Welcome to 18

It has been a while since I've seen this movie, but once is certainly enough with this one.

'Welcome to 18' is about a group of girls who head out to a ranch for the summer where they find a bit of romance and also get themselves into a bit of trouble. The movie isn't really all that funny and is pretty stupid even by 80s teen movie standards. There isn't much that goes on in the story most of the time, and when something finally does happen (when there little misfortune arises), it is a little too late. Worst of all, despite the lack of any real plot, the characters are pretty annoying.

I'm not surprised you don't hear anything about this forgettable little movie anymore.

My review was written in November 1986 after a screening at Movies at Town Center in Boca Raton, Florida.

"Welcome to 18", originally titled "Summer Release", is a ho-hum approach to the usual teenage comedy-drama about youngsters (in this case 18-year-old girls) finding out about the cold, cruel world and adults who inhabit it. The format worked as drive-in fodder about 15 years ago, but this watered-down version lacks even titillation value.

An attractive cast is headed by striking blonde Courtney Thorne-Smith as Lindsey, who hops in her convertible with redhead pal Robin (Jo Ann Willette) and brunette Joey (Mariska Hargitay) to spend the post-high school graduation summer working at a dude ranch in Nevada.

Overly busy and unconvincing plotline has the trio splitting quickly from the ranch after they are cheated in the first payroll and forbidden to fraternize with the hunks there. They go to the mansion of a girl they've met, Talia (Cristen Kauffman) at Lake Tahoe where her young gangster-lover Roscoe (E Erich Anderson) gets the girls phony IDs and jobs working at a casino.

The girls end up at a rundown motel in the mountains where they make new friends including a goofy entomologist and a sympathetic transvestite neighbor. After a party involving prostitution and drugs, the three girls end up in jail and are bailed out for $5,000 by Roscoe, who steals Lindsey's car as collateral until he's repaid.

While trying to protect alia from this young brute, the girls devise a scheme in which Lindsey ends up winning about $15,000 in a poker game for local high rollers (it's never explained how Lindsey is so proficient at poker). After two of the girls succeed in having sex with their new boyfriends, a happy ending is contrived of them spiriting Talia away from Roscoe and all four heading for San Francisco befoe the fall college term begins.

Aided by an appealing se of players, picture tries to give young girls various lectures on the false lures of the fast life (living high, wild parties, gambling, prostitution, etc.) but sends out the same old messages of the genre, especially re: sex as fulfillment of the transition to womanhood.

Director Terry Carr displays the dreaded influence of music videos, with feature having more silent-plus-music montates than most films had even at the height of romantic filler interludes in the 1960s. Four lead actresses all deserve better vehicles in future.

I love this movie and have been trying to find it on DVD, but unfortunately I haven't found it. I thought it was a fun movie and the girls finding out what it's really like right out of high school. They do come in contact with some shady people, but manage to find some friends in the long run. Once they leave the dude ranch it's onto the cabin and a very crazy fun loving neighbor. There's a lot of fun and games in this movie and even more laughter when they get jobs at the casino. But, when Roscoe enters their life a lot of things go off track from their fun vacation. They figure out how to escape the clutches of Roscoe and save their new friend Talia.

The commentator that wrote this is not a good teen movie was right. This is a great teen movie. It does have a plot. A very good one. It is great because it is deep. It shows how the girls slowly get caught up in a world they've never known. As they are losing their innocence, they are gaining strength as young adults. They learn how to face their fears. They learn the real value of friendship. They learn that things are not always what they seem. The movie wasn't written as a comedy. So to say it isn't funny isn't really a valid critique. It has its funny moments, but it is a drama. If this movie were about a group of young men, would we be more accepting?

If you can find it, go rent it!

With all of the streaming services and DVD outlets, why is this movie not available? I have a theory Mariska Hargitay wields her great power to put the kibosh on any re-release of this movie. It's a great 80's teen movie. I watched it every time it was on tv in the 80's and 90's now suddenly it's nowhere to be found since SVU's been on tv the last two decades. Hmmmmm.