R
"This has got more beaver in it than the entire state of Wisconsin."
Ok, first things first. A friend questioned why I would impose the same criteria on movies that may vary stylistically (i.e. He thought I was too harsh on CaveGirl.) While I think that is a valid argument, my intention is not to use a subjective approach here. My intended approach is to apply a single formula derived from the greatest film(s) in the 80’s-sex-comedy genre to more obscure or lost films. After I get a few more films up here I intend to present an exhaustive data analysis as to flesh out some conclusions and perhaps improve the formula.
Back to the task at hand…. I hadn’t watched this movie in many years and only could remember bits and pieces. In fact, I only have a vague recollection of the whole franchise, so re-watching the last one first may or may not make a lot of sense. What I do know is that the first movie in the trilogy may be the Citizen Kane of the whole genre, but we’ll get to that one eventually.
1. NERDS!: In the mid-1950’s the social factions must have been defined differently than today (or not defined at all). As a Gen-Xer, I have a hard time relating to this concept. Pee-Wee and Billy are totally nerds, however they hang out with the jock (Meat) and the Face-man (Tommy). I need a member of the “Silent Generation” to chime in on this. How nerdy are these guys?
5/10
2. JOCKS!: Wow, I’m totally out of my element here. Jocks usually exhibit super-human strength, acute anger management disorder, and a complete lack of cunning. Meat occupies some sort of middle ground, but he does have like 5 dates for prom.
7/10
3. BABES!: Wendy is back. Inga (Kim Evenson) is fresh out of the Sept 84 Playboy. A shotgun wedding to Blossom doesn’t seem like a terrible deal. Miss Webster gives a great performance here too with a drawn out dominatrix scene. My only complaint is the babes comprise a sub-subplot of the film and the naked dudes/babes quotient is way too high.
7/10
4. NERD BABE RELATIONS!: The only guys seeing any action in this one are Meat and the crusty old High School Chaplain. Pee-Wee and the rest of the crew have their pants off a lot (A LOT!), but don’t get very far.
3/10
5. TIMELESSNESS!: Not bad. Sequels usually rehash jokes and plotlines, so that always hurts, but this one kind of neatly wraps up the whole trilogy and I found myself enjoying it again.
7/10
6. STEREOTYPES!: This is the 3rd movie in a series that pretty much took the anti-PC movement to un-sustainable heights. By association or on its own merits, this one deserves a lot of credit.
10/10
7. MUSIC!: Not a central focus here. Some catchy tunes (like "High School Nights" during the credits), there actually was a soundtrack release too. A weird Willie Nelson montage featuring Ms. Balbricker will stick in your mind.
5/10
8. COMPUTERS!: Well, obviously the period of this movie puts it at a severe disadvantage. So, if I am allowed to reach there is: an animatronic pig, stag films in the audio-visual room, telephoto lenses, and slot machines that pay off if you have sex on them.
6/10
9. PERVERTS!: See Stereotypes for the reasoning here. If there was a pervert hall of fame, Pee-Wee would be an inaugural member.
10/10
10. MAJOR PARTY!: They almost had prom. Meat almost got married. There was a short Pool Party that almost descended into a Roman Orgy. There is also the state championship game. That was kinda like a party scene and it was pretty good.
9/10
TOTAL SCORE
69/100
