Sometimes movies have to be viewed in just the right mood to really stick with you. This is one of those titles for me. As a HUGE Goodfellas fan, I saw Pesci as the Harvard bum and had to give it a shot. Good lively soundtrack accents characters you actually care about. From Fraser's perfect puppet wanting to have a heart to Dempsey's whimsical DJ, they're fun people you might have hung out with at college. Pesci in far and away his best performance, adds the lightning to this mix, bouncing back and forth from hateful curmudgeon to bi-polar nut case in equal measure. Very few movies can get me to cry, but this one managed at the end. I recommend it for anyone wanting a good little emotional roller-coaster, taking you from mild despair to raucous laughter.

With Honors tells a tale about a homeless man who meets a group of Harvard students and this leads to an awkward relationship wherein he becomes their new professor about the real world and life in general. The homeless man is portrayed by Joe Pesci while Brendan Fraser,Moira Kelly,Patrick Dempsey and Josh Hamilton were cast as the students. This film feature was directed by Alek Keshishian,who happens to have a degree from Harvard.This could have been a great film considering that it has a talented cast like Pesci who happens to be an Academy Award winner,it was just too bad that it has a somewhat a simplistic screenplay. It was contrived and clichéd as the viewer could have seen how the relationship with the homeless man and the students would turn out,how the conflicts will be resolved and the conclusion that came to happens to be no surprise at all.Added to that,the cast wasn't able to elevate it due to average performances despite having being talented and the direction was far from being wonderful.

Harvard punk (Brendan Fraser) helps a homeless dude (Joe Pesci) in exchange for lost thesis papers.It's a series of revelations that change the political views of a selfish Ivy-leaguer as he learns from the 'wisdom' of a bum who has all the appeal of a rat-dropping. The homeless are depicted as insane alcoholics while Fraser's roommates include cute Moira Kelly, cool Patrick Dempsey, and handsome Josh Hamilton, who are given virtually nothing to do.Not much here, but there is some good location scenery of Cambridge and Harvard University.Ve Ri Tas!

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.