The 80's was full of rather bland teen comedies such as Pretty in Pink and the dreadful Revenge of the Nerds series. Here we get one of the nerds, Curtis Armstrong but i suspect that he was merely in this movie to give it some clout, as the lead John Cusack wasn't really a household name yet. When you look at the movie Curtis Armstrong's screen time doesn't even amount to 5 minutes.
The rest of the movie is sort of interesting because of the style of the first half which is kind of offbeat considering that Cusack's character, Lane is ten times more realistic than the rest of the characters. His mother, who cooks rather disgusting meals belongs in some kind of 50's sitcom and almost all her lines are written like she is talking to herself and not interacting with anybody else. And who could forget that pesky little paperboy who keeps showing up and demanding 2 dollars. That scene has almost been parodied to death on various spoofs through the 90's and 00's.
The director, Savage Steve Holland, did not have a prolific career but you certainly can't deny that he made some movies out of the ordinary and I am glad that I can remember this as being one of the more satisfying experiences at the movies because usually 80's movies were extremely formulated. John Cusack may not have been a official member of what was known as the Brat Pack and this film certainly is a notch below the Breakfast Club. However, since he succeeded where they failed, I doubt that he lost much sleep over it.
The rest of the movie is sort of interesting because of the style of the first half which is kind of offbeat considering that Cusack's character, Lane is ten times more realistic than the rest of the characters. His mother, who cooks rather disgusting meals belongs in some kind of 50's sitcom and almost all her lines are written like she is talking to herself and not interacting with anybody else. And who could forget that pesky little paperboy who keeps showing up and demanding 2 dollars. That scene has almost been parodied to death on various spoofs through the 90's and 00's.
The director, Savage Steve Holland, did not have a prolific career but you certainly can't deny that he made some movies out of the ordinary and I am glad that I can remember this as being one of the more satisfying experiences at the movies because usually 80's movies were extremely formulated. John Cusack may not have been a official member of what was known as the Brat Pack and this film certainly is a notch below the Breakfast Club. However, since he succeeded where they failed, I doubt that he lost much sleep over it.