Written by Asia Martin
Released: 1986
First Saw it: I was a young tike in the California desert soaking up all the 80’s films on TNT because it was too damn hot for me to actually survive a fun time outside. I spent a whole afternoon tuned into Back To School and enjoying the little bit that I could understand at 10 years old.
The Moment to Remember: After watching wingman Derek Lutz (Downey) stick up for his friend and take the brunt of the drama and beatings, Jason Melon (Keith Gordon) finally sticks up for himself against the swim team bully, Chas (William Zabka) in one scene. It was a moment that had me applauding the climax. Chas is hastling Jason about his daddy’s money and trying to punk him because he thinks Jason won’t do anything without his father (Dangerfield) and friend around. Jason, in his drunken depression, lays one on Chas like it’s nothing and then walks away like a true brute.
The Memorable Quote: “You know what you almost never see, somebody heckling a diver.” – Derek Lutz
The Groan Moment: Downey’s character is pretty cliche for ’80s teen films as the underdog’s vocal and confident wingman. But that’s not much to groan about since he makes his nerdy character seem the coolest for this era. Outside of Downey’s youthful presence, was the old chauvinistic attitudes Dangerfield was expressing towards minorities and women. The only person of color that had screen time and a speaking line was a Spanglish-speaking waiter and the women were soft and being fought over like they couldn’t choose for themselves. However, the maturest woman in the film, Sally Kellerman, played a professor and Dangerfield’s love interest who seemed very sure of what she wanted out of the men vying for her attention and in control of her love life.
Why I Can’t stop Watching: A young, quirky Downey with a bit of baby pudge proving his comedy chops with legendary comedian Rodney Dangerfield is cute. Compared to his role as an unintelligent bully in his first popular film Weird Science and his future leading roles as the smartest person in the room, Downey is a bit unrecognizable. He’s pretty raw and yet experienced in his portrayal of this anti-institution college guy. He’s not trying hard and yet you can see him ready to laugh before he makes it out of the scenes. Downey is always fun to watch on-screen.
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Asia Martin is a staff writer for Pop-Break covering TV shows and movies that make her laugh or cringe. She spends most of her daytime hours assisting Hurricane Sandy relief at The Children’s Home Society of NJ, yes people are still in need. In her spare time, she runs her own social media management business, Rising Dynamics, LLC and freelance writes. Asia is a graduate of Rutgers University with a major in Journalism and Media Studies. She loves superhero cartoons, films and Comic Con but continuously skips out on comic books #sorrybutnotsorry Follow Asia on Twitter: @ColoredIn
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