Making the Grade (1984)

User Rating:

5.4/10   

Director:

Dorian Walker

Writers:

Charles Gale (story)
Gene Quintano (screenplay)

Release Date:

18 May 1984 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Romance | Sport

Tagline:

Palmer Woodrow III earned his diploma the old-fashioned way. He hired Eddie Keaton to graduate for him.

Plot:

Lazy preppie Palmer Woodrow hires street-smart Eddie Keaton to go to school for him while he lives it up in Europe...

Plot Keywords:

Preppie | Gambling | Gambling Debt | High School Graduation | High School

Cast

Judd Nelson	...	Eddie Keaton
Jonna Lee	...	Tracey Hoover
Gordon Jump	...	Mr. Harriman
Walter Olkewicz	...	Coach Wordman
Ronald Lacey	...	Nicky
Dana Olsen	...	Palmer Woodrow
Carey Scott	...	Rand
Scott McGinnis	...	Bif
Andrew Dice Clay	...	Dice (as Andrew Clay)
John Dye	...	Skip
John Stevens	...	Mr. Hoover
Lucile Doan Ewing	...	Mrs. Hoover (as Lucille Ewing)
Patrice Watson	...	Muffy
Robert Meltzer	...	Mr. Townsend
Moses Peace	...	Regis

Also Known As:

The Last American Preppy (USA)

Runtime:

105 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Australia:M | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Memphis, Tennessee, USA

Trivia:

The original composer for the film was Danny Elfman, who was suggested by Richard Kraft who was the head of music of Cannon films at the time and was immediately rejected by the film producers to score the film. Kraft would later become Elfman's agent along with the late Jerry Goldsmith, Elmer Bernstein and Basil Poledouris among others, after he was fired from Cannon Films after this film was completed in post-production

Goofs:

Audio/visual unsynchronized: When Eddie is throwing rocks at his girlfriend's window, all of his dialogue is dubbed in as his lips don't move once, all while facing the camera.

Quotes:

Mr. Townsend: As your father's personal assistant...
Palmer Woodrow: You're an ass-kissing joke!

Movie Connections:

References Dog Day Afternoon (1975)

Soundtrack:

Takin' the Brakes Off

Somewhat better than you'd expect

Determined to watch every Golan-Globus movie ever made, I finally sat down to watch this years after it was released. To tell the truth, I wasn't expecting much. However, I was pleasantly surprised that it was pretty painless to sit through. The movie didn't have the crude edge of other teen comedies of the '80s, the cast was made up of a likable bunch of individuals, and there were several genuine laugh-out-loud moments. The funniest bits come from Walter Olkewicz's coach character; even though he was probably cast because he greatly resembles John Belushi, he is really funny, and it's a shame that he almost completely disappears from the second half of the movie.

However, the movie is far from perfect. Much of the time the movie seems to be spinning its wheels, where scene after scene goes by with little to absolutely no advance to the plot. It's almost like you are seeing a bunch of deleted scenes from the "special features" section of a DVD. At the same time, there are a lot of scenes that seem to finish much sooner than they should, as well as a lack of explanation about some things. Since the movie runs 105 minutes (quite long for a comedy), my guess is that the original cut of the movie ran much, much longer than 105 minutes. Then when they tried to cut down the movie to an acceptable running length, a lot of material that would have made the movie make more sense had to go.

As problem-filled as this movie is, there is something likeable about it all the same, enough so that you can't help but wonder what "Tourista", the sequel announced during the closing credits - that ultimately never got made - would have been like.