Making the Grade

A rich preppie hires a street wise loner to pose as him at an elite prep school. Judd Nielson is good in a hand tailored role and the film is better done than most 80's teen comedies. The score is good. It is overlong, however. Rating: 7.5 out of 10.

The end credits announced a sequel, but none has been made to date. Also the film is rated PG, according to its box, but should have been R-rated.

Andrew "Dice" Clay plays "Dice". I'm used to the movie box cover where the guy is sitting on the hood of a Porsche. This is a story of a "my parents are rich, and so am I" kid, who tires of attending Prep School, so he hires Judd Nelson's character to play him while he vacations/travels around. -He gets tired of travel, so he returns.., -I'm not at liberty to say anymore, so you'll have to watch the movie to see what happens! It is a decent movie; kind of "B-movieish", but well worth the watch if you get the chance. (Please, if you see this video in the rental store, rent it! You won't be sorry, I promise you.) Gordon Jump (WKRP's Arthur 'Big Guy' Carlson) plays the Dean. Not a big role in the film, but a part he played well. Good story; Funny movie, and I recommend it highly.

Back in the mid-eighties the movie industry churned out teen comedies trying to capture some of the spark and success of Caddyshack and Animal House. Mostly, they failed. Class, Private School, all of the Revenge of the Nerd flicks, and even the high brow attempts like the John Hughes films, all ended up formulaic, inane, poorly plotted, and silly. Perhaps the only exception is Risky Business which rises above the genre. "Making the Grade", however, is not an exception. It has all the same problems as "Breakfast Club" or "Better Off Dead" or "Sixteen Candles". But if you're in the mood for this kind of movie, I'd pick this one up rather than any of the others. It captures some of the attitudes and styles of the time quite nicely, like when the preppy nerd is trying to teach urban kid Judd Nelson how to dress for prep school. And Dana Olsen is absolutely hysterical, easily stealing the movie, as the obnoxious rich kid hiring Nelson to complete school for him. The movie has some genuinely funny scenes mixed in with the snobs versus slobs formula. Don't expect much, but low expectations are the key to a good time with a movie like this.

In the few scenes he's in, it's the Diceman who adds the only flavor to this amateurish attempt at a teenage sex comedy. Lifeless screenplay and dull cast drive this right into the ground.

If any of you remember John Bender from The Breakfast Club, then Eddie Keaton of Making the Grade will seem familiar. They are similar, except that John Bender has more depth. Making the Grade is a silly, sometimes funny, parody of the "Preppy" Lifestyle. It makes fun of everything from wearing no socks, to the bright, peppy colors. It's an all around funny movie. This is Judd's first movie, and I recommend it to all of you who enjoy his work. For those of you who don't, I suggest you watch it anyway, and make an opinion for yourself...! *+*Anna*+*