Troop Beverly Hills

Troop Beverly Hills
March 24, 1989
Fries Entertainment
Comedy
VHS
C+

While there are things to like about this movie-- Betty Thomas's performance as the villainess, the redheaded-in-this Shelley Long's wardrobe, and the Beach Boys song "Make It Big," which plays over the opening and closing credits-- I must admit I find it a bit toothless and forgettable.  One big flaw is that while Long's character and the pack of not-Girl-Scouts are likable enough, I didn't find myself at all drawn in by their problems, because everything is so cliched and formulaic.  (Even Long's character's estrangement from Craig T. Nelson is blah.)  Mary Gross is the most conflicted character, as a nice person caught up Thomas's schemes, but her problem is also easily resolved.  The other major flaw is that there are a whole bunch of cameos and it's on a sub-Scooby-Doo level, e.g. "Look, it's Pia Zadora," and then she's given little to do, unlike in Hairspray.  (The one exception is Ted McGinley, who boasts-- boasts!-- about being Ace the photographer on The Love Boat, as if he knows that someday they'll name a "Jump the Shark" webpage after him.)

The script was written by two female Saturday Night Live writers from the first half of the '80s, so it's not unreasonable to expect a sharper satire.  Even the jokes about the Marcos-like dictator couple are pretty bland.  Not only Clueless, but this movie's peer Earth Girls Are Easy would more intelligently and more amusingly mock the Southern Californian lifestyle.

Mary Gregory, who plays the judge, was Dr. Melik in Sleeper.  Willie Garson, who plays Bruce, would be Phil's Assistant Kenny in Groundhog Day.  Betty Thomas and Shelley Long must've gotten along a lot better than their characters did, since Thomas would direct Long in the first big-screen Brady Bunch movie.

The battle for Mary Gross's soul begins!

Hairspray

Hairspray
February 26, 1988
New Line Cinema
Comedy, Musical, Historical
VHS
B+

This remains a lot of fun, so much fun that I've resisted seeing the musical remake, onstage or screen.  Although this may not be a musical per se, the music is an integral part of the story, and there are some wonderful oldies and oddities.  The dancing is a joy to watch, especially when Rikki Lake (as heroine Tracy Turnblad) struts her stuff.  The dialogue, particularly anything Divine says, is endlessly quotable.  The movie is well cast, nowhere more so in the stunt casting.  (Divine is married to Jerry Stiller here, while other couples include Deborah Harry & Sonny Bono and Pia Zadora & Ric Ocasek.)  I also enjoy Leslie Ann Powers as Tracy's loyal best friend Penny and Michael St. Gerard as her sexy but sensitive boyfriend Link.

John Waters, in his first PG movie, manages to send up a lot of genres at once, while at the same time paying loving tribute to his hometown of Baltimore, and making some half-serious points about society.  The pacing and energy do fall off in the last half hour.  I understand the inclusion of the governor, but this part of the story seems to have needed editing and tightening, as does much else around then.  Still, there's so much to enjoy overall that the movie is easily in my Top Five for the '80s.

Note: one of my later movie crushes, Josh Charles (then 16) makes his debut here, as Iggy.