La fièvre du printemps

Charming Ft. Lauderdale spring break film from 1983. Would this movie ever win any awards for cinematic excellence? Not a chance. But then it never tries to be anything other than what it is; mindless spring break fun circa-1983, but with a difference. The movie has heart, treating its likable leads in a positive way rather than depicting them as the stupid, sex-crazed, goofs that most films of the time seem to prefer. In short, there are a LOT less worthwhile ways to spend 101 minutes.

Although this was my era, I never experienced spring break while in college myself (much to my ever-lasting dismay). But movies like this allow those of us spring break wannabe's who missed out, a way to share in the fun.

DON'T bother watching if you are looking for a deep, filmatic experience. Instead, simply celebrate the era and enjoy the good "clean" fun that was Florida's spring break, before 'girls gone wild'!

This is a wonderful film that captures so much of the early 1980's feeling at spring break, before the commercial exploitation and the cheap video cam made it a display. It is a warm film despite its attempts at gross comedy. My favorite line is OT upon reaching the motel, handed a beer he drains the entire quart and says "beer is like...f**king great". That captures the spirit of the movie. There is also a tender love story and a silly sideline about evil politicians. The love interest in the movie is one of the hottest women ever to grace the screen, and all of the characters of wonderfully funny and memorable. Ish (EESH) the bellboy at the motel,grabs a strip of satin hanging from a wall painting and shakes it "Sanitized for your protection", then says "You want anything you see eesh, you need anything you come to eesh, you get in troubles ... they work themselves out." I love this movie, as you can tell. It was what we at the time wanted spring break to be.

I LOVED this film! It is such a reminder of the great teenage sex films of the 80's. HBO used to show this almost 24/7 and I still watch it everytime I can. Most people probably dismissed this film as being nothing more than another 80's "teenage coming of age" movie, but it really is more! Look at MTV's Spring Break yearly specials and "reality" shows. You'll see how much things REALLY have NOT changed. It should be noted that Steve Bassett who was an actor in this film went on to become one of the most loved actors in the daytime drama "As The World Turns" in the role of "Seth Snider" for many years. If you catch this film, watch it an relive the 80's fun all over again! And by no means, Don't Burn It!

This movie is simple, mindless entertainment. Expecting it to be anything else is ludicrous. Not every movie has to have a deep, heartfelt meaning nor does every movie have to change the world. You watch this movie to relive your adolescent fantasies of what spring break was going to be like, or to relive your memories of what it really was.

"Nelson" (David Knell) is a rich college kid whose dictatorial stepfather, "Ernest Dalby" (Donald Symington) just happens to be running for the U.S. Senate. But rather than staying around and work on his stepfather's campaign he decides to follow his best-friend's advice and go to Ft. Lauderdale for spring break. Unfortunately, when they get to their hotel they discover that there has been an error with their reservation and find that two other young men named "Stu" (Paul Land) and "O.T." (Steve Bassett) have also been given the same hotel room. Fortunately, they soon begin to realize just how sheltered they have been which causes both Nelson and his best-friend "Adam" (Perry Lang) to not only decide to allow them to stay in their room but to also join them in their quest to seek out the opposite sex and party. What none of them realize is just how infuriated Nelson's stepfather has become when he finds out that Nelson is in Ft. Lauderdale having a good time. Because of that he has hires a shady real estate agent to find Nelson and also sends two of his own goons to bring him back. Now rather than reveal any more of this movie I will just say that this was one of many "beach movies" which sprang up in the late 70's and continued throughout the 80's. Typically, these films differed from those in the 60's due to their more explicit and crude nature. That's not a criticism necessarily but rather a simple observation. As far as this specific movie is concerned, it had its share of topless women but nothing really out of the ordinary for this particular sub-genre. The big problem with this movie was that it was just plain dull. The plot was too basic and the humor wasn't very good either. Likewise, other than Corinne Alphen (as "Joan") none of the actors really stood out one way or the other. That said, I have rated the movie accordingly. Below average.