tavm Review of The Van

The Van (1977)

The Van had some laughs in the beginning before going downhill later on

[4/10 · 4 August 2010]

Okay, the VHS I bought of this movie at Grand Cinema Station was from a bargain basement company called Gemstone Entertainment. With that being the case, I should've known better than to even expect that the movie shown on it would play without cuts what with both cuss words blanked out and no nudity (good thing that some of the scenes shown on YouTube did have some skin). And as one would expect, it also is dishonest in showing Danny DeVito prominently on the cover as if he's the star, which is sooo far from the truth. The actual star is Stuart Goetz-best known for a guest appearance on "The Brady Bunch"-as just graduated teen Bobby who uses his college money to buy a, you know. DeVito plays his car wash boss Andy who has a weakness for gambling. Deborah White plays Tina who Bobby likes but she doesn't feel the same about him. Then there's a sexy blonde called Sally played by Connie Lisa Marie and her Neanderthal boyfriend named Dugan Hicks (Stephan Oliver who would reprise this role on Malibu Beach). Okay, I thought the first 45 minutes were pretty funny and hearing Sammy Johns "Chevy Van" and some of his other tunes were fun to hear. But then Bobby's constant pawing of Tina and her incessant rejection of him gets irritating real quick and "Chevy Van" gets played too many times, not to mention that director Sam Grossman does too many travelogue scenes whenever those songs play. And I thought the ending was definitely contrived. Also, the parents were wasted in their brief scenes though I did like Bobby's scene with his mother. Still, there was a nice montage of various vans as Bobby and Tina walk around the beach, there were some amusing undercranking when there were car chases, and Danny DeVito had a hilarious opening scene. So on that note, The Van is worth a look and if I ever see the uncensored version, I may comment further. Update 3/24/12: Just watched all the nude scenes on the full YouTube upload. Ms. Marie's with Goetz are especially hot with him and Ms. White a close second...