Never on Tuesday

Great cast - Claudia Christian at her sexiest, Peter Berg at his dumbest and Andrew Lauer at his most endearing. A handful of surprise guest stars add to the fun. The desert location is fine and the soundtrack cleverly intertwined with the action. A must see..

'Never on Tuesday' is an obviously low budget comedy/drama, but one that is done very simply and very well. Fans of obscure 80s comedies/dramas really ought to try this one if you. The theme is comparable to the Breakfast Club, the simplicity comparable to A Trip to Bountiful.

Here, two guys from Ohio, Eddie (Peter Berg in his feature film debut) and Matt, take a road trip to California. Initially shallow characters (these movies are always about character/personality dynamics), Eddie promises Matt that the West Coast is the land of milk and honeys, meaning they are naively expecting to fulfill their fantasies of easy bleach blonde beach bunnies. And then along came Tuesday...

That is, a beautiful young photographer who haphazardly becomes stranded in the desert when she becomes involved in a car wreck with Eddie and Matt. Tuesday is a fairly head-strong, no-nonsense woman. And, much to both Eddie and Matt's surprise, she is a lesbian (they're surprised because, at least according to Eddie, gorgeous women are not supposed to be lesbians). While they wait for days on in for some sensible help to arrive (witness the slew of cameos by familiar faces who play the strangest characters passing through here and there), they are forced to entertain each others company. And they're an unlikely mix of characters--Matt is often shy, Eddie, perhaps the most difficult to get used to is both exceedingly arrogant and shy and has pretty much one thing on his mind (sex...including sex with Tuesday, although he is not a terribly vile character), and Tuesday is pretty easy-going and down-to-earth. Like the characters of The Breakfast Club, their time together ebbs and flows in personal understandings. Sometimes they get along, sometimes not so much. But sure enough, there is a strong friendship brewing there and the characters gradually change.

As said before, it is quite a well done, simple little film that fans of obscure 80s fans are sure to enjoy (and the 80s are here aplenty in form and fashion). I was a little annoyed with Andrew Lauer's character only because the filmmakers might've gone too far with trying to establish him as the geek (and doing so in exceedingly stereotypical form). But overall, it is quite a pleasant film and the cast does a fine job.

The film was pretty good. It is nowhere near the potential the Adam Rifkin shows in his later works for instance Detroit rock city. Which was one of my favorite movies of all time. But this is One of Rifkin's first movies and he didn't really have much time to grow as a director or writer yet so all in all it was a funny and good film.

This movie doesn't feature many Rifkin signatures - you won't see many of the classic shots so prominent in "Invisible Maniac" or "Detroit Rock City", but there are a couple 'fantasy" sequences that are definite Rifkin shots.

Beyond the Adam Rifkin appeal, the movie wasn't that bad. In fact, the main detraction is the cameos. There are three main ones and they are so obviously written in just to have a cameo that it ruins the flow of the movie. Charlie Sheen's is great, Nicolas Cage's is OK (although his appearance is worth the price of the movie).

The whole feel of the movie has that 80's sexuality to it - the would-be sexual adventurers discovering the true meaning of relationships.

It looks good (considering there's only one location in the whole film) and the soundtrack is not bad. It's an enjoyable bit of 80's cinema that's great for watching while you dust your room or something.

And it's a must for the Rifkin fan!

My review was written in July 1989 after watching the film on Paramount video cassette.

The talent and beauty of Claudia Christian is showcased in "Never on Tuesday", an unreleased 1987 vanity production that should give Paramount Home Video sleeper possibilities due to the presence of several big-name guest stars.

As in his more recent pic, "Tale of Two Sisters", also toplining Christian, filmmaker Adam Rifkin shows great potential in his handling of varied film techniques. Unfortunately, his experimental approach has no extant audience; he might have done better to start with conventional features before plunging into uncharted waters.

Here he sets himself the insurmountable goal of making a static road movie. Andrew Lauer and Pete Berg are two Ohio youths driving to California to meet those fabled west coast beauties. Pic is barely underway when they recklessly crash into Christian's Volkswagen, stranding the three of them in the middle of nowhere.

Passersby refuse to give the hapless trio a lift and Christian announces in the second reel: "I'm a lesbian", thwarting the lecherous intent of our heroes. Rifkin manages to create some variety (and wish-fulfillment sexiness) with frequent fantasy sequences, but it is the periodic visits of quirky, uncredited cameo performers that keep the film going.

Standup comic Gilbert Gottfried pops up with his usual shouting routine to sell the folks something, but won't give them a ride. Charlie Sheen has the best guest spot as a violent ex-con who robs the trio at knifepoint -he plays it for real. Brother Emilio Estevez makes a brief appearance and his "Breakfast Club" co-star Judd Nelson is too hammy as a mustachioed cop to get any laughs.

Golden oldies on the soundtrack make the film easy to take, but Rifkin's bittersweet ending is unsatisfying.