High School U.S.A.

This movie has star power! From Todd Bridges to Michael J. Fox, this coming of age film is a must see for those who like watching famous stars "in their prime." Entertaining and informing, this film possesses a power beyond that of normal cinema.

This film totally bites! Not sure what high school the makers went to, but it was not your typical one. I hated high school myself, I was totally ostracized; however, there was no rich kid running the show and I found the Michael J. Fox types aplenty and found them insufferable. I also thought Nancy McKeon was completely unattractive and was on team Blair all the way! Seriously, this film is about unlikable people being unlikable and just plain stupid at times as everyone tries to one up everyone!

The story, well it's high school high and there are lots of 'stars' so we get a movie with lots of subplots. Of course, it boils down to Michael J. Fox being in love with Nancy and she dating the complete a-hole who is somehow class president despite alienating most of the school. We have teacher subplots too, but they come and go with the exception of the suck up teacher and the girl he is ashamed of for reasons I cannot quite fathom and with whom everyone already knows he is with. Everything comes to a head though as the annoying hero challenges the annoying villain to a race where unfortunately, they don't both die in a fiery crash!

The film features the rich kid who runs the school, but it is insane to the degree he does run it as he literally charges 100 dollars a pop for the school dance to keep out the lesser fortunate. Um, pretty sure you cannot do that no matter how wealthy you are. Also, why isn't this guy in a private school? Then there is the part where they put meat in Michael's backpack and a dog chases Michael and then everyone blames Michael. Why would someone want a German Shepard attacking them? And Crystal Bernard was great in the show Wings, but she was super annoying in this thing! I also wonder why Dana Plato and a few others made the opening credits but not Crispin Glover who was in this way more than most of the people in the opening credits?

So this film was not something I liked as I kept becoming enraged by the antics on display. The idea that someone could run a school so completely and quite frankly, I would rather see a fight than a race to settle things. Of course, this film did have dancing robot!

Contrary to some of the other comments, Crispin Glover actually does have a big role here, so much so that he should have been listed 2nd or 3rd in the credits. And yes, he does steal the show. Also the chemistry he has with Fox is excellent, and makes for a great double feature with Back To The Future. It is a shame the two didn't make more films together.

Anyways, this is one of the best films of the 80's, TV or otherwise. And its one of the best high-school oriented films as well. The cast is perfect and the story is cute and funny. Also expect some major star-gazing from a who's-who of vintage TV, along with many now-famous movie stars. And above all, for those who lived through this era, it will be a slice of nostalgia heaven.

So give this neglected classic some love! Pronto!

update 12/2/2002: OK just watched High School USA again for the first time since my review 12 years ago. It's still not a great film,but it is fun and i'll give it a break since its a TV movie. It's actually neat to see so many 80's TV actors in one place (and no less than 4 from Leave it to Beaver!). Not much of a story: rich,preppy A-hole (Edwards) has sweet,cute girlfriend (McKeon) that nice,funny normal guy (Fox) likes. Fox and Edwards make a bet on a car race that will somehow determine who is the coolest guy in school and most likely win over sweet girl McKeon. whatever. Crispin Glover actually has more screen time than anyone but Michael J Fox. Crispin & Michael Zorek provide most of the comedy as Fox's loser friends. I'll raise my movie review to a 6 and add another point for Glover/Zorek to make my final grade a 7.

Zep

More people should watch this movie. I'm quite sure they won't enjoy it as much as my friends or I, but the cast is so fun that it's worth a look. Rowdy class clown J.J. (double J) Manners (Michael J. Fox) is certainly smitten after he bumps in to Beth Franklin (Nancy McKeon) in the hallway. Big problem though-she's dating Beau Middleton (Anthony Edwards) the cocky king of the preps! A class struggle ensues and it's quite wacky to watch it unfold. The supporting cast here is really interesting. You've got Todd Bridges and Dana Plato (Different Strokes), Crystal Bernard (future star of Wings) and a plethora of actors and actresses from older TV shows. Bob Denver plays Crispin Glover's pet supply selling dad. Tony Dow plays the high school's principle. There's even a scene where Anthony Edwards pulls and Eddie Haskell on Eddie Haskell himself (Ken Osmond). There's nothing too original about the plot of this baby (it is a TV movie after all), but it became really addictive for me and a couple of my friends. It's fun to throw quotes around from it. All in all, well worth a couple bucks to watch on video (although I haven't found it in too many video stores). Give it a chance with low expectations and I'm quite sure you won't be too dissatisfied.