very good, heart-warming and funny picture.One thing that the film deserves credit for is taking a serious look at being homeless. This includes how someone can become homeless and then it talks about the various issues that happens because of it. I thought the film was very intelligent when it came to the subject matter and unlike so many other movies this one here at least had something to say on its subject.The best thing about the movie were the performances with Pesci leading the way in a very good role. Pesci was on a hot streak during this era as he was coming off the box office hit of HOME ALONE as well as an Oscar-win for GOODFELASS. He really makes a memorable character here as he can handle the drama and the laughs without any problem. Fraser is also very believable in his role and we get some nice support from Moira Kelly, Josh Hamilton and Patrick Dempsey.The film certainly does a very good job at mixing the laughs with the drama and to me WITH HONORS remains a film that never got its due.

pmedina-1 I was once asked: "What is your favorite movie?" in a graduate school application.I have many movies that I love and I couldn't ever decide on a favorite movie. At the time, however, I had recently watched "With Honors" for about the 20th time and I chose it for my answer. Researching the movie on this website, I was astounded when I discovered that it did not win (well, it wasn't even nominated for) any award on screen writing or acting. It was only nominated for Best Original Song ("I'll Remember", performed by Madonna).The film centers on Montgomery 'Monty' Kessler (Brendan Fraser) a government senior student at Harvard University, who thinks his life depends on his thesis. When his computer crashes, Monty decides that the reasonable thing to do is to rush to make copies of the only hard copy of the thesis he has. But on the way to the copy shop, he has an accident and the thesis falls into the boiler room of the library and into the hands of Simon Wilder (Joe Pesci), a homeless man who has made a makeshift home in there. At first, there is tension between the two, as Monty is outraged for the deal he is forced to make with Simon: for each day of food and shelter, Monty gets one page of the thesis. As time goes by, Monty realizes that there is more to Simon than meets the eye. The relationship between Monty and Simon develops into a strong friendship and Monty soon learns that there is more to life than graduating with honors.I am always moved by the beautiful story and the incredible acting in this film. The performances are so honest that the story seems to have been taken out of real life. The transition in the character of Monty, from a young man that considers grades and recognition to be the most important things in the world, to a man, touched by the life of a "bum" – as Simon refers to himself – who is intelligent and good-natured, and knows the meaning of love.The last few lines in the movie always bring tears to my eyes, as Monty reads Simon's self-written obituary: "He is survived by his family: Jeff Hawks, who always remembers to flush; Everett Calloway, who knows how to use words; Courtney Blumenthal, who is strong, and also knows how to love; and by Montgomery Kessler, who will graduate life with honor, and without regret."

jaredmobarak With Honors is one of those films that I remember enjoying back in the day, but never could recall what actually happened in it, let alone what it was about. Sure I knew that Joe Pesci played a bum attempting to show Brendan Fraser what life is all about, but that was pretty much it. Watching it again, probably more than ten years later, I can safely agree with myself from back then on how good of a movie it is. The acting is great and the story, while maybe a tad too sentimental and emotionally manipulating, is enthralling enough to stick with the characters and feel for them and their plight in getting through college with an education, along with their souls intact.A film like this makes you think about how good Joe Pesci used to be and regret that he has been out of the business for a while now. The guy never had the looks, the height, or even a voice that won't start grating on your ears before he even opens his mouth, but the guy is fantastic. He plays Simon Wilder with heart and realism, a homeless man who has regrets, but also piece of mind, knowing what went wrong and living life for meaning not materialistic necessity. In exchange for warm meals from Fraser's Harvard co-ed, he agrees to return the government thesis paper he is holding hostage. The paper is one that Fraser's professor fully endorses, but in the end is just a pile of nonsense that he himself doesn't believe in. Pesci must then try and make his young "student" learn how to see inside himself and realize that catering to those in power will never cause change or evolution in thinking.Besides Pesci, the main principles all do wonderful as well. It is a shame that Fraser has since rode his career down the toilet by doing children's fare and stupid comedies. Back in his heyday with this and School Ties, the guy showed he had some promise. Even the funny roles like Airheads worked, but unfortunately after that, he started to cash in the paychecks. Fraser shows that despite his jock physique, he has the ability to show inner intellect as well as a capacity to emit emotion. Some of the things that go on between he and Pesci strike tough cords and bring repressed feelings to the surface, but it is all a catharsis for both characters as they find out what it really is they need out of their own existences. As for the others, Moira Kelly makes you wonder what ever happened to her as far as film goes, Patrick Dempsey gives a performance with meaning while still keeping with his image of the day, and Josh Hamilton is entertaining enough to have made me see what else he's done since, surprising me to find he was one of my favorite roles in last year's comedy gem Diggers.Throughout the film, you know that tragedy will soon hit and the tears will flow, however, that knowledge never detracts from what is happening on screen. The writer doesn't copout when he could have, and the emotionally resonant moments are so because he allowed them to be hurtful and real. Infused consistently with the drama, though, are many moments of nice humor. No matter how serious Pesci might play, he is still a goofball through and through. A brilliant example of this is when he sits in on a government lecture at the school. His quips are funny, but when the professor finally calls him out, he holds his own and proves that looks are most definitely deceiving. That scene is worth seeing the film all by itself and it encompasses everything that the story is trying to convey.

bkoganbing I saw this film when it first came out and as it turned out I saw it with someone who spent a few stretches of his life homeless. The late David T. Frank was most moved by the film and I take that as the highest possible accolade.In a day and age when so few of us put anything aside as a cushion against hard times, lots of people are one paycheck away from being as homeless as Joe Pesci was here. Others like Pesci, have a debilitating illness and there's no place for them. The saddest of all are some of those with mental illnesses who are surviving on medication to keep psychoses under control.Brendan Fraser is a Harvard undergraduate who is writing his senior thesis when his computer crashes, leaving him with only one printed out copy. I've had the experience of losing valuable files when the hard drive I'm writing this review crashed, so I know exactly where he was coming from. Topping that off he loses that copy to Joe Pesci who's made himself a makeshift shelter in the boiler room of the Harvard library. Fraser finds Pesci throwing his thesis page by page into the boiler for some heat. Pesci's got him by the short hairs and they make an incredible bargain. He'll give Fraser back his thesis page by page for favors done. Incredibly he accepts the deal.More incredibly the two of them form a unique bond and Pesci goes to live with Fraser and his roommates, Moira Kelly, Patrick Dempsey and Josh Hamilton. Of the group of them I really enjoyed Hamilton's portrayal of the uptight pre-med student.The four Harvard kids learn a whole lot about life and what's really important in it. And I think they all will graduate life with honors.This review is respectfully dedicated to David T. Frank who checked out of life way too soon. Brendan, Joe, and the rest of the cast, this film deeply moved him, good job folks.