L'ammiratore segreto

I didn't get to see this movie until '94, when it aired on TV here. I gotta say the major reason I liked this movie was because it had Lori Loughlin in it, she's a fox with a capital F, capital O and capital X. :) Anyways, give this one a whirl if you like these kind of movies, but if you're a Lori fan, it's definitely a must-see!

This film begins with a high school student named "Toni" (Lori Loughlin) writing an anonymous love letter to another student by the name of "Michael Ryan" (C. Thomas Howell). Although the two of them are very good friends, Toni is afraid that Michael only wants a platonic relationship but to be sure she has decided to test out her theory just in case. The problem is that Michael has a huge crush on another friend of hers by the name of "Deborah Anne Fimple" (Kelly Preston) and when he reads the letter he becomes convinced that Deborah wrote it-even though she really doesn't care for him at all. However, since he feels he has to make the next step he is convinced by Toni to write an equally romantic letter to Deborah. Unfortunately, his writing skills leave much to be desired and as a result Toni decides to rewrite it herself before handing it to Deborah. Not long afterward both of the letters are misplaced and chaos ensues when other people happen to read them as well. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that this was a pretty good teen comedy all things considered. I especially liked the manner in which Michael's friend "Roger Despard" (Casey Siemaszko) kept having the tables turned on him for gossiping about both Toni and Deborah Anne. Additionally, having two gorgeous actresses like Kelly Preston and Lori Loughlin certainly didn't hurt the film either. In any case, I enjoyed this film and have rated it accordingly. Above average.

High school student Michael Ryan gets a letter from a secret admirer who he believes to be Debbie, a beautiful but shallow girl who only dates college guys. He goes to a fraternity party to find out if she is indeed the one, but that does not work out too well. For one thing, Debbie's boyfriend Steve still wants her even though she is tired of him. So Michael goes to his attractive and intelligent friend Toni, who is also a friend of Debbie's, to find out what to do. Michael starts writing anonymous letters of his own to Debbie (who is not identified), but the letters wind up in the wrong hands, with hilarious results. The letters that make it to Debbie, of course, are not Michael's because Toni doesn't think they are good enough and she makes changes. This is strange because it is clear throughout the entire movie that Toni and Michael belong together, so if Toni wanted Michael, all she would have to do would be to deliver the terrible letters to Debbie, who supposedly wouldn't want Michael after reading them.

There is some, but not a lot of physical comedy in this movie. Some of it results from confusion about who is in love with whom, and jealousy on the part of husbands, wives, boyfriends and girlfriends. There is also a scene where a former girlfriend has found out her boyfriend bragged, and she gets revenge. You wouldn't expect this particular girl to be violent.

I didn't see any great acting performances, though I liked Toni, and Kelly Preston sometimes came across quite well as the self-centered Debbie. Overall, I enjoyed it.

Lieutenant Fimple ( Fred Ward ) has had a bad day. He thinks his wife is cheating on him so he follows her to a make out point. Then he goes to his mutual friends house and picks her up because the man that he thinks his wife is having an affair with is the woman's husband ( are you following me so far? ). He gets back to the make out point and they are gone. So he drives home his friend and then he gets into an accident. When he gets home, the man's ( who is apparently sleeping with his wife ) son has just finished giving his daughter a good night kiss. " Good evening Lieutenant Fimple, " the boy says, " F*** you! " Fimple replies. It is one of the funniest moments in the film and the film has quite a few of them.

Secret Admirer is one of the slew of teen films that came out in the 80's that was high on entertainment, if you let it do that. It is one of those films that should not be over analyzed. It is simple entertainment and it is goofball highschool entertainment. The characters in the film have fun with the roles they are thrust into and the dialogue is fresh and funny. Look for the part when the mailman comes to Michael's house and is apparently late with the mail. Classic.

I wish they could make films like this as we head into the new millennium. They are here to entertain and nothing more. And that is sometimes all we can ask for.

Rewatched it with my kids and they laughed out loud. I of course remember the movie word for word. They really new how to make teen movies back in the day without CGI. They actually relied on dialogue and physical comedy.