Review: "Just One of the Guys" Not Just Another Teen Movie

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 3 (of 2016) by Leroy Douresseaux

[A version of this review originally appeared on Patreon.]

Just One of the Guys (1985)
Running time:  90 minutes (1 hour, 30 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13
DIRECTOR:  Lisa Gottlieb
WRITERS:  Dennis Feldman and Jeff Franklin; from a story by Dennis Feldman
PRODUCER:  Andrew Fogelson
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  John McPherson (D.o.P.)
EDITOR:  Tony Lombardo
COMPOSER:  Tom Scott

COMEDY/ROMANCE

Starring:  Joyce Hyser, Clayton Rohner, Billy Jayne, Toni Hudson, William Zabka, Leigh McCloskey, Sherilyn Fenn, Deborah Goodrich, Ayre Gross, Robert Fieldsteel, Stuart Charno, John Apicella, Kenneth Tigar, Richard Blake, and Tony Brock and Jay Davis

Just One of the Guys is a 1985 comedy and high school romance from director Lisa Gottlieb and writers Dennis Feldman and Jeff Franklin.  The film focuses on a popular and attractive high school student who disguises herself as a teen boy in order to win a high school journalism contest.

Just One of the Guys introduces high school student, Terry Griffith (Joyce Hyser), of Phoenix, Arizona.  She has it all:  the looks, the popularity, and a college boyfriend who is quite the hunk.  Terry is also an aspiring teenage journalist, but her male teachers at Edwina Pearl High School don't take her newspaper articles seriously, mostly because she is a girl.  In fact, her journalism teacher, Mr. Raymaker (Kenneth Tigar), has chosen articles written by two male students to be entered in a contest that will land one student a summer internship at the Sun-Tribune.

So Terry comes up with an idea that will help her write an article that will earn her respect and hopefully win that summer internship.  With the help of her horny, little brother, Buddy (Billy Jacoby), and her lovelorn best friend, Denise (Toni Hudson), Terry disguises herself as a teen boy and enrolls in rival Sturgis-Wilder High School.  As a student at this new high school, Terry is sure that she can write an article about high school boys as secretly observed by a girl undercover as a boy.  Her mission goes awry when she meets handsome nerd, Rick Morehouse (Clayton Rohner).  Rick becomes her pet project, as she tries to give him a makeover and get him a date to the prom.  But Terry starts to fall in love with Rick.

I pretty much ignored 1980s teen movies that revolve around high school romance, and I had never even heard of Just One of the Guys.  However, a few weeks ago, I found an article on the Yahoo Movies website (https://www.yahoo.com/movies/are-those-what-i-think-they-are-a-revealing-175211213.html) about the 1985 film.  It turns out that 2015 is the 30th anniversary of the film's initial release (specifically April 26, 1985).  Apparently, Just One of the Guys is fondly remembered and has fanbase and something of a cult-following.  In fact, the magazine Entertainment Weekly once included Just One of the Guys in its listing of the “50 Best High School Movies” (at #48).

After reading a few paragraphs of the Yahoo article, I decided to rent Just One of the Guys from Netflix.  I enjoyed the film so much that it once again reminded me that Netflix is essential to my life as a movie-lover.  I won't call it a great movie, but Just One of The Guys is quite good and shouldn't be lost to history.

Just One of the Guys is a loose adaptation of William Shakespeare's comedy, Twelfth Night, which also inspired the 2006 high school comedy, She's the Man.  You don't need to have seen Shakespeare's play in order to enjoy this film.  All you need is the ability to sympathize with Terry Griffith and to see things from her point of view.  As Terry, Joyce Hyser gives a natural performance that sells the absurdity of her role and this movie's conceit.  I found myself willingly suspending disbelief because Hyser made me believe in Terry, her motivations, her plan, and her character.  In the way that Dustin Hoffman made Tootsie worthy of the audience suspension of disbelief, Hyser makes us want to latch onto Terry and buy into the entire act.

I can see why Just One of the Guys has a devoted following after three decades, and is apparently still winning new fans.  It is not a sparkling high school idyll, cool and slick, like those 1980s John Hughes films.  The earthy Just One of the Guys mines comedy gold in the minefield of high school society and in the lives of high school age young people.  It does not romanticize high school, not when it can love the high school years while simultaneously skewering it.  No high school movie list is complete without the surprising Just One of the Guys.

7 of 10
B+

Saturday, November 14, 2015


The text is copyright © 2015 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

Review: "Porky's" is Still a Raunchy Classic (Remembering Bob Clark)

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 16 (of 2014) by Leroy Douresseaux

Porky’s (1982)
Running time:  94 minutes (1 hour, 34 minutes)
MPAA – R
WRITER/DIRECTOR:  Bob Clark
PRODUCERS:  Don Carmody and Bob Clark
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Reginald H. Morris (D.o.P.)
EDITOR:  Stan Cole
COMPOSER:  Paul Zaza and Carl Zittrer

COMEDY

Starring:  Dan Monahan, Mark Herrier, Wyatt Knight, Roger Wilson, Cyril O’Reilly, Tony Ganios, Kaki Hunter, Kim Cattrall, Nancy Parsons, Scott Colomby, Boyd Gaines, Doug McGrath, Art Hindle, Wayne Maunder, Chuck Mitchell, and Alex Karras

The subject of this movie review is Porky’s, a 1982 Canadian-American sex comedy from writer-director Bob Clark.  The film is set in 1954 and focuses on a group of high school boys who try to help a buddy lose his virginity and end up seeking revenge on the sleazy owner of a honky tonk and his redneck sheriff brother.

Porky’s spawned a franchise, including two direct sequels.  The film won the Golden Reel Award at the 1983 Genie Awards and also received a “Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role” nomination for actor, Doug McGrath.  Porky’s was a surprise box office success and for decades was the highest-grossing Canadian film of all time.  It apparently still is, when adjusting for inflation.

Porky’s is set in Angel Beach, a small town in South Florida.  There, we find six teens that are desperate for sexual satisfaction.  These young, red-bloodied, American males, who play basketball for Angel Beach High School, have raging hormones and are horny for just about any female willing to do “it” with them.

The most desperate is Edward “Pee Wee” Morris (Dan Monahan), a short guy (in more ways than one), who wants desperately for a girl to relieve him of the burden of his virginity.  Pee Wee and friends hope to find sexual relief at a notorious honky-tonk joint in the next county, Porky’s.  However, the club’s owner, Porky (Chuck Mitchell) himself, rips them off and throws them out – even going so far as to seriously injury one of the teens who later seeks to get back at Porky.

So Pee Wee, Billy (Mark Herrier), Tommy (Wyatt Knight), and the rest of the gang plot an incredible revenge against Porky and his brother, the redneck Sheriff Wallace (Alex Karras).  Meanwhile, the boys’ adventures and activities earn them the unwanted attention of the foul-tempered girls’ gym teacher, Beulah Balbricker (Nancy Parsons).  Also, new junior basketball coach, Roy Brackett (Boyd Gaines), seduces sexy fellow gym instructor, Honeywell (Kim Cattrall), and makes a shocking discovery about how she acts during the heat of passion.

The late filmmaker Bob Clark is probably best known for his holiday movie classic, A Christmas Story (1983).  His infamous teen comedy, Porky’s, is also fondly remembered and apparently has influenced other filmmakers who have made teen films.

With Porky's, Clark, who died with his son in a 2007 car accident, took an unabashed and fanciful look at raucous high school adolescence in the 1950s.  However, the story has a timeless quality because of the truth at the heart of its idiocy:  sex weighs heavily on the minds of both high school boys and girls.  Porky’s can be pretty frank about that reality, but that is what makes this film both unique and unforgettable and difficult to duplicate – as its less successful sequels can attest.

Porky’s is silly, even a bit misogynistic, but I first saw it as a teenager and loved it.  Other than being a teenaged male, I had nothing in common with the characters, but I loved the film.  It is funny just to watch these high school kids’ antics – both guys and girls.

7 of 10
B+

Friday, April 04, 2014


The text is copyright © 2014 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site for syndication rights and fees.

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Boys Gone Wild in Furious "Chronicle"

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 49 (of 2012) by Leroy Douresseaux


Chronicle (2012)
Running time: 84 minutes (1 hour, 24 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for intense action and violence, thematic material, some language, sexual content and teen drinking
DIRECTOR: Josh Trank
WRITERS: Max Landis; from a story by Max Landis and Josh Trank
PRODUCERS: John Davis and Adam Schroeder
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Matthew Jensen
EDITORS: Elliot Greenberg

SCI-FI/THRILLER with elements of horror

Starring: Dane DeHaan, Alex Russell, Michael B. Jordan, Michael Kelly, Ashley Hinshaw, and Bo Petersen

Chronicle is a 2012 science fiction thriller and teen drama. The film follows three high school friends who gain superpowers and how those powers change them.

Seattle teenager Andrew Detmer (Dane DeHaan) is a loner who starts videotaping his life. His mother, Karen (Bo Petersen), is dying of cancer, and his father, Richard (Michael Kelly), is an abusive alcoholic. Although Andrew is unpopular at school, he does have one friend, his cousin, Matt Garetty (Alex Russell).

Matt invites Andrew to a rave in a bid to help him meet people. However, Andrew ends up taking a trip into the nearby woods with Matt and popular student, Steve Montgomery (Michael B. Jordan). There, they make an incredible discovery that gives them superpowers. At first, they have fun with the new powers, but when they begin to embrace the darker aspects of those powers, their lives begin to spin out of control.

Chronicle reminds me of Carrie, the 1976 Brian De Palma film based upon Stephen King’s 1974 novel of the same name (King’s debut novel). Carrie freaked me out when I first saw it as a child, and I have not been able to watch it since then. Chronicle doesn’t freak me out; it is much slicker than the edgy, odd, and dark Carrie. Chronicle is a shiny bauble structured to make its self-absorbed characters seem thoughtful and self-analytical to its self-absorbed target audience.

Director Josh Trank and screenwriter Max Landis are good at capturing the fun and hijinks of the teenaged boys as they experiment with their powers. I do believe that it is realistic to depict these youngsters as careless enough to test their powers out in public and also to think nothing of filming themselves using those powers. I think that Trank and Landis’ best idea is that when things start to get out of control, they really get out of control. As these young men become more reckless, the story turns wild and unbound. The movie embraces the dark side that is these young fools acting like demigods.

I didn’t know what to expect of Chronicle, but I did want to see it. Now, that I’ve seen it, I want more. It ia great science fiction thriller, but it is also something of a horror movie. When the young men start to embrace the darker aspects of what their powers can do, it is mesmerizing. It is also very scary, because for all that is cool about Chronicle, the film is also about the predatory side in each person.

7 of 10
A-

Saturday, June 16, 2012

Emma Stone Gets an A for "Easy A"

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 106 (of 2010) by Leroy Douresseaux

Easy A (2010)
Running time: 92 minutes (1 hour, 32 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for mature thematic elements involving teen sexuality, language and some drug material
DIRECTOR: Will Gluck
WRITER: Bert V. Royal
PRODUCERS: Zanne Devine and Will Gluck
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Michael Grady
EDITOR: Susan Littenberg
Golden Globe nominee

COMEDY

Starring: Emma Stone, Amanda Bynes, Aly Michalka, Penn Badgley, Stanley Tucci, Patricia Clarkson, Bryce Clyde Jenkins, Thomas Haden Church, Lisa Kudrow, Dan Byrd, Cam Gigandet, Fred Armisen, and Malcolm McDowell

The recent teen comedy, Easy A, takes as its inspiration the classic American novel, The Scarlet Letter (1850), written by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Easy A focuses on a clean-cut high school student who uses rumor and innuendo to improve her social status at school.

At Ojai North High School, no one really notices Olive Penderghast (Emma Stone), except her bitchy best friend, Rhiannon Abernathy (Aly Michalka). It is to Rhiannon that Olive lies about losing her virginity to a college student, and, in what seems like an instant, that little white lie is all over campus. This causes Olive to run afoul of the campus Christian crusader, Marianne Bryant (Amanda Bynes). Olive compounds that first lie by helping Brandon (Dan Byrd), her gay friend who is being bullied, stage an act to trick their fellow students into believing that Dan is now straight. Soon, however, Olive learns that being the talk of the school isn’t necessarily a good thing – especially when the talk is that you are easy and a whore.

Although it belongs to the well-worn teen comedy genre, Easy A is fresh and spry. Much of the credit for that should go to the film’s star, Emma Stone, who comes across as being much more mature than her age (22) would suggest. This film’s plot, pacing, and philosophy flow through her, and Stone handles it with ease, talent, and uncommon professionalism for an actress her age.

The other thing that makes Easy A seem different is that it is real or tells its tale by dealing with issues and situations confronted by real teenagers. Director Will Gluck and screenwriter Bert V. Royal are able to mine so much excellent comedy, humor, and satire from that realism. Easy A rips people apart for being so hypocritical and judgmental. It derives humor not only from that, but also from the fact that people are often critical of others to cover for something about themselves they don’t like.

The film understands that the complicated, rough and tumble politics of high school are a microcosm of what happens in the larger world. We all want to be accepted and loved, and yes, we will use other people and tell lies to get our way.

Easy A is brutally honest and funny. Sometimes, it isn’t as clever as the filmmakers think it is, which makes the film awkward, especially in the last act. Still, I give this movie credit for being a teen film that tackles the high school rumor mill and social ladder with such sparkling wit and lack of political correctness. Easy A envisions teen angst and the high school drama from a different angle, and the reward for watching it is a memorably good time at the movies.

7 of 10
B+

Tuesday, December 28, 2010

NOTES:
2011 Golden Globes: 1 nomination: “Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy” (Emma Stone)

Review: "She's the Man" Only Thinks its Clever

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 197 (of 2006) by Leroy Douresseaux

She’s the Man (2006)
Running time: 106 minutes (1 hour, 46 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for some sexual material
DIRECTOR: Andy Fickman
WRITERS: Karen McCullahand Kirsten Smith and Ewan Leslie; from a story by Ewan Leslie (Inspired by Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare)
PRODUCERS: Ewan Leslie, Jack Leslie, and Lauren Shuler Donner
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Greg Gardiner
EDITOR: Michael Jablow

COMEDY/ROMANCE/SPORT

Starring: Amanda Bynes, Channing Tatum, Laura Ramsey, Vinnie Jones, David Grass, Julie Haggerty, Robert Hoffman, Jonathan Sadowski, Alex Breckenridge, Amanda Crew, Jessica Lucas, James Kirk

When her school discontinues the girl’s soccer team, Viola Johnson (Amanda Bynes) is determined to prove that she can make it on a boy’s team, especially after her boyfriend, soccer stud Justin (Robert Hoffman), mocks her. When her twin brother Sebastian (James Kirk) skips town to play with his band in London, Viola disguises herself as Sebastian and heads to his boarding school, Illyria Prep. There, Viola hopes that she can make the boy’s soccer team if her disguise convinces everyone at Illyria that she is indeed Sebastian. The Illyria boy’s soccer team is set to play her real school, Cornwall, in two weeks, and Viola would love to beat them and reveal to Justin that he lost to a team with a female player.

There are, however, complications galore. Viola falls in love with her handsome roommate, Duke Orsino (Channing Tatum), the captain of the Illyria team, and Duke certainly believes Sebastian is who he says he is because Duke doesn’t see through Viola in drag. Channing, however, is in love with Olivia (Laura Ramsey), but Olivia is in love with Sebastian who is really Viola in drag. As the day of the big game between Illyria and Cornwall approaches, the real Sebastian returns to school, and Viola in drag starts finding life a drag.

A work that is inspired by William Shakespeare can be anything from an adaptation that is derivative to a work that merely borrows a few ideas. It’s been so long since I’ve read Twelfth Night, but I remember enough to recognize what the 2006 high school romantic comedy, She’s the Man borrows. Shakespeare aside, She’s the Man is a slightly above average youth comedy. It has its moments – most of them derived from the lies and confusion brought about by mistaken identity and impersonation. There are some decent, if not good characters. It’s not that this film is not well directed so much as it is badly written. The writers may have borrowed from Shakespeare, but there’s not enough left of the Bard to make this a winning script. The narrative is too long, and the writers prop it on mishaps and identity-based gags rather than on good characters.

Since her days of romping on Nickelodeon, I’ve thought Amanda Bynes had the making of a fine comic actress. She is growing into one, and she takes this flimsy material and makes it worthy, though flawed. Channing Tatum (as Duke) is not a good actor, but he’s handsome and the camera mugs on him the way it does another acting challenged, but great movie star, Keanu Reeves. Tatum does his best to mimic the posturing, posing, and attitude of a modern young, urban black teen. There’s enough kink in his hair and enough tinge in his complexion to almost convince that he has… soul?

5 of 10
C+

Friday, September 15, 2006

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Review: "Saved!" is Heavenly

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 202 (of 2004) by Leroy Douresseaux

Saved! (2004)
Running time: 92 minutes (1 hour, 32 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for strong thematic issues involving teens – sexual content, pregnancy, smoking, and language
DIRECTOR: Brian Dannelly
WRITERS: Michael Urban and Brian Dannelly
PRODUCERS: Michael Ohoven, Sandy Stern, Michael Stipe, and William Vince
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Bobby Buckowski
EDITOR: Pamela Martin

COMEDY/DRAMA

Starring: Jena Malone, Mandy Moore, Macaulay Culkin, Patrick Fugit, Heather Matarazzo, Eva Amurri, Chad Faust, Elizabeth Thai, Martin Donovan, and Mary-Louise Parker

Mary (Jena Malone) is a devout senior at American Eagle Christian High School who believes that Jesus protects her and guides her every action. She’s also part of a group of devout, young women who lead kind of a campus crusade discouraging other students from backsliding (sinning and going away from their Christian faith), and Jean really follows of the example of group leader Hilary Faye (Mandy Moore), a perky, holier-than-thou, and sanctimonious campus crusader.

The shit hits the fan when Mary discovers that her boyfriend, Dean (Chad Faust), is gay. She prays deeply and comes to believe that Jesus want her to sacrifice her virginity to have sex with Dean to cure him of his homosexuality. Not only does she not cure him, she ends up pregnant. When she learns of her condition and that God won’t restore her…cherry…or wholeness, she begins to look at her peers and faith in an entirely different light. She leaves Hilary and her holy girls and strikes up a friendship with Hilary’s wheelchair-bound brother, Roland (Macaulay Culkin), and the school’s lone Jewish student, a rebellious girl named Cassandra (Eva Amurri). She also falls for Patrick (Patrick Fugit), the son of the self-righteous school principal Pastor Skip (Martin Donovan).

Co-produced by R.E.M. lead singer Michael Stipe, director/co-writer Brian Dannelly’s Saved! is a dark coming of age story, and Dannelly came to bust up on the white American Christian subculture. The film isn’t mean-spirited; actually, Saved! has a far more generous Christian tone than many Christian media personalities and a certain “passionate” film. The satire is sharp, but it’s aimed at a message of tolerance and forgiveness. Saved! doesn’t “poo-poo” sin; it simply asks that people be more mature about how they regard sin. It’s as if Dannelly and co-screenwriter Michael Urban are encourage self-examination, forgiveness, and self-awareness of what Jesus’ message really means to people. They aim the satire and poke fun at intolerance, self-righteousness, and those who see the splinter in the eye of another, but not the logs in their own eyes.

The acting really sells the movie. Mandy Moore surprised me by how energetically she embraced her role. She makes Hilary Faye villainous rather than a villain, so that Hilary can get the same chance at redemption that she denies others. Of course, there’s the added delight of seeing Macaulay Culkin, who is a good (but not a stand out) actor, and who has the kind of screen chemistry that makes him a star. Truthfully, every scene in which he appears, the camera seems to center on him. His pull is like the tug of a cinematic dwarf star.

I only had issues with the somewhat puff piece ending, and how Saved! softly served the way fanatics under duress tend to act, but the film made its point. And no satire of Christians was ever so…Christian.

9 of 10
A+

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