The Beach Girls

It's not exactly meant to be "Richard III". It's a 1980s sex comedy. It's upbeat, it's engaging, it's often funny, and the characters are actually likable. In fact, this is frequently wacky stuff, with lots of off the wall incidental gags thrown into the mix for good measure. It's pretty much impossible to dislike. Granted, the main characters are clearly older than they're meant to be (they're supposed to be teenagers), but that's not really a quibble.

Two carefree, boy crazy gal pals, Ginger (Val Kline), and Ducky (Jeana Keough) hook up with a more reserved, responsible friend, Sarah (Debra Blee), whose uncle Carl (Adam Roarke) has graciously allowed Sarah the use of his sumptuous beach house for the summer. The expected raunchy (actually, they're never really *that* raunchy) hijinks ensue.

As one can see, the movie, directed by Bud Townsend and written by Patrick Sheane Duncan, is not exactly strong on story, nor does it need to be. It does have its little subplots, such as an amusingly sleazy local drug runner, Captain Jack (Paul Richards) sometimes running afoul of the local Coast Guard captain (Herbie Braha, who throws in impressions of Humphrey Bogart), and the misadventures of Carls' horny gardener (Bert Rosario) as he attempts to get an eyeful of all of the shapely ladies who start to frequent the place. The main set piece of the movie is a wild party, but the finale provides some of the biggest laughs. Sarah goes through a personality shift, finally starting to blossom when it's suggested that she's too uptight, but this bit of business never gets melodramatic.

The acting is appealing all the way down the line, especially from Blee, who went on to appear in "Savage Streets". Viewers may recognize Keough from being a Playboy Playmate and a visual attraction in ZZ Top videos. James Daughton of "Animal House" plays a nice guy musician, Mary Jo Catlett ('Diff'rent Strokes') is a local busybody, and other familiar faces include Catherine Mary Stewart as a surfer girl, Tessa Richarde as Doreen, Corinne Bohrer as a partygoer, and George Cheung, one of the villains from "Rambo: First Blood Part II", as a chauffeur. As can be expected, a number of the ladies show us the goods, so there's no complaints in that department.

In short, this is very simple, irresistible lowbrow entertainment, and it's never mean spirited, which is a big part of its charm. Lovers of this kind of movie should find it quite agreeable.

Seven out of 10.

Essentially this is a remake by Crown International of their fairly successful 1978 comedy, Malibu Beach. It features the same scenario, a similar story line devoted to coming of age in a fairly pervasive drug culture, and similar comedy lines - right down to the dog that snatches bikini tops from beach babes sleeping on the sand. What do you expect from such a movie? It will not educate you, give you anything to think about, involve you in the lives of complex or interesting cast members, or even stimulate you in any way. It will however pass the short time spent quite pleasantly, particularly if you are watching it with friends or have a partner to share it with. If this is what you want, the film is competently made and deserves a fairly high rating, if you want more it is a disaster that you will inevitably class as a turkey.

I personally very much prefer it to its forerunner Malibu Beach largely I think because the characters, although transparently simple, are more real and less heavily less caricatured. If there is a message, it is that the world needs lots of readily available marihuana to put us all into a warm comfortable frame of mind in which many of the unpleasantnesses of life can be forgotten. This is a message of which I would strongly disapprove, and which would make it difficult for me to say kind words about any film. However I do not believe this film is intended to have any message at all. It simply aims to feature the lifestyle of young people who have grown up in a culture where marihuana use is widespread, without making any moral judgments. It is played purely as a farce, which gets very close to becoming pure slapstick but never quite crosses the line - again I think because the characters, whilst all overdrawn to varying extents, remain real recognisable people. I am not a lover of farce where characters tend to quickly become no more than cardboard cut-outs, but this is less of a problem here than with most farces.

I remember enjoying this film when I first saw it some 20 years ago (a time when my expectations from girlie movies were no doubt somewhat different). I recently saw the DVD release featuring it (as a double feature with "The Pom Pom Girls" - which is best quickly forgotten.), so I decided to re-view it and see how it (or I myself) had survived the years. My reaction after viewing it again was that I would love to meet one of the three main characters, who must now be middle aged matrons - probably with family responsibilities for teenagers of their own - and ask their recollections of participating in the making of this film. Movie making is never easy but I suspect that they would remember it as a real fun time which all the cast members enjoyed. The important point is that this fun not only comes out clearly in the film, but also makes it fun to watch. Within the constraints discussed above, I can only report that I enjoyed this film and rate it as worth about 3 stars out of five.

The acting in this beach romp feast is not to be compared with the likes of Citizen Kane, more likely to that of Hard Bodies 1&2. This movie would by most standards be regarded as a "B" movie, but even at that it is a easy viewing movie, there's no political messages, no stands for anything, just some parody, slap-stick and a little skin. If you feel this movie may not be mentally stimulating enough, sit back,relax and mellow out for a little laughs and silliness.

This prototypical 80's film was pretty fair, I guess. This one isn't about anything but having a good time and some fun. Unlike today's party movies, this one doesn't try to be anything more than that, nor does it rely on gross out humour. Fortunately, they have a pretty attractive cast here, including one woman who looks a lot like Katie Holmes. The one lady I could recognize here was Mary Jo Catlett, who played the third maid on "Diff'rent Strokes"; here she's your Conservative type who tries to blow the whistle on the house party. Not bad, I'd watch it again, although any movie that promotes marijuana use is questionable in my eyes.

this movie is great you will want to watch it over and over .

it got sex and a fun story line that you would want at your party. a great movie to have a fun night. the cast is great and you could not find a better party movie.