The Allnighter

Okay, this might not be an award winning movie but it's sure worth watching! Love the scenery, the eighties style and the obligated happy ending of course! Sometimes it even made me wish I was there! A prep school in a tropical location, lots of pretty people, fun beach parties and lots of cocktails. And hey, mustn't it be wonderful to have a student house at the beach? Susanna did not act that bad and Joan Cusack is her own funny self of course! I saw this movie when I was a teenager, about 15 years ago and loved every second of it, even watched it more than once! Maybe you don't need any brains to understand this movie but must life always be so serious? It most certainly is NOT boring, just watch it with a big bag of popcorn and have fun!

This vacant, plotless and thoroughly unfunny comedy has a better cast than it deserves: all the girls are credible (the boys less so), and Dedee Pfeiffer (Michelle's sister) is a genuine revelation in her few quiet moments. But then there are all those surfing scenes....(*1/2)

80's higher education ennui... Like a strange cross between "Reality Bites" and "Adventures in Babysitting" (yet nowhere near as good as either).

Aside from Susanna Hoffs in her underwear, Pam Grier's late single scene cameo is pretty much the only entertaining or amusing thing about it... Otherwise, it's thoroughly mediocre!

I've always enjoyed the Bangles and Susanna Hoffs, and I purchased the DVD not expecting much more than a light, fun 80s throwback to the Bikini Beach movies. That pretty much is The Allnighter in a nutshell, but there's nothing wrong with that. The plot centers on three college roommates (Susanna Hoffs, DeDee Pfeiffer and Joan Cusack) having one last fling before college graduation. Susanna is absolutely gorgeous as Molly, the Pacifica College valedictorian who is still searching for that one earth-shattering romance, and although there's not much to the story, there are some wonderful moments (including the jail scene, featuring what must be the filthiest toilet ever to appear in a major motion picture), and I loved Pam Grier's cameo as Sgt. McLeish. An interesting aspect of this movie is how it went back and forth from film to "camcorder" at least 10 years before Blair Witch came out (and 5 years before MTV hit us with "The Real World"). Speaking of which, how about that primitive, bulky Olympus "camcorder" that Joan Cusack lugged around throughout the movie? Remember when those were "state-of-the-art"? Or how about the huge, clunky answering machine in the girls' beach house? Totally 80s, no doubt about it. If you're expecting Oscar-caliber entertainment here, skip this. However if all you're looking for is a fun movie to watch on a rainy day, check your high expectations at the door and enjoy!

It is the night before college graduation and Molly, Gina, and Val want to make it one that they will never forget. Whether it is going to the Fiesta with surfer buds C.J. and Killer or partying with an old rock guitarist that went to their school, they plan on doing it all. Unfortunately, Susanna Hoffs feature film debut will make you wish that they did something even more memorable, because you will forget it an hour after watching it. It is a comedy, but unfortunately it suffers the flaw of not being funny. You might smile once or twice, but I doubt you will even chuckle at any of these misadventures. The film is basically just a dull, overlong, snoozefest. The acting is alright, not really good, but nothing terrible. The soundtrack is decent as well. Unless you are a fan of Susanna Hoffs, leave this one alone. * out of ****