Oxford Blues

During his career Rob Lowe has been compared as the Brat Pack throwback to some of the matinée idols of the Studio era. That comparison was sealed when he did Oxford Blues a more suggestive remake of the MGM classic A Yank At Oxford which did so well for Robert Taylor back in the day.

The same basic plot is retained for Oxford Blues from the original film. Rob with a little help from computer hacker brother Chad in an unbilled part, gets himself a transfer from the University of Nevada to matriculate. Funds for the trip and the tuition is won at the Las Vegas crap tables. And Rob even gets a Ferrari, courtesy of divorcée Gail Strickland, most satisfied with the extras that Rob provides for her when he's not parking cars. Stuff back in the day MGM would not show with Robert Taylor.

If you thought Taylor was a fish out of water at Oxford back in the Thirties, he's nothing compared to Lowe here. Oxford is a place steeped in tradition and Lowe's casual attitude really irks a lot of people from head man Michael Gough on down.

Worse than that he's got a casual attitude towards his sport of rowing. There even in their suits and gowns, the rowers are the jocks that rule in that place.

Though there are certain things that don't change. When Lowe is challenged to a 'sconcing' contest, he knows what chugfest is all about.

Like in the original Rob's caught between two women, matriculating student Ally Sheedy, fellow brat packer from America and Lady Amanda Pays who's well known nobility who occasionally winds up on the gossip pages. She's got a fiancé in the person of Julian Sands, but that doesn't deter Lowe one bit.

Another good role in Oxford Blues is that of Julian Firth who plays Lowe's roommate and a person who is in some wonder of Lowe's casual American ways. Farther down the cast list in a minor part as another Oxford student is Cary Elwes who would be a movie name in a couple of years.

Like the previous film when MGM filmed A Yank At Oxford on location there, Oxford Blues is also filmed at Oxford and I must say the place doesn't look like it changed much in almost fifty years. Then again a place steeped in tradition like Oxford isn't expected to change. Not even for Rob Lowe.

As for Rob himself, he carries off the part of Nick DeAngelo in the best hero/heel tradition of that other matinée idol of yore, Tyrone Power.

What most impresses me about this movie and a few others from the 80's

like Breakfast Club and St. Elmo's Fire is how they lack all the brash,

rude and obnoxiousness found in movies today! The young generation of

that time ( and every young person has thier time) didn't fill the

screen with crude language and remarks degrading to each other. In this

movie they still had enough good sense to not curse like uneducated

heathens! Seems like all the movies today just seem to fill the screen with one

F**k and a$$hole and sheeet and every other imaginable word you could

use just to see how many they can say in 90 minutes! It surely is a time gone by and perhaps we do live in a world that is

more realistic and streetwise, but it sure isn't going to make the world

a better place throwing obsceneties it in our face all the time! Oxford Blues was refreshing because it had some class even though it was

a simple plot and a simple movie. And Rob Lowe was one heck of a goodlooking

Before seeing it, you might paint this movie off as another sex comedy or typical Rob Lowe comedy. I first saw this film in early 2012, 26 years after it's release, and honestly, I could of kicked myself for not seeing it sooner. This movie is more than what you expect, as you think it's just gonna be another comedy, where Rob Lowe is just gonna take the mickey out of this fraternity, what have you but boy, I was blindsided. Lowe plays a sexy selfish hustler, Nick D' Angelo, who cons his way into Oxford, as falling head over heels, with the beautiful Pays, who has proved herself to be a really good actress. Her character, Lady Victoria, is to wed, fine upstanding scholar (Julian Sands) who of course, envious Lowe rages war with. He makes friends with a young nerdy student, a familiar Scum face from years back, and another American girl, Sheedy, who of course, falls for the rejecting Lowe. Lowe is fun to watch, where it's his character which sells the movie, as he really learn's life's hard lessons, that it's give and take, and by the end, becomes a much better person. Why it's not Lowe's best performance, where some will find him inadequate, he does give the character enough clout and pep, and does make us acknowledge, deep down, he's not a happy and fulfilled guy, and Pays is the answer to his problems, his void. With Sheedy's character, I thought she was quite good, but where she fitted into the film, seemed as just some actress that was tagging or wasn't utilized properly in this. Better performances came from Bruce Payne who invites Nick, a fantastic rower onto the rowing team, after an impressive and ballsy move, where too Cary Elwes was hardly recognizable, and using an English accent, I could not believe this very versatile actor was him, as he plays a nasty pasty, and not one of Lowe's favorite admirers. Michael Gough, and Alan Howard (The Cook, The Thief) and some more of the faculty players, give the best performances, the late Gough, a splendid English actor, of course shining, while Howard was really good too. Peter "May'be you prefer a Black Russian?" Jason, with a meagre, if almost non existent part, at the start, as Lowe's father, was very memorable. I cannot believe this has a 5.2 rating. I've seen the movie a couple of times, and I love it, every time, I see it. It's more than just a Brat Pack, teen, "get your pants off" comedy, and this film may very well surprise you. It deserves higher praise, and warrants definite viewing. Go Oxford.

Nick De Angelo (Rob Lowe) is a self-possessed valet in Las Vegas. With the help of an older woman and a lucky night in the casino, he gets enough money to chase after Lady Victoria Wingate (Amanda Pays) in Oxford. He gets accepted at Oriel College but Victoria is already involved with rower Colin Gilchrist Fisher (Julian Sands). The rowers are at the top of the social hierarchy. The brash Nick steals a boat and leaps into a race coming in second to Colin. Nick joins a team coxed by Jersey girl Rona (Ally Sheedy).

Brash Nick is fun and compelling. However, he goes overboard at times like when he first meets Rona. She doesn't deserve it and it makes him look like a bully. I love Rob Lowe but Nick can be off-putting at times. Some of the British villains are too cartoonish. The worst part is that Amanda Pays is too much of an ice queen. It's one of her early roles and she is terribly stiff. It would have been a better rom-com if Nick goes off with Rona instead. Rob Lowe has plenty of charisma but that isn't enough to save this.

Yes, I know this is not a fantastic movie. My 7 out of 10 is more nostalgic than actual story-driven.

Rob Lowe acts like a bull in a china shop at all times in this story. The entire movie he moves from con artist to rowing prodigy to sexual dynamo to demigod status -- all while carrying the "ugly American" thing quite too far. And I'm American. Embarrassing would be a better word I think. Kinda sets a negative tone that stays the entire movie. Yet... I was spellbound by this movie in the theater in 1984 (saw it twice actually) and am still in love. :-) I'm sure it is due to the gorgeous cinematography and stunning on-location sequences at Cambridge. The rest of the cast (with the exception of Ally Sheedy, whom I've never gotten the hang of despite people oohing and awing over her) is simply perfectly British upper-crust snootiness with the right amount of classy condescension toward that crazy Yank. The movie just feels so British lovely - with an uber-caveman running amok. I love it. I can't watch it enough actually. It's one of my top guilty pleasures actually.

Don't get me wrong. Rob Lowe isn't a complete waste. His swagger and brashness is somewhat necessary, but he just comes across as TOO cool and TOO narcissistic as he barrels toward the inevitable bedding of our fair maiden, played by the heavenly Amanda Pays. Lowe just runs over wonderful characters at every turn to get everything HE desires at the expense of anyone/any institution standing in his way. BUT... with that aside, the movie is really enjoyable. It's like enjoying the magical "Peggy Sue Got Married" despite the awful presence of Nick Cage. Sometimes you've got to look past one major issue to get to the soft, lovable, special movie lurking beneath the ego of the lead.

I love this movie. I'll always love this movie. Watch it if you love Great Britain. Watch it if you love Cambridge. Watch it if you enjoy rowing. Watch it if you were (are?) still in love with Amanda Pays. And watch it for the simple chance to see Rob Lowe do one of the funnier "switcheroo" wardrobe changes set to music in the mirror during the end credits. Classic cheese that I would recommend for anyone looking for silly '80s goofiness!