A rest from our current mess for a moment.
If you came of age in the 1980’s there are cultural markers you’ll never forget: Reagan — Bush lawn signs, the popularity of Michael Jackson, Cheers, Gary Hart, big hair, leg warmers, video stores and, of course, the ever-present threat of nuclear annihilation. Then, there were movies.
The 1980’s brought us some great movies from all genres, The Empire Strikes Back, Ghost Busters, The Thing, Platoon, Aliens, Die Hard, Stripes...and the list goes on.
One dominant genre in the 1980’s was the Teen Movie/High School Movie, best epitomized by the work of director, producer and writer John Hughes (1950-2009). There were teen movies in the 1950’s, 60’s and 70’s to be sure. The 1980’s brought us a new take - a strange brew of teen angst, comedy, romance, farce and physical comedy, wrapped in melodrama. Toss in a popular soundtrack and you had all the ingredients.
I could be wrong about this but something happened around 1984 with the Teen/High School movies. Up until that time there were films in the late ‘70’s that had an early ‘80’s look. Conversely, there are some early ‘80’s films that feel like late ‘70’s. By 1984 we are firmly planted in The 1980’s. There is an aesthetic to the Hughes and Hughes-like movies that is unmistakable compared to their predecessors. You see it and you know, its the 1980’s.
Hughes directed some biggies: Sixteen Candles (1984), Breakfast Club (1985), Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986) and penned Pretty in Pink (1986).
Another John, John Cusack, starred in Better Off Dead (1985), The Sure Thing (1985) and Say Anything (1989), with a small role in Sixteen Candles. So, the John’s dominated this genre in the 1980’s.
There are some common themes in many of these movies which include:
1) Adults just don’t listen;
2) The lead is the audience stand-in;
3) the lead has a quirky best friend;
4) What you really want was right under your nose all along;
5) The lead has a wise ass younger sibling;
6) Rich kids are almost always dicks;
7) Clique jumping never works.
A review of Wikipedia and Box Office Mojo comports (mostly) with my memory: The Breakfast Club, Ferris Bueller and Say Anything were huge films, seen multiple times and highly quoted. Sixteen Candles, The Sure Thing and Pretty in pink were popular as well. All were financial successes. Better Off Dead was a financial flop and achieved any popularity through the VHS market.
The genre’s Golden Age began around 1984 and lasted until ‘87 or ‘88. By this time, we see a change, with movies like Heathers and a few years later, Pump Up the Volume. By the early 90’s a new generation of teens were ready for their own movies that had their own tropes.
I’d like to highlight some movies...call them what you want...underrated, underappreciated or under-discussed. These are movies that either fit the mold, more or less, of the Teen/High School and I rarely hear discussed when the conversations turns to this type of film. Its not exhaustive and I make no arguments that these moves, as a whole, are better films than the ones named above. Only that I enjoy them and they hold their own against the more popular movies from the era.
One Crazy Summer (1986)
Admittedly, not a high school movie but close enough. Hoops McCann (John Cusack) graduates from Generic High School but fails to get a basketball scholarship. An illustrator, McCann wants to go to the Rhode Island School of Design. His application includes a requirement that he illustrate a love story. Hoops and his friend, George Calamari (Joel Murray) head to Nantucket to spend the titular crazy summer with the Calamari’s grandparents. Along the way they rescue singer/guitarist Cassandra (Demi Moore) from a motorcycle gang. She is on her way to Nantucket as well...and so on…
So, what we have here is a collection of weird outsiders trying to thwart a rich man’s plans for a development on Nantucket, which would include foreclosing on Cassandra’s grandfather’s house. The rich guy’s son leads the bad, rich-kid gang who try and torment the outsiders.
One Crazy Summer is like a Frankie and Annette movie (lets save the beach from the evil developer) updated for the ‘80’s, with a dash of screwball comedy/romance thrown in, along with some Marx Brothers, Abbott & Costello and Three Stooges. It does not take place in the real world like Pretty in Pink or Breakfast Club (one character collects artillery shells from a beach used by the Navy for target practice, while the Navy is conducting target practice). No melodrama here. This is light fare, easy fare.
John Cusack as the lead is likeable, his posse is loveable even if they would be annoying in real life, and Demi Moore does a solid job as the love interest. The antagonist is Mark Metcalf (Neidermeyer from Animal House), an actor born to play an asshole. His son is played by Matt Mulhern (Wykowski from Biloxi Blues), a natural successor to Metcalf in the asshole category.
Joel Murray (on the grounds that any Murray is better than no Murray in the ‘80’s) and Bobcat Goldthwait also star. Murray is likeable and Goldthwait not quite as annoying as he usually was back then.
One Crazy Summer, while 100% disposable entertainment, is simple, mindless fun. You can leave the room, fiddle on the computer or take a call and you really won’t miss much. Still, I find it an underrated ‘80’s flick.
Very much a spiritual sequel to Better Off Dead.
Written and directed by Savage Steve Holland (Better Off Dead).
Heaven Help Us (1985)
It is 1965 and Michael Dunn and his sister leave Boston after their parents death to live in Brooklyn with their grandparents. Michael is sent to St. Basil’s, an all-boys Catholic High School. There, he meets the bully, the smart kid, the bland kid and the pervert. He has to have it out with the bully before they reach an uneasy friendship. Dunn is the audience stand-in around whom the stereotypes orbit.
The group grows closer as they muddle their way through school, messing up, pulling pranks and occasionally dealing with a sadistic Brother who resorts to brutal corporal punishment and humiliation with disturbing ease.
Across the street is the soda shop, run by the owner’s daughter, who takes care of both the business and her father, who suffers from depression (I think his wife left him). A romance develops between Dunn and the young lady, Danni. The group ultimately has a showdown with the sadistic Brother.
While mostly a comedy, there are two or three rather dark scenes involving Brother Constance. The darkness here is violence but I doubt this movie could be made today given the cloud that hangs over the Catholic church. It wouldn’t be about corporal punishment and it wouldn’t be a comedy.
There are some funny scenes. One student helps to edit the sins of his fellow students before they
sit for confession. When the Brother hearing confession (Wallace Shawn) is called away, he hears the confessions. I’d imagine that if you attended Catholic school in a large city during the same time period you might find this more funny than most.
Andrew McCarthy plays Dunn and frankly, its one of his better performances. He was never a strong actor. Mary Stuart Masterson runs the soda shop. Kevin Dillon plays dumb bully well, and he’s not all that dumb. Patrick Dempsey also stars. Donald Sutherland runs the school and John Heard plays the nice, new acolyte that helps the boys.
The film takes place in 1965, right before all hell breaks loose in the Country. Its a good setting, a last gasp of a world that would never be the same after the conflagration of 1968. Plus, period pieces usually hold up well. The film was produced by HBO pictures and distributed by Tri-Star. It was not a box office success.
Some Kind of Wonderful (1987):
Keith is from the wrong side of the tracks. When the beautiful and popular Amanda breaks up with her rich and cruel boyfriend, Keith asks Amanda out on a date. Keith best friend, Watts (a musician) is jealous, as she has had a crush on Keith for a long time.
Meanwhile, Keith’s dad is putting on a full court press about selecting a college and Keith’s younger sister is a real wise ass. Keith and Amanda’s date starts out fine but soon goes off the rails, sabotaged by Amanda’s former boyfriend.
I always thought this was a forgotten entry from the 1980’s. Few people mention it but it can go toe-
to-toe with many of the more talked about films. Sure, it is formulaic, has moments of high melodrama, just like the rest, and stereotypes abound, but that’s the genre. Eric Stoltz, Lea Thompson and Mary Stuart Masterson star and to me, are probably better actors than many in the Brat Pack. The cast also includes Craig Sheffer and an early performance from Elias Koteas. It was a moderate success. Produced and written by John Hughes.
Some have pointed out that the movie is basically a remake of Pretty in Pink, with the ending John Hughes wanted in the earlier movie and the genders reversed.
I believe the reputation of this film has grown over time.
Three O'clock High (1987):
Bland, mild Jerry Mitchell has a really bad day. He should be having a great time. His parents are out of town and he and his sister have the house to themselves for a few days. He wakes late. Crashes the car on his way to school and that’s the good part of his day. At school, he is tasked to interview the new kid for the school paper. The new kid is, naturally, a psychopath. Soon, Jerry has been challenged to an after-school fight with someone who can clearly destroy him. The remainder of his day is spent in attempt after attempt to avoid the fight. All his moves accomplish little except to
make his day worse.
Three O'clock High is an interesting film for the time period. The use of odd camera angles, zoom-ins, zoom-outs and other camera techniques are unusual for the standard teen movie of this time period. They help the viewer experience the disorienting day Jerry experiences. A quirky, enjoyable film that seems to have been forgotten. Richard Tyson plays the new student. You may know him as the bad guy from Kindergarten Cop. Tyson is a perfect psychopath. He does quiet menace quite well. Also interesting is that at the end, jerry’s machinations to avoid the after-school confrontation are called into question. A twist not often seen in these movies.
Three O'clock High stars Casey Siemaszko (Biloxi Blues), Richard Tyson, Anne Ryan, William Zabka (Karate Kid) and Jeffrey Tambor.
I was going to stop here but I think we have time for one more.
Just One of the Guys (1985)
Terri Griffith, a Phoenix high school student, believes her journalism for the school paper isn’t being taken seriously because she is an attractive female. With the help of a standard issue precocious younger sibling and her best friend, Terri transfers to the rival high school...as a boy. Looks like someone had read Twelfth Night.
Terri, now Terry, sees life through the eyes of the other gender, making male friends and being hit-on by. She also undertakes a project: making over an average guy with no sense of style. All of this while still trying to juggle a college boyfriend who has no idea about her double life. Standard, formulaic stuff but it has a certain style. Joyce Hyser plays one of the stronger female roles for this type of movie. She starts the film as a strong,-willed, ambitious person. Self-confidence is not her weakness. Clayton Rohner, Billy Jacoby and Toni Hudson also star.
I considered the Jon Cryer movie Hiding Out (1987). Its not bad but if you think about it for thirty seconds, I’m not exactly comfortable with a high schooler and a stock broker in a relationship. At best she’s eighteen and he is at best twenty-two on a good day, probably twenty-three or twenty-four. Best not to think about it if you re-watch the film.
We can end with a poll: What is your favorite movie from this genre? Also, has that opinion changed over time? I’ve left a few out, mostly those that came early in the decade. I also tried to stick with movies that incorporate the high school part of being a teenager. Also, no science fiction, fantasy, horror so I did not list Weird Science, Teen Wolf, Lost Boys, etc. We’ll save those for another day, ok?
Have fun strolling down memory lane.