Beach Balls

Beach Balls concerns a young man who wants to become a rock star and his adventures in this poor comedy. typical late 80s fare with some poor rock video/band performances, bad acting, production values, script,..you get the idea..even the cute girls can't save this dog..on a scale of one to ten..1

1st of all this could very well be an undiscovered gem of 80's B movie comedies.

Now don't think your getting the best movie ever made, the actors are headed by the guy that played Chaka in Land of the Lost (no kidding really), but don't let that fool you this movie is actually pretty funny, despite the other reviews here (which I respect, but disagree with).

I don't know, but what can I say, sit back don't over analyze it, and give it a chance it's better than you might think.

Plus what can I say Leslie Danon is pretty hot.

My review was written in October 1988 after watching the film on Media Home Entertainment video cassette.

"Beach Balls", previously titled "Summertime Fun", is a routine teen comedy briefly released last May, and currently in home video distribution.

Familiar format deals with young unrequited romances, intertwined as follows: hero Charlie (Phillip Paley) has the hots for beautiful beach girl Wendy (Heidi Helmer), while Charlie's older sister Kathleen (Leslie Danon) dreams only about lifeguard Doug (Tod Bryant), who just happens to be Wendy's protective brother.

Proper pairings take nearly the whole film to accomplish, while Douglas R. Starr sings some okay rock numbers and an unfunny Erich von Zipper gang of hooligans led by Charles Gilleran make trouble. Genre hasn't progressed much in over two decades with its stereotype depictions of parents.

Director Joe Ritter doesn't get many laughs from these teen antic and the sexual sequence of whether beautiful but timid Danon will get it on with Bryant is dragged out in very corny fashion. WIndup is in the very dated "my life was saved by rock 'n' roll" vein.

Charlie Harrison dreams of being a rock star and, with the help of friends and a gang of local toughs, he arranges a concert in his house for a big time record producer, or at least that is what Charlie thought he was arranging.

By any objective measure, this film should be no more than a 4 or 5 out of 10. But I am by no means required to be objective, and for that reason have given this film a very rare high rating. Why? Because it was mindlessly fun, yet still brilliantly scripted. This is the sort of film that could be enjoyed again and again because it is just so cleverly senseless.

I would love to see a blu-ray company like Arrow Video pick this up. The DVD is full-screen and not terribly clean (maybe a VHS transfer?). Does this film deserve a major upgrade? I think so.

For the first few moments, as the characters were introduced, "Beach Balls" looked like it was going to be a cut above the typical '80s boob comedy. The characters seemed a little more relatable and human, and the movie had a likeable protagonist. There was also a more interesting dynamic than the usual nerd-vs-jock thing, in that there was a lifeguard after a girl whose main problem is not that he's a jerk, but that he is uptight and takes his job really seriously.

But then, disaster struck. The movie went nowhere and did nothing with any of these characters or situations. It features two musical numbers, as awful as you know to expect, and a boring party sequence at the end, and not much else. It becomes dreadfully boring, and pointless. I couldn't wait for it to end.

Oh, and it has barely any nudity, surprisingly. I only noticed one, dimly lit topless scene.