Où sont les mecs?

The real charm of these 80's beach movies like "Where the Boys Are '84" is that it brings back the memories of days long gone...especially for us 40-somethings! As for you movie critics that slam this is as a bad flick, get over it! I get as much of a laugh at watching these movies as I do reading the in-depth, serious critiques that condemn the acting and the plot. OK, so this is not academy award material. But so what? It was never meant to be. Its a lot of fun to watch these films and see how Spring Break was represented by these movies makers during the legendary Ft. Lauderdale Spring Break days. That glory will never be again. Today, Ft. Lauderdale has been taken over by convention centers and up-scale hotels. Boring! Almost all of the famous landmarks that made Spring Break in the 80's worth remembering are gone. "The Button", "The Candy Store", and "Cunningham's" to name a few, are all history. "Where The Boys Are '84" and "Spring Break" are the ultimate in nostalgia for anyone that has spent a drunken, crazy night down there during that one week in March when we all went nuts! This film (and "Spring Break") should be forever immortalized in DVD and put in the "80's Hall of Fame" as representative of an era that was a little more innocent (and a lot more brainless) than the sagging, HIV scared, terrorist terrorized, politically-too-correct life we live in now. I say its time for another re-make! "Where The Boy's Are '07" and "Spring Break...Again"! Long live "The Oberlin Student"! Wasn't he in both movies?

1960's "Where the Boys Are" repainted as a girls-on-the-make fracas during Spring break in Ft. Lauderdale. These four would-be beach bunnies--on loan from a ski college--don't have in-depth conversations (such as arguing if the term for a rest stop cause is "pee-pee", "tinkle", "leak" or "piss"), but the bright, attractive cast and lively music almost makes up for the noodle-headed writing and directing. No one is out to split the atom here; the slick, silly movie has been put together solely to get randy teenagers feeling even randier. Producer Allan Carr liked to say his film was inspired by the comedy-drama of 1960--there's even a credit "suggested by the novel by Glendon Swarthout"--although this one is not officially a remake; however, it was plugged heavily as "Where the Boys Are '84" (Wikipedia still calls it that). One surely misses Connie Francis' soaring version of the Neil Sedaka-Howard Greenfield-penned title tune over Lisa Hartman's here, but comparing the two movies is a useless argument--frankly, the first film wasn't exactly Shakespeare either. *1/2 from ****

I used to watch this movie on VHS at my friend's house after school, in the late eighties. I wish I could find the movie now because I'd definitely buy it. It's a crude beach flick, meant to make you cringe and giggle, and it does it well. The performances are earnest, if not actually good, and you end up actually liking the group of ditzes. The music and the party scenes are enjoyable, in a trashy way, and I love that the rich, upper class characters like Barbara and Camden are so out of place in all the spring break wildness. I mean, who visits their uptight family friends on Spring Break? The plot to this movie is irrelevant, because its fun lies in its brainlessness. Enjoy the half-naked coeds and cheap jokes, because sometimes, that's a beautiful thing.

I have never felt the need to post here before, although I do frequently read the reviews of other members. I am doing so purely out of dismay at some of the negatives this movie (in my humble opinion) has been given. Obviously, I am far from a film snob and my reasons for enjoying any movie, no doubt come from a very different place than some reviewers, but I consider myself pretty well educated and I have seen many truly dreadful films in my time. This however, is not one of them. I appreciate that it's pretty cheesy fare - just as it was in the 80's when I first saw it - but to me that's part of its charm. It's a lighthearted, feel good and fun way to spend a couple of hours, while reminiscing what was for me, a very special time. It's true that certain scenes (1 in particular for me) do and always have, make me cringe a little but for this movie, that is a positive. There are also many laughs to be had and for me, any film that can entertain throughout and leave me smiling as this one does, has earned its rightful place in my collection and deserves a little more respect for those reasons. I only wish I could find it on DVD, as my well viewed VHS version has definitely seen better days.

Though far from an intelligent production, this 1984 reworking of the 1960 film is nevertheless a fun time capsule of early-to-mid 1980's culture. Forget about plot. This movie is just a mindless and pleasant romp on the beach at Fort Lauderdale before spring breakers were driven out and the monster condos took over the skyline. It features far more location shooting than the original (that one was mostly Hollywood sets) and some interesting 80's music. I am biased; I'm nostalgic for the 80's and I love Fort Lauderdale and Florida, so I may enjoy it more than the average viewer.

Not every film should be a literary gem as life is more than that. "Where the Boys Are" is an honest look at what was going on with the college kids of the time. There is some brief nudity and sexual content that may be mildly distasteful, but that is what was happening in Fort Lauderdale until the late 80's and 90's saw the city powers-that-be effectively sweep the spring break crowd north to Daytona.

Don't build up great expectations and you will probably enjoy this otherwise forgettable flick.