Review of One Crazy Summer (1986) by Anna P — 26 Jun 2009

'One Crazy Summer' belongs to a really bizarre sub-genre of the 1980's American comedy: the thoroughly generic but somehow charming (at least in retrospect) summer romantic comedy. There really isn't anything special about the script, or the plot, which is contrived on all points.

All the comedy seems to rely heavily on the stereotyped characters that permeate almost all of those generi-comdies of the mid-'80's: the lovelorn and misunderstood artist (John Cusack); the Madonna-era female love interest (Demi Moore-- who apparently did her own "singing" according to the closing credits, and is pretty much as God awful as Justine Bateman in 'Satisfaction'), who despite being 80's-tough and independent, somehow still manages to become a damsel in distress over the course of these 90 minutes; the yuppie jerk who wants to ruin everything just because he's a jerk; and, of course, Bobcat Goldthwait doing whatever he did in all his movies.

It sounds like I'm complaning, but it's a testament to Cusack and company that the movie is as generically enjoyable as it is. As a side note, I'm sure the mixing of animation and live action at a couple of points in the film was considered cool and ahead of its time in 1986.

Still, the biggest thing thing a viewer can take away from this movie is a healthy dose remains nostalgia. My friend and I were geeking out at all the junk food product placement ("I remember those Doritios bags!", "LOOK! They had already come out with Coke Classic!").

So, if you have nothing better to do, watch this movie, because John Cusack in the '80's was about as cool as Michael J. Fox or Michael Jackson. However, if you can find 'Say Anything' or 'Better Off Dead' on cable, though, watch those instead.