Runtime:
93 minutes
Directed
by: Richard T. Heffron
Starring:
William Shatner, Susan Blakely, Brock Peters, Erika Eleniak
From:
MGM/UA Television
Here
is something highly unusual for me, a TV movie. I had heard about it
from a messageboard last year and it sounded hilariously bad, and it
is on Netflix Instant. Well, it is one of many movies that will be
expiring from Instant on the 1st of May so I figured I
better watch this now. It aired originally on ABC way back in 1988.
I'll
come up with my own plot description: Chuck Coburn (The Shat) and his
wife Catherine (Blakely) are suburban parents who live outside of Los
Angeles and they have what looks like a normal average family,
including a high school aged daughter Jaime (Eleniak, who back then
needed to have her eyebrows waxed real bad... unfortunately I presume
the trend wasn't around in the late 80's) and a 13 year old son.
Jaime goes to prom, where a drive-by happens (!) with a pistol (!!)
and Jaime goes missing. Turns out, via some hilarious and
unbelievable revelations, the kids aren't who mom and dad think they
are; Chuck has to try and deal with various members of law enforcement
as they try to locate where Jaime is.
The
overall message of the movie, that parents should listen to their
children and talk to them about their problems, is a good one, sure.
However, it goes over the top and ridiculous in trying to tell the
parents to be on the lookout for gangs. For example, apparently some
of them are Satanic. Or that there are gangs filled with rich kids
who drive around in BMW's. Really. You also find out that Jaime
smokes pot and hangs out with a member of a gang. That's early on.
Later you find out more about her, and it's so goofy it is funny. The
son also has problems of his own, like him feeling his parents don't
listen to him... and also being worried about nuclear war. Seriously.
But
the highlight is when Chuck (who wears hilarious clothing throughout,
from goofy suits to sweaters, a jean jacket with a hoodie attached to
a glorious UCLA Bruins letterman's jacket) ends up stumbling into a
gang hideout and he doesn't get gunned down but in fact escapes and
fights with Al Leong! Straining credibility there, I say. So is a
“gang brawl” that is G-rated. Oh, and you get to hear some punk
music too; to steal a quote, it sounds like the I Hate You song you
hear the punk blast on his jukebox before he gets Vulcan Neck Pinched
by Spock in Star Trek IV.
So
yeah, in 2013 this is great as entertainment, even if at the time the
filmmakers were serious in talking about gang violence and the threat
it is to teenagers who feel alone and disconnected from their
parents. A nice messageboard find, for sure. I'll be back Saturday afternoon.
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