O.C. and Stiggs

O.C. & Stiggs is one of my favorite 80's movies. I truly wish it would get issued on DVD but I realize the chances of this are remote. The movie did not have too much of a plot. And, while I loved the liberal trashing of the extreme right-wing conservative neighbor, the movie was quite mean-spirited at times. It is tough to classify this film, but I believe it struck a chord with me due to the anti-establishment mentality of the two lead characters.

The story centers around the two lead characters, high school guys with way too much time on their hands with an affinity for the African music stylings of King Sunny Ade and an extreme antipathy towards the ultra-right-wing insurance agency owner who lives in their neighborhood. The movie follows the two leads as they prank the family (the Schwabs) and otherwise try to survive a record Arizona heat wave by bothering as many people as they can. For instance, their joint purchase of the "Gila Monster". A giant monster-truck-tired old-school convertible which made more noise and belched out more smoke and fumes than any self-respecting oil refinery. Perhaps it was my being 16 when I first saw the movie and latching onto ti for being different (and funny), but hey, if it ever gets re-released, I will re-buy it.

The movie isn't for everyone, but I enjoyed it immensely. One quote in particular was worth the price of the rental back in 1988: "That's the problem with insurance. Destruction just isn't permanent anymore". And, if I can ever find my old VHS copy (many, many friends have borrowed this tape), I need to find out the title of the King Sunny Ade song he plays in the impromptu concert scene.

Definitely one of Altman's worst, though perhaps not quite as bad as some may lead you to believe. The producer wanted Altman to make a teen comedy in the vein of Porky's or something. Altman hated those kinds of movies, and decided to make a parody of one instead. Unfortunately, you just can't make a parody of a comedic genre. It never works. O.C. and Stiggs comes off as just a wacky teen comedy as directed by Altman; the only difference is that the characters are slightly more obnoxious and, instead of being fun anti-heroes, they're detestable. Which makes for a rather unpleasant movie. The script (or Altman's alterations – he apparently hated the script as written, so who knows how much he changed it) is extremely sloppy as well, especially as it nears the end. There are some amusing moments along the way, so it's not a total bust. It does contain one of the funniest dialogue exchanges I've ever heard: "How would you like to have more fun than you've ever had in your life?" "I don't know. I've had a lot of fun. I have Legos, you know."

I loved the National Lampoon magazine story O.C. & Stiggs was based on but this film is nothing like it's predecessor. It does however back up my long held opinion that the only reason Robert Altman has been allowed to make films after 'Nashville' is because of the prolific amount of drug use amongst movie critics. Altman has an uncanny ability to produce films that, regardless of the budget, look low budget. This one reads like a student film or worse. The two edgy & cool leads are horribly miscast with two very uncool comedic softies that completely undermine the angst and subversion of the original characters. Picture Jim Varney as Hunter S. Thompson or Paulie Shore as Ferris Bueller. Rather than subversive the material comes off looking juvenile and just mean spirited. But for those who insist on pretending they love Altman films, no worry. There is plenty of bad photography, busy cameras, scenes that makes no sense, overlapping dialogue and most of all, a huge cast of name actors that all look like they are practicing their lines.

Like many of Robert Altman's smaller movies, O.C. and Stiggs is under-appreciated. Most of the teenage movies that clogged up the mid-80's consisted of nothing more than stupid sex jokes and gross-out shots designed to humiliate straw men villains. O.C. and Stiggs is a movie where you feel that all sorts of things are possible. It's humorous in the best sense.

It remains a mystery why some of Altman's films are overrated (e.g. The Player and Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean), while others are immediately forgotten.

This movie was great when I saw it, so great that I bought a previously used tape at a video store. O.C. and Stiggs try to get even with a family of rich snobs who ruined people. They get even, and it is very funny.