Em Busca do Prazer

This is one of my top spring/summer movies to watch every year. The movie emits a signature 80's aura to it that has me longing for the year it was released - 1984! A time when college student revelry during spring break was a must! I love each character and the Florida scenery, even with all the cheesy scenes, like the bouncy dance competition. It's still nostalgic and that's right up my alley. You could even see hints of homosexuality where muscle men are riding on each other's shoulders, lol! To me, it's just good amusement. There is also something about road trips and checking into sleazy, run-down beach motels that I love. Probably because I remember staying in those places where the beds had loud flower covers and the vending machines only produced warm soda. Sure it was hard time, but plenty of us still have fine memories surrounding these little misfortunes. 1984 was perhaps the best year of my life (I wore a pair of checkerboard VANS!) and this movie brings it all back so well. People who never experienced being a young adult in the 80's will never understand how much of a blast the decade was. Louise Sorel and Wendy Schaal are two 80's actresses I admire for their class and talents, both have a history of comedy/drama roles and are definitely underrated, not to mention gorgeous. The producers also did a great job of actually making wealthy characters likable. You even felt sympathy for them, especially when Camden performs his heart out to Jenny on piano, competing with Scott. Giving a hoot about "snooty" characters like these is a rarity in flicks now. No one will ever change my opinion about this movie because it's so well rooted into my past and, of course, it makes me wanna go back to 1984 every time I watch it, even if all I do is grab a warm DrPepper from a vending machine at the beach RAID house. I'm packed.

If you're into Spring Break flicks about Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. in the 1980's you'll probably enjoy this silly romp. These actors are all a little too "over-the-hill" to play college students! Keep an eye on Lorna Luft (she's Judy Garland's daughter & Liza Minelli's half sister) she spends a a lot of time mugging for the camera. She tries very hard to make you believe she's a college kid, but looks more like a 30-something housewife who belongs in a station wagon, not a convertible. An attempt to give her a younger appearance with pigtails (in a beach scene) only makes her look retarded, not youthful. Unintentional laughter will take hold of you when Luft's character, Carole Singer, enters a "Hot Bod"(?!) contest & wins second place!!! The soundtrack is good, with the standout tunes "Seven Day Heaven" by Shandi, & Lisa Hartman's remake of the Connie Francis classic "Where The Boys Are".

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 ****

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?

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.