I tend to make a lot of allowances for films that translate classic literature into high school settings. If nothing else, I respect the ambition of such an endeavor. And there are plenty of examples where this has been done successfully. Clueless (1995), based on Jane Austen’s Emma, was a delightful bit of fluff. I’m told that Cruel Intentions (1999), based on the French novel Les Liaisons Dangereuses, is quite entertaining (I’d seen the John Maklovich version shortly before Cruel Intensions came out, so I skipped the modern version). And Brick (2006), although not based on any specific piece of hard-boiled crime fiction, is one of the most memorable films I’ve seen in years. With a title as specific and intriguing as Crime and Punishment in Suburbia, I was prepared to like this film before I’d even started watching it.

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