Runtime: 96 minutes
Directed by: Robert Butler
Starring: Tim Matheson, Jennifer Runyon, Stephen Furst, Dan Monahan, Sandy Helberg
From: Orion
Some people like this random 80's T&A comedy... including the person who asked me to buy the Kino Lorber Blu-ray for them. It's something they've always liked while the one time I saw it (back in the VHS days) my reaction was “meh”. I was able to watch the disc before they did, so as I really didn't recall just WHY I didn't like it-aside from not finding it all that enjoyable-this is what I did. Before I get started, it has to be noted that I've viewed some T&A comedies from after Animal House through the 80's... like everything else they were good, bad or indifferent. Revenge of the Nerds or Porky's is still funny to me despite how crass they can get and how some moments have aged poorly--life was just different back then.
Unfortunately, it not only was humorless except for sporadic laughs, lead character Tim Matheson was not a very likable lead... in fact, he was more like an asstagonist to borrow a phrase I haven't used in ages. For something featuring Otter and Flounder from Animal House, Pee Wee from Porky's and Betty from Revenge of the Nerds, at least I expected something more fun; instead, I don't give a damn about any of the main characters and the story is quite lame. John Hillerman shows up for one scene and explains that his school Lepetomane University (that reference to Le Petomane was funnier in Blazing Saddles) is the bottom of the barrel and as he wants the worst students to win the school something, so... he demands that they capture the crown at a collegiate whitewater rafting race. No, none of them appear to have any skill in this. Yeah, it's eye-rolling.
Plenty of dumb moments happen and while the preppy villains at least all look & act like D-bags (all of them might as well have been played by different versions of Billy Zabka) that was not enough when there are dire subplots such as the involvement of a military academy. It has a cute dog & a catchy soundtrack that somehow has a title song from Cheap Trick but when it was tame in terms of vulgarity to something like Revenge of the Nerds... I am surprised this even has its fans but if you are, at least the Blu looks pretty good.
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