Different Strokes

I don't know, for some reason this movie just really hit home for me. Maybe that's why I liked it so much, but I was also very impressed with the acting and the directing. It is only tragic that Dana Plato had to pass on before she could contiue in this marvelous genre. I would also have to say it is my favorite of Michael Paul Girard's films of the 1990's.

Softcore porn, although its prime directive is to titillate, must still maintain a dramatic or comedic framework with which to tie its love scenes together. Thinking its title belied a possible TV tie-in, combined with it's subtitle ("A Story of Jack and Jill...and Jill"), I was certain Different Strokes had to be a farce, or at least a comedy. Well its not. It's a drama, and a weak, rather mean-spirited one at that. The subtitle does describe the film's love interests, but there are no laughs, at least intentional. Be forewarned.

Poor Dana Plato. Such a hard life and ending to an otherwise potentially marketable actress. She had it all, fame, a hit TV show and a bright and bubbly personality that lit up the room when she walked in. The only thing missing was talent.

As Kimberly in Diff'rent Strokes, she was still young and let's face it, most child actors aren't very good. It takes a DiCaprio, a Gordon-Levitt or a Foster to show true greatness and become a truly exceptional actor. Dana Plato had none of this and it showed. She could have grown into the parts, gotten guest spots a plenty but she was stoned most of the time and was seen as a liability so the parts she did manage to land after Diff'rent Strokes were of the low budget and exploitive kind.

Enter Different Strokes. Dana plays Jill, a feminist and a lesbian who is helping out the chauvinistic Jack with one of his photo shoots. She comes to LA to help out and is smitten with Jack's long suffering girlfriend who is also named Jill. Well guess what happens next. A rather unbelievable situation where Jill seduces Jill and we're treated to some soft core porn. In fact, most of this movie is soft core porn with people making out, lots of bare breasts and that's about it.

This movie really is nothing more than an excuse to see the lovely Landon Hall and / or Dana Plato naked. The acting is sub-par, the dialogue deserve better treatment and the less said about the shoe horned in plot the better. This might have worked better as a play where the hammy acting and line delivery would have been a lot better received.

So don't kid yourself. The reasons to see this movie are to see the actresses naked and because of it's rather infamous leading lady.

You have been warned.

I happened to catch this on a premium channel a while back and I've got news for you: it makes Showgirls look like Casablanca or Gone With the Wind by comparison. I'm one who happens to believe that the merits of a film are to a degree relative; you don't judge Bikini Carwash by comparing it to, say, Schindler's List, as an example. But for the type of movie, compared to others in the same vein, it's lousy. I don't bore easily at all, but this one did that in spades. If you want something like this, look for Kira Reed in the cast and it's probably worth seeing. But this one reeks!

Awful, Awful, Awful!! That's what kept repeating over and over in my head as I watched this trash. Horrible camera shots, the music was boring, the plot gave me a "been there, done that" feel, as it wasn't original in the least, and the acting made me think they just picked people off of the sidewalk and asked if they wanted to be in a film. This movie's quality in acting, wardrobe, music, plot, and everything else gives the viewer the feeling of a low-budget porno. I give it a -1/10 for wasting an hour and a half of my time.