Okay so maybe this film has already achieved cult status. Not only does it star John Cusak in one of his early leading roles, the director (Savage Steve Holland) disappeared from feature films after this and ONE CRAZY SUMMER only to delve into TV directing. Fans miss him and I include myself in that mix. So what’s the movie like? Completely off the wall and hilarious.
Cusak stars as Lane Myer, a teen obsessed with his girlfriend Beth (Amanda Wyss). Proof of that is shown early on when we see his closet filled with clothes hung on hangers that each feature a picture of Beth as well as walls covered with her picture. Problems start early on when Lane fails to make the ski team due to the underhanded doings of Roy, the stereotypical jock jerk found in so many movies. To make matters worse, Beth dumps Lane to become Roy’s new girlfriend since she decides she needs to step up the social ladder.
Despondent, Lane can’t figure out a way to get Beth back and so decides to kill himself. Not since HAROLD AND MAUDE have we witnessed the dark humor of attempted suicide. No, that’s not a funny topic but when you see Cusak with a rope around his neck deciding not to go through with it only to have his mother (Kim Darby) open the garage door while sweeping knocking him off his stool to struggle…well you get the picture I hope.
Lane finally decides that the best way for him to win back Beth is to take on the ultimate challenge, the one hill only the best skiers go down. That’s because most end up hospitalized. Lane doesn’t quite go there but he doesn’t conquer the slope either.
As this story is unfolding Lane also gets to see his next door neighbor, the nerdy overweight Ricky (Dan Schneider) doing well. In an attempt to get him a girl Ricky’s mother has taken on a foreign exchange student, Monique (Diane Franklin). The problem is Monique has no interests whatsoever in Ricky. And one night she and Lane become friends.
The film ends with a final duel between Lane and Roy. Will Lane get Beth back? Will Roy stop being a jerk finally? And what about Lane’s best friend Charles (Curtis Armstrong)? Will he finally find something interesting to do or the recreational drugs he seeks in this town?
The movie relies on the most absurd things happening for laughs and each and every one of them works. To tell you most would ruin your enjoyment of this film but I’ll give you a couple without wrecking them. Remember to always pay your paperboy even if you only owe him two dollars. Never put flammable materials on a dining room table. And if a Cosell sound alike oriental pulls up in a car beside you be ready to race.
This movie was pretty much what many teen films in the 80’s were all about. Teen angst taken to extreme. But rather than follow the John Hughes pattern of taking these teens seriously, Holland decided in his first feature film directing to make them over the top. And it works hilariously.
The film is just now hitting stores in blu-ray format. Does it help it any? Sadly no. The film continues to have a grainy look to it but that’s the look it had when it was originally released. We can’t expect every film from the past to look pristine in all forms. But for fans of the film having it in blu-ray will be something they’ll want to add to their collection. Sadly the extras are non-existent. There is nothing new here. It would have been nice to bring Cusak back to talk about his early years making this film before he became the star he is today. In any event, this is one movie that should be on every collector’s shelf. It is a film that you’ll find yourself quoting and on occasion popping out to watch over and over again.
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