Class

The mid 80s...sadly, the biggest event during this period in my life was the introduction of cable into my household, and all the cathode tubular promise it held...I actually skipped school one day to stay home and watch The Road Warrior...it was totally worth it, but I'm not recommending any of you youngins' out there to follow my lead...remember, as Mr. T said, `Only a fool skips out on school!'...well, maybe he didn't, but it does sounds like something he'd say, right? As one just coming into his formulative teen years, it afforded me, among other things, the opportunity to see all kinds of naughty, naughty movies (thank you Cinemax, or as we called it, Skinamax) primarily due to the fact this was before the time of programmable parental control features...the only control feature back then was the chance of your mother coming downstairs and beating you silly for watching something she didn't approve of...anyway, this was how I first saw the film Class (1983), a movie I watched again last night for the first time in about 20 years. Directed by Lewis John Carlino (The Great Santini), the film stars Rob Lowe, whom we saw three years earlier dealing with the crisis of being a schoolboy father in an After School Special aptly titled `Schoolboy Father', Andrew McCarthy (St. Elmo's Fire, Mannequin), in his screen debut, and Jacqueline Bisset, who, in my opinion, is responsible for single-handedly introducing the wet T-shirt fad from her role in the film The Deep (1977). Also appearing is Cliff Robertson (Charly, Three Days of the Condor), Alan `Cameron' Ruck (Ferris Bueller's Day Off) along with a number of now famous actors for whom this was their first film, including John Cusack (The Grifters), Virginia Madsen (Electric Dreams), Casey Siemaszko (Biloxi Blues), and Lolita Davidovich (Blaze).McCarthy plays Jonathan Onger, a highly intelligent, yet awkward and introverted young man from a modest (poor) family with dreams of attending Harvard Law School, and is on his way after receiving a scholarship to a prestigious prep school. On arriving, Jonathan meets his roommate in Franklin 'Skip' Burroughs IV (Lowe), whose basically the exact opposite of Jonathan in that Skip is charming, outgoing, well groomed, polished, and just generally sure of himself to a fault...oh yeah, he also comes from an extremely affluent family (which you could have probably guessed given a name like that). Anyway, Jonathan has a difficult time fitting in (not helped by a very public practical joke played on him by Skip on the first day), but finds a certain amount of respect after he turns the tables on Skip, basically giving as good as he got...the two become fast friends as Jonathan helps Skip with his scholastic difficulties while Skip helps Jonathan with his social inadequacies. After an incident at the sister school while planning an upcoming dance, Jonathan isn't allow to attend, but Skip convinces him to got to nearby Chicago for some much needed action, which he does, and how...in that of a vibrant, attractive, classy, sophisticated, older woman named Ellen (Bisset), who initially takes pity on the poor schlub, eventually molesting him in an elevator (pity sex...it's a beautiful thing). Anyway, the two spend the weekend together, after which Jonathan returns a hero to his fellow classmates, inundated with a newfound respect. The relationship continues hot and heavy, and we can see Jonathan is falling in love (guys generally fall in love with the first woman they get it on with), but Ellen's only interested in a fling, and after learning Jonathan's actually a high school student (he made himself out to be a college man), she quickly takes off, leaving him depressed and heartbroken...and then things get better, as Jonathan finds he's been accepted into Harvard...but things quickly go down the proverbial toilet as certain events take place, including, but not limited to, an investigation at the school regarding widespread fraud...with circumstances threatening Jonathan's friendship with Skip along with his academic future...First of all, if you're coming into this movie expecting some flesh, you're probably going to be disappointed as Bisset never bares all (very little, in fact), as the only scene displaying anything features Virginia Madsen suffering from a serious wardrobe malfunction eerily reminiscent of the Janet Jackson/Justin Timberlake Superbowl fiasco. This was kind of a strange film in that respect, as it started of with the seeming intent of being sort of a teen sex comedy, but changes course about halfway through dealing with material of a more serious nature (which ends up getting severely slighted). The transition was smooth, but didn't go unnoticed. One thing that surprised me a little was that while the characters were essentially stereotypical, there was little animosity towards Jonathan from his wealthy peers in terms of his coming from a comparatively poor family...yeah, they didn't care for him much in the beginning, but that was more from the fact he was a nerdy dink than anything else. Overall I did enjoy this film, despite its inadequacies, as the actors managed to add dimensionality to what could have been very shallow characters, but there is a sense of unreality in terms of Jonathan hooking up with Ellen as it provided false hope to those of us males who saw this at an impressionable age, believing that there were actually incredibly beautiful, vivacious, wealthy, older women out there looking to have intimate relations with gawky, awkward, naïve, inexperienced teenage boys...perhaps there are, but I never met one, and neither did any of my peers. Jonathan was presented as an extremely pitiful character (especially in terms of being a target of a few practical jokers), but I found it hard to accept Ellen would willingly pursue him the way she did, despite any amount of pity or alcohol (later we find out she might be mentally deranged, which could explain a lot). This isn't a putdown towards Mr. McCarthy, but more towards the unrealistic aspect of the story...but then again, Hollywood relies on suspension of disbelief from its audiences (sometimes too much), so if you can get past this, you'll enjoy the movie a whole lot more. One really strange aspect was the abruptness of the ending...seems like there should have been more story...The picture, available in both widescreen (1.85:1) and fullscreen pan & scan formats, looks very good, but the Dolby Digital 2.0 audio felt a little soft, specifically during the dialog (oddly, the music came through loud and clear). There's nothing really in terms of special features, unless you count an original theatrical trailer, which I don't (to me that's a standard feature, and not an extra).Cookieman108

amusing comedic presentation of prep school "life" complete with compulsory same gender bedroom partners and the dysfunctional family of the wealthy risk taking senior bedroom partner getting involved in the sex life of the newbie (along with his mother unbeknownst to the instigator). Classic demonstration of the "failure" of pushers of the brain and liver lethal toxic chemical All Co Hell to verify the legally permissible minimum age of consumers of that poison. Also demonstrates the prevalence of the social poison Marriage You Wanna with its feature of clouding the mental functioning of all those around the consumers with resulting recent "votes" in many states encouraging further criminal takeover of otherwise human society. Despite the emphasis on toxic chemicals and the felonious enslavement aspects demanded by felony tax evading religionist gangs in relation to the presented cougar/student relationship, the film was presented with a considerable sense of humor.

I must admit that this movie was one of the typical 'Brat Pack' movies. Rob Lowe and Andrew McCarthy are wonderful as two teenagers who are completely different. Skip (Lowe) comes from a very wealthy family and is expected to go to Harvard after finishing up at his prep school, Vernon Acadamy. Jonathan (McCarthy) on the other hand, comes from the city and is in the Middle-Class. He is not as 'smoothe' as Skip and learns the hard way how to get a woman.The climax of the story is when Jonathan meets Skip's family. He has no idea that the woman with whom he has been sleeping with is Skip's mother! The reaction of the two is great.This movie is filled with comedy, light drama, and minimal violence. It's fun to watch, even though it is a bit dated. For me though, seeing a young Rob Lowe was the thrill!

The Graduate reimagined. Improvements are that the youth is 17 rather than 22 and his awkwardness more credible. In this case we have a bromance with the older woman's son, rather than a romance with her daughter. The flaws come for the narrative outside of the older woman relationship. It's played far too much over the top.Just as Anne Bancroft showed the greatest character depth in The Graduate, so does her equivalent here, Jacqueline Bisset. We are given some real insight into her psyche, a big difference from the superficial characterisations elsewhere, although Andrew McCarthy avoids the robot-type speech of Dustin Hoffman (his equivalent in The Graduate).My instinct whilst watching was for 2*, but the quality of Jacqueline Bisset's performance, especially in the final part, took me up to 3*.

Most people know classic 80's movies like The Breakfast Club, Pretty in Pink, Sixteen Candles & Ferris Bueller's Day Off, but I've found it surprising that few people have ever heard of this movie. Of course, watched it at an inappropriate age in my early teens, but it's always been one of my FAVORITES. PS - You'll spot SO many young actors in this movie before they were big: Rob Lowe, Andrew McCarthy, John Cusack, Alan Ruck and a few more familiar faces...

I vociferously endorse Class (1983). Andrew McCarthy,Rob Lowe,and Jacqueline Bissette are great actors.

Well directed and acted, quite believable as a story despite the elephant in the room. (From personal experience, I know that this type of elephant is a lot more common in family circles than imagined.)Lots of funny scenes, all-around likeable characters make for an enjoyable movie. I thought the turning point in the last scene made for a rather weak ending, but the film was good enough to survive with 4 1/2 stars.

Great

Hatte den film mal im fersehen gesehen fand den sehr gut tolle schausspieler

Je le recherchais en VF et la voici au sein de cette édition. Bon pour le souvenir des films de mon adolescence et qui se regarde avec bonheur sans mettre à mal mes neurones

Esta peli la vi hace muchos años y me quedé con ganas de tenerla. Los actores son muy buenos, y el guión también. Actúa Rob Lowe muy jóven, antes de tener sus problemas judiciales.

Mi ha riportato indietro negli anni ma lo ricordavo un film decisamente migliore...in effetti la recitazione dei giovani attori è buona ma la storia è solo sufficiente.

８３年の邦題「恋のスクランブル」です。童貞高校生の初体験の相手は親友のしかもルームメイトの母親だった・・・。なんて話を聞くと、他愛無い学園コメディを想像して、実際にそうなのですが、なかなか面白いです。主役３人が役にぴったりとはまっていて、もっとシリアスな展開にして描いても深みのある人間ドラマになったのではと思わせます。（友情ものとして軽くまとめられていて、これはこれでいい）童貞君アンドリュー・マッカーシー、悪友ロブ・ロウが好演です。ジャクリーン・ビセットは、後半の扱いなど物足りないのですが相変わらず美しい。軽い役ながらも悩みも持った恋する大人の女性をうまく演じています。息子の親友とは知らずに付き合ったマッカーシーを見る彼女の視線のやさしさは芝居とは思えなくジーンときます。他にクリフ・ロバートソンが共演。バージニア・マドセンはオッパイぽろりシーンのために出演？子供らしい顔付きのＪ・キューザックが可愛い。このビデオ、画質はあまり良くありません。まあこの値段だったら許せるか・・・。