Abet & Abettor

abet







Y

D



–verb (used with object) 

to encourage, support, 

or 

countenance by aid or approval, usually in wrongdoing: to abet a [swindler]; to abet a [crime].  





C



abettor, abetter (n.)   

 

meaning "someone who helps or incites others," occasionally takes on some of the pejorative senses attached to the verb abet, which is often used disparagingly. It has two Standard spellings, but abettor is the more frequent.  





 　

The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys throws together live action and animation, lighthearted teen romance and serious family trauma, and raucous comedy and heavy, melodramatic tragedy. It's an intriguing [mixture] that doesn't quite gel. The film is [at] its best when it focuses on the simple joys of teens hanging out



In showing the four altar boys of the title fine-[tuning] their comic book characters or just thinking up more elaborate ways to get into trouble, director Peter Care and screenwriters Jeff Stockwell and Michael Petroni, abetted by a talented young cast, [capture] the perfect naturalistic tone.



This is also true of the scenes in which Francis (Emile Hirsch) and Margie (Jena Malone) timidly explore their budding romance. The animation sequences by Todd McFarlane (Spawn) are sometimes jarringly bombastic, but they do [capture] a distinctly adolescent penchant [for] turning the real troubles of the world into dark, but manageable fantasy. 



The filmmakers chose to discard novelist Chris Fuhrman's specificity about the locale (the book takes place in Savannah), presumably to make the story more universal. This was a blunder, as the vagueness about where and when the film is set makes it less effective storytelling. 



There's also [an] awkwardness in the way the film will veer suddenly [into] tragedy, and some viewers will find the boys' exploits, particularly in the film's dramatic climax, more than a little hard to swallow. But the film is still fairly [strong]. Cinematographer Lance Acord (Buffalo 66, Being John Malkovich) does good work. Hirsch, Malone, and Kieran Culkin deliver creditable performances, and Jodie Foster and Vincent D'Onofrio lend excellent support.





instigate 

foment

elicit 

beckon

He beckoned me to [follow].

demagogue

It is dominated by the dynamic performance of Broderick Crawford as Willie Stark, a thinly disguised version of real-life populist [demagogue] Huey Long.

Convulsion