At the beginning of “With Honors,” Joe Pesci’s Simon Wilder is a grouchy eccentric who also happens to be homeless. Did one beget the other? Alek Keshishian’s 1994 comedy/drama isn’t quick with answers, but believes in its characters. Opposite Simon is Montgomery—or Monty, as his friends call him (Brendan Fraser)—a Harvard senior with the chance to graduate with high honors. However, a chance meeting with Simon in the campus library starts the two on a journey the frequent plot of movies like this, but which, modernly, often seems in short supply.
There’s nothing exceedingly unique about the story here. On the one hand, we have Fraser, who had just finished the zany “Airheads” the same year and two years off 1992’s “School Ties,” which was heavy and serious. And on the other hand we have Pesci, who won an Oscar for ‘Best Actor in a Supporting Role’ for his brutal and sardonic role in Martin Scorsese’s “Goodfellas” three years prior. Both perform well here. It occurred to me halfway through the film that I’ve never seen Fraser like this—serious and comedic, but vulnerable. And if we can say this about Fraser, we can definitely say it about Pesci. He’s instantly likable—or irascible—as Simon, yet works his way into our hearts. Watching him stand aloft a pedestal shouting news headlines to Harvard Square like historical town criers was an instant hit.
A Hollywood Odd Couple Formula
When Monty finds Simon, it’s in the basement of The Harry Elkins Widener Memorial Library, warming himself by a stove, feeding the student’s coveted thesis into the burner. Monty had just come earlier that day from a meeting with his thesis advisor, Professor Pitkannan (Gore Vidal) with hopes of graduating with honors and going on to great things. Writing his thesis, his computer crashed and erased his hard drive (this is the ‘90s), and he runs to photocopy shop to save the only copy he has. Along the way he trips, hurts his ankle, and—sneaking into the library after hours—discovers Simon.
Their initial conversation is anything but friendly. Simon is grumpy and a loner, and accuses Monty of not viewing him like a person (he’s not wrong, at least initially). However, a series of events will connect the two along with Monty’s roommates Jeff (Josh Hamilton), Everett (a fun Patrick Dempsey), and Courtney (Moira Kelly), who is also a love interest for Monty.
“With Honors” may have been ambitious at the time. Sure, “Philadelphia” released a year earlier, showcasing serious coverage of AIDS victims. But was empathy for homeless people really on people’s radars back then? Alek Keshishian’s film (with a script written by William Mastrosimone) wants to be funny, but also inspiring. The privileged Harvard crew is completely divorced from the idea. Early on they comment on Simon’s smell, his demeanor, his personage… When Simon won’t give back Monty’s thesis, but holds it hostage for ‘favors’ (food and company, mostly), Monty calls security and has him thrown out and arrested. “I lost my home because you didn’t view me as a person,” he scolds.
Pesci and Fraser are Pleasing and Real
The ensuing court scene, whereby the end Monty will pay Simon’s bail for contempt, ran the risk of encroaching on “My Cousin Vinny” territory, but thankfully Keshishian and Pesci reel it back. There’ an earnestness to Simon Pesci exudes I’ve never seen in anything else he’s done. It’s not his comedy, nor his timing. It’s part his intonation—he rambles and pontificates, sings and theatricalize everything he touches. But more than that, it’s his humanity. Simon—through Pesci—is a man with regretful pearls of wisdom he long ago accepted no one wants to hear. Or rather than no one can hear. He speaks as though no one is watching. And even when they are, they’re really not. A sadness underlines Simon’s life which only Monty, as he undergoes his change, is able to grasp on to
For his part, Fraser is great here, if for no other reason than he seems authentic. In “Encino Man” and “Airheads” he plays varieties of the personality that would carry him through much of his career, present even in later films such as “The Mummy.” But none of that gruffness or stillness of comedy is present here. He looks the part of a Harvard type-A, but in a way that lets you know something more is lurking inside. The film teases a connection between he and Courtney which plays on this, as does his at-first forced friendship with Simon. Monty never knew his dad and Simon abdicated his role as a rather early in life. It sets up imperfect characters that work because they are so imperfect. Simon is the type of person you could really meet, hijinks aside. And whether Pesci and Fraser simply excelled, or Keshisian directed them with authenticity and emotion, their relationship makes us feel better about life by the end of it.
Heartwarming and Empathetic
“With Honors” isn’t perfect. Per IMDb it received generally negative reviews and grossed only $20M worldwide. Roger Ebert criticized the convention of some of its thematics, but overall I think many critics missed the point. This is a movie in the truest sense. Could a Harvard student meet someone as affable yet self-defeating and self-aware as Simon? Maybe, but likely not. But in its encounters, “With Honors” makes a thesis of its own, that humans are worthwhile creatures deserving of empathy and honor, from the most fortunate to the ones on the outskirts.
It would have been easy, I think, for Keshishian to make a “Patch Adams”-esque tearjerker with this film. However, despite its latter mournful tone, at Fraser and Pesci’s hands the movie stays with you. Its ending is apt and doesn’t hang around too long, and the lessons the characters learn along the way are touching and warming. Sometimes “With Honors” tries too hard. And while it’s not as good as it wants to be, it’s a heartwarming tale nonetheless. It introduced Madonna’s “I’ll Remember,” which earned the film a Golden Globe nomination for the same. “With Honors” is available now on Amazon Prime. Watch it if you want to feel good and unlearn some modern-day cynicism along the way.
