Oxford Blues (1984) User Reviews

An 80s Rob Lowe movie without a key 80s Rob Lowe movie scene

[greenie · 4/10 · 29 May 1999]

OK. I know that the wanna-be John Hughes movies of the 80s were all unilaterally flat, so the expectations for this film ran pretty low.

Still, after sitting through this crap there's one key thing I can't seem to get out of my head:

I just sat through an 80s Rob Lowe movie that had no nudity and only hints of sex in them.

The acting is awful, the characters boring and flat, the portrayal of Oxford an absolute insult, and the rowing scenes unexciting, uneventful, and inaccurate.

Unless you've got some wierd Ally Sheedy or Amanda Pays (or I guess, Rob Lowe) fetish, there's really no reason to see this one.

brash young Rob Lowe

[SnoopyStyle · 5/10 · 6 April 2016]

Nick De Angelo (Rob Lowe) is a self-possessed valet in Las Vegas. With the help of an older woman and a lucky night in the casino, he gets enough money to chase after Lady Victoria Wingate (Amanda Pays) in Oxford. He gets accepted at Oriel College but Victoria is already involved with rower Colin Gilchrist Fisher (Julian Sands). The rowers are at the top of the social hierarchy. The brash Nick steals a boat and leaps into a race coming in second to Colin. Nick joins a team coxed by Jersey girl Rona (Ally Sheedy).

Brash Nick is fun and compelling. However, he goes overboard at times like when he first meets Rona. She doesn't deserve it and it makes him look like a bully. I love Rob Lowe but Nick can be off-putting at times. Some of the British villains are too cartoonish. The worst part is that Amanda Pays is too much of an ice queen. It's one of her early roles and she is terribly stiff. It would have been a better rom-com if Nick goes off with Rona instead. Rob Lowe has plenty of charisma but that isn't enough to save this.

Does Rob Lowe stop at nothing?

[lwade007 · 6/10 · 15 July 2005]

Being a big crew buff I'll see just about anything with a boat in it. The most amusement that I got from this film was from how unrealistic it portrayed the sport of rowing. First of all it's hard to believe little Rob Lowe as the muscular rower-type. Two, no one from Nevada (do they even have rowing there?) would ever make it to rowing on the incredibly prestigious Oxford team in England. But if we pretend that we don't know anything about rowing (and I guess most people don't) this is just another cheesy 80's movie. Oxford Blues does score some points for having some pretty actors, interesting scenery, and revolving around a sport other than football or basketball.

The basic story is this: sexy Rob Lowe works as a valet in Vegas who hooks up with a woman that gives him the funds that could potentially make his dreams come true. These dreams involve hooking up with a girl of British nobility that he's been eyeing for awhile but never actually met.

The storyline is so unrealistic but if that doesn't bug you, there's some fun to be had. A lot of us vs. them American/British stereotypes and of course, as previously mentioned, wildly unrealistic portrayals of the rowing world. Don't take this movie too seriously and you might get some laughs.

Not as good as I remembered

[sugar_daddyo · 3/10 · 18 February 2012]

I really liked this movie when it was fresh. But that was 25 years ago. And when it popped up online I had to watch it. Despite the years I was surprised at the things I remembered from "No more second chances, no more second chances" to "I think you're being paged, Lionel".

But that was 25 years ago. Now, the only redeeming value this movie has is a rather interesting perspective of Oxford. The plot premise is rather stupid: some kid from Las Vegas transfers to Oxford so he can date a Lady. He then acts like a complete bull in a china shop and for some reason manages to not so much win the heart of the Lady but at least get in her pants?? Bottomline, the characterizations are basically stereotypes, the plot is vapid, and he wins the race in the end. Oops! Spoiler!

OK, now that is has been several months since I watched this again following a 25 year hiatus, I can't get the movie out of my mind. I keep thinking about it. It has the same spell it had 25 years ago. Weird.

Great movie with Rob Lowe's acting excellence

[steven-109 · 3 May 2003]

This is an excellent film with fine acting throughout. While the initial plotline might be slightly unlikely, the interactions of the main character while at Oxford are the real point of the movie, despite his initial reason. It is interesting througout the movie with a variety of well-rounded characters. The movie is well balanced between the action and excitement of the competitive scenes with the drama and romance at the heart of the story.

Not a fabulous movie, but it casts a spell

[BobbyT24 · 7/10 · 2 February 2017]

Yes, I know this is not a fantastic movie. My 7 out of 10 is more nostalgic than actual story-driven.

Rob Lowe acts like a bull in a china shop at all times in this story. The entire movie he moves from con artist to rowing prodigy to sexual dynamo to demigod status -- all while carrying the "ugly American" thing quite too far. And I'm American. Embarrassing would be a better word I think. Kinda sets a negative tone that stays the entire movie. Yet... I was spellbound by this movie in the theater in 1984 (saw it twice actually) and am still in love. :-) I'm sure it is due to the gorgeous cinematography and stunning on-location sequences at Cambridge. The rest of the cast (with the exception of Ally Sheedy, whom I've never gotten the hang of despite people oohing and awing over her) is simply perfectly British upper-crust snootiness with the right amount of classy condescension toward that crazy Yank. The movie just feels so British lovely - with an uber-caveman running amok. I love it. I can't watch it enough actually. It's one of my top guilty pleasures actually.

Don't get me wrong. Rob Lowe isn't a complete waste. His swagger and brashness is somewhat necessary, but he just comes across as TOO cool and TOO narcissistic as he barrels toward the inevitable bedding of our fair maiden, played by the heavenly Amanda Pays. Lowe just runs over wonderful characters at every turn to get everything HE desires at the expense of anyone/any institution standing in his way. BUT... with that aside, the movie is really enjoyable. It's like enjoying the magical "Peggy Sue Got Married" despite the awful presence of Nick Cage. Sometimes you've got to look past one major issue to get to the soft, lovable, special movie lurking beneath the ego of the lead.

I love this movie. I'll always love this movie. Watch it if you love Great Britain. Watch it if you love Cambridge. Watch it if you enjoy rowing. Watch it if you were (are?) still in love with Amanda Pays. And watch it for the simple chance to see Rob Lowe do one of the funnier "switcheroo" wardrobe changes set to music in the mirror during the end credits. Classic cheese that I would recommend for anyone looking for silly '80s goofiness!

I tried... I really tried.

[paudman · 3/10 · 14 March 2021]

Rob Lowe... Ally Sheedy... Amanda Pays. I so wanted this movie to work. It just doesn't. It's so cliched - the Yank at Oxford who got there by - let's face it - prostitution; confused and bewildered by the traditions of British University... except that he isn't. Nick doesn't care and walks roughshod over everything; it's hard to sympathise with him. Rona (Ally Sheedy) is a two-dimensional 'coach' and Lady Victoria (Amanda Pays) is the priviliged lady who seems easily prised away from her English beau for a boorish, uncultured and seemingly unintelligent Nick who has the American - and decidedly un-British virtue - of being good at sport which therefore negates his academic failings. It may be a big thing in the USA but it doesn't cut any ice in the UK, which does not have sports scholarships. After a bit of slapstick-style oneupmanship he gets the girl - for a night - and obviously impresses her so much that she goes back to her English boyfriend, but - hey - there's always Rona, and with little preamble and very little development throughout the entire movie he falls for second-best at the end, which pleases everyone concerned as it's the quick way out of this turkey. I doubt if winning one single boat race would make Oxford take an expelled student back. So: an American movie made for Americans to poke fun at the boring, stiff upper lip British in an amazingly inaccurate and superficial way, before falling for the American girl and leaving that boring country and its' silly, clownish inhabitants to their fate. Watch it, so you'll know why you appreciate better things.

Why betraying one's own country for a girl?

[giolittigiovanni · 1/10 · 20 July 2001]

This is one of those movies which makes you think: would Hulk " The real American " Hogan have done the same? Frankly I don't think so and he'd have been right. I'm Italian, I cannot go proud of my country for many reasons, but I wouldn't have rowed for another team (The French, for example), simply because I'm in love with Juliette Binoche. Besides the protagonist doesn't fall in love desire with a British girl at the end of the movie but with a fellow countrywoman, so why rowing against Yale. As far as acting is concerned, well, all the players act very poorly. And then , you know, I hated that "Dead poets society " atmosphere. In fact that's another movie I hate.

A Crank at Oxford

[Tracy_Terry_Moore · 5/10 · 17 January 2009]

Rob Lowe is a hot but obnoxious Oxford-bound student who wants to meet a beautiful girl enrolled there and also row his way to a championship if he has the time.

When wreck-less Rob gets his cute little red sports-car wedged between two stone walls at Oxford, it becomes in his best interest to redeem himself with the school, though he fails miserably by showing up late for classes and acting like a royal pain in the butt. It seems Rob will decide to behave and row as long as his crew-mates let him wear his black leather jacket so he can stand out above everyone else.

Amanda Pays and Ally Sheedy co-star in this remake of 'A Yank at Oxford'.

"Are You As Good As You Look"

[bkoganbing · 8/10 · 27 April 2009]

During his career Rob Lowe has been compared as the Brat Pack throwback to some of the matinée idols of the Studio era. That comparison was sealed when he did Oxford Blues a more suggestive remake of the MGM classic A Yank At Oxford which did so well for Robert Taylor back in the day.

The same basic plot is retained for Oxford Blues from the original film. Rob with a little help from computer hacker brother Chad in an unbilled part, gets himself a transfer from the University of Nevada to matriculate. Funds for the trip and the tuition is won at the Las Vegas crap tables. And Rob even gets a Ferrari, courtesy of divorcée Gail Strickland, most satisfied with the extras that Rob provides for her when he's not parking cars. Stuff back in the day MGM would not show with Robert Taylor.

If you thought Taylor was a fish out of water at Oxford back in the Thirties, he's nothing compared to Lowe here. Oxford is a place steeped in tradition and Lowe's casual attitude really irks a lot of people from head man Michael Gough on down.

Worse than that he's got a casual attitude towards his sport of rowing. There even in their suits and gowns, the rowers are the jocks that rule in that place.

Though there are certain things that don't change. When Lowe is challenged to a 'sconcing' contest, he knows what chugfest is all about.

Like in the original Rob's caught between two women, matriculating student Ally Sheedy, fellow brat packer from America and Lady Amanda Pays who's well known nobility who occasionally winds up on the gossip pages. She's got a fiancé in the person of Julian Sands, but that doesn't deter Lowe one bit.

Another good role in Oxford Blues is that of Julian Firth who plays Lowe's roommate and a person who is in some wonder of Lowe's casual American ways. Farther down the cast list in a minor part as another Oxford student is Cary Elwes who would be a movie name in a couple of years.

Like the previous film when MGM filmed A Yank At Oxford on location there, Oxford Blues is also filmed at Oxford and I must say the place doesn't look like it changed much in almost fifty years. Then again a place steeped in tradition like Oxford isn't expected to change. Not even for Rob Lowe.

As for Rob himself, he carries off the part of Nick DeAngelo in the best hero/heel tradition of that other matinée idol of yore, Tyrone Power.

A predictable redemption film from the 80's.

[callanvass · 5/10 · 19 February 2014]

A condescending hustler is in love with a woman he's never met. He cons his way into enrolling at Oxford, to meet Lady Victoria. Because of his exceptional rowing skills, he joins the rowing team with one chance only. He is heartbroken to learn that Lady Victoria has a fiancé (Julian Sands) His arrogance gets him into trouble, but with the help of his friend Rona (Ally Sheedy) he may reach his potential after all.

I suppose this was an OK movie, albeit, a tad on the mundane side at times. Your enjoyment of this film may depend on how much you can tolerate the 80's coming of age story formula and all the clichés that come along with it. I usually love the 80 clichés, but this one succumbs to tedium a little bit too often for my liking. This had a lot of potential to be a memorable coming of age film, the talent was certainly there. I did enjoy some of the intense training scenes from Rob Lowe, along with the hi-jinks that you would often see at this stage. I'm not really into rowing very much, it ranks as one of the dullest sports next to Curling. The rowing race at the end is very well done and I have to give it credit. Rob Lowe isn't very good in this movie. He comes across like a poor man's Tom Cruise without the charisma to pull off the likable arrogance. In fact, he's plain unlikable for most of the movie. His obtuse personality isn't very easy to get behind, and I didn't find much redeeming about him. Another problem is that you know where Lowe's character is heading. When his character shows maturity it is far too late to care. His romance storyline with both Sheedy & Amanda Pays is rushed and not given enough time to be as effective as it wants. I like Rob Lowe. He is very talented when he wants to be, but not in this one. Ally Sheedy's character is supposed to be vital, but it sure didn't feel that way. She comes across as somewhat awkward and unsure on how to portray the role. She's cute to look at, but the script doesn't give her much to work with. As a result, she comes off as slightly inconsequential. Julian Sands's character is a bit ambiguous. He's neither a good guy or a bad guy, falling in the middle. Carry Elwes has a small roll as well.

Final Thoughts: I didn't hate it or even dislike it, it just isn't that good of a film. You can do better when it comes to coming of age films from the 80's. You won't regret watching it, but it isn't worth seeking out

5.4/10

Oxford University Blues

[safenoe · 5/10 · 3 January 2022]

In 1984 there was only one university in Oxford, the University of Oxford. Since 1992 there have been two, the second one being Oxford Brookes University which has nothing to do with the original and more famous one that is the subject of Oxford Blues.

Anyway, this movie is okay. I saw it on a plane all those years ago, so no choice at all I'm afraid. Still, Rob Lowe was at his peak as a Rat Pack member, ruling over Oxford. But unfortunately you don't see the seedier side of Oxford, especially the suburbs of Cowley, Blackbird Leys, Rose Hill, Wood Farm and the adjoining Awgar Stone Road in "New Headington".

If there's ever a reboot of Oxford Blues, I nominate Danny Dyer to play an Oxford don.

Quite generic

[mandresgasa · 5/10 · 25 November 2017]

This film in my opinion shows Rob Lowe for teenager fans. The rest lacks of script, hooks, actings, even the history is plain and uninspired. The nice guy travel to England to know the girl of his dreams and the British despised him (In Oxford) but he succeed. Also the British characters are boring, tedious, predictable. I don't want to spoil but it's only a film to remember the eighties and Rob Lowe and Ally Sheedy (Maybe the strongest point). The rest can't be much more accomplished and has some real flaws... specially on the script aspect. The scenes of rowing towards the river and competitions are the best of this movie. Only for fundamentalists of Rob.

Row, Row, Row Your Boat. . . Everybody . . .!

[adamjohns-42575 · 4/10 · 22 April 2023]

Oxford Blues (1984) -

The story of this film was a very silly concept and very obviously a juxtaposed idea, with Rob Lowe's 'Nick' character sticking out like a saw thumb at Oxford. I'm positive that he would have been expelled almost instantly for his typically American brash behaviour set against a backdrop of a typically British location and cast.

In general it felt like a cheaply produced effort. Something to fill the quotas with amongst the more successful and well presented films of 1984, hoping that the others would make up the loss from this one. It wasn't much different to the Hallmark productions that flood the lesser known film channels, although I've definitely seen better from those efforts.

Sadly the gorgeous Rob as Nick came across as an American tw@t with a very cavalier attitude to everything and was akin to so many of that ilk that I have seen before. The ones that take nothing seriously, but have to have an epiphany before they ruin their lives and everyone else's on the way.

And the Brits were all shown to be idiotic toffs or eccentric Professors.

Mr. Lowe did at least have a great pair of buttocks in those lovely fitting jeans though, so that was a bonus.

The actual rowing and competition element didn't appeal to me, so with the rest of the story not having much going for it, I would have liked a better try from all involved. I did like the fact that Julian Sands in the role of Colin wasn't the knobber I had expected him to be from the start.

I would have to admit that it got better towards the end, once all of the drama had happened and the epiphany was realised, but it was fortunate that everyone performed their parts well, however even then it wasn't exactly gripping.

It seemed to be reliant on the idea that even the most ignorant of Americans can achieve anything they want to and get away with much more, while those British, lucky enough to have been born with a silver spoon in their mouths, can rule the world, as long as they went to Oxford. As such it showed up both sides of the pond and missed an opportunity to be something better.

421.01/1000.

I think its worth watching!

[redeyeddoctor · 10/10 · 26 April 2002]

I found this video in a garage sale about 6 years ago , and bought it mainly because it had was set in Oxford and starred Rob Lowe. If you like any so called "BratPack" type of film from the 80's you should try and get hold of a copy of Oxford Blues. Yes it is true that its not all that well put together and some of the acting is a bit rough around the edges, But I have never got bored of watching it. The main thing I liked about it was it did have a story line, which a lot of films dont have. Watching Rob Lowe's character make his dreams come true by winning the heart of Lady Victoria , Gets my vote!. I like people with ambitions and thats probably why I liked this film. So dont be put off by any negative comments, as I think its a classic 80's film. I had better warn you that finding a copy could be a nightmare!

Brilliant, a must see

[antant_99 · 10/10 · 1 September 2004]

I am from Oxford so am a little bias because I recognise the location. All in all it is a good comedy that all the family can enjoy (although it is a 15). Highlights include the stereotype of an Oxford student, The stereotype of an American, and trying to name all the pubs that you see. I recommend to anyone who is from or has ever visited Oxford to watch this film because it is of the highest quality and guaranteed laughter all the way. If you can not find humor in the romantic yet slightly far fetched plot line then at least in the great characters as each one is very easy to relate to and they all have great names. This is the best advert for Oxford University that I have seen, so work hard kids and you too could be just like Nick DeAngelo.

Oxford rules

[videorama-759-859391 · 8/10 · 2 August 2016]

Before seeing it, you might paint this movie off as another sex comedy or typical Rob Lowe comedy. I first saw this film in early 2012, 26 years after it's release, and honestly, I could of kicked myself for not seeing it sooner. This movie is more than what you expect, as you think it's just gonna be another comedy, where Rob Lowe is just gonna take the mickey out of this fraternity, what have you but boy, I was blindsided. Lowe plays a sexy selfish hustler, Nick D' Angelo, who cons his way into Oxford, as falling head over heels, with the beautiful Pays, who has proved herself to be a really good actress. Her character, Lady Victoria, is to wed, fine upstanding scholar (Julian Sands) who of course, envious Lowe rages war with. He makes friends with a young nerdy student, a familiar Scum face from years back, and another American girl, Sheedy, who of course, falls for the rejecting Lowe. Lowe is fun to watch, where it's his character which sells the movie, as he really learn's life's hard lessons, that it's give and take, and by the end, becomes a much better person. Why it's not Lowe's best performance, where some will find him inadequate, he does give the character enough clout and pep, and does make us acknowledge, deep down, he's not a happy and fulfilled guy, and Pays is the answer to his problems, his void. With Sheedy's character, I thought she was quite good, but where she fitted into the film, seemed as just some actress that was tagging or wasn't utilized properly in this. Better performances came from Bruce Payne who invites Nick, a fantastic rower onto the rowing team, after an impressive and ballsy move, where too Cary Elwes was hardly recognizable, and using an English accent, I could not believe this very versatile actor was him, as he plays a nasty pasty, and not one of Lowe's favorite admirers. Michael Gough, and Alan Howard (The Cook, The Thief) and some more of the faculty players, give the best performances, the late Gough, a splendid English actor, of course shining, while Howard was really good too. Peter "May'be you prefer a Black Russian?" Jason, with a meagre, if almost non existent part, at the start, as Lowe's father, was very memorable. I cannot believe this has a 5.2 rating. I've seen the movie a couple of times, and I love it, every time, I see it. It's more than just a Brat Pack, teen, "get your pants off" comedy, and this film may very well surprise you. It deserves higher praise, and warrants definite viewing. Go Oxford.

A vehicle for moviemakers to capilize on Lowe's good looks

[babe_million · 1 January 2004]

Back in the day, Rob Lowe was devoid of talent (as were many of the notorious Brat Pack members) but had that certain something that made people (mostly teens) want more. He was a very marketable commodity at the time, so what better role to give him than something that has already been done (i.e. little money spent writing, pre-production as possible before his fame expires as we all remember it did in the form of a threesome with two underage girls).

He can't act like Meryl Streep but he can deliver lines adequately and professionally; he is not so horrible that it is not watchable, and the story line is cute. Overall not an oscar winner but watchable. Some of his Brat Pack friends had big hits with their solo movies such as Ally Sheedy in Short Circuit, Emilio Estevez in Young Guns, etc.

Age of Innocence

[trickrider · 28 July 2003]

What most impresses me about this movie and a few others from the 80's

like Breakfast Club and St. Elmo's Fire is how they lack all the brash,

rude and obnoxiousness found in movies today! The young generation of

that time ( and every young person has thier time) didn't fill the

screen with crude language and remarks degrading to each other. In this

movie they still had enough good sense to not curse like uneducated

heathens! Seems like all the movies today just seem to fill the screen with one

F**k and a$$hole and sheeet and every other imaginable word you could

use just to see how many they can say in 90 minutes! It surely is a time gone by and perhaps we do live in a world that is

more realistic and streetwise, but it sure isn't going to make the world

a better place throwing obsceneties it in our face all the time! Oxford Blues was refreshing because it had some class even though it was

a simple plot and a simple movie. And Rob Lowe was one heck of a goodlooking

Oxford Blues

[Coxer99 · 27 May 1999]

Lowe struts his stuff as an egotistical American who finagles his way into the prestigious British university. School is tossed aside for women, crew and fun. Hardly believable and entertaining. Lowe is way too upstaged by young Brits Pays, Sands and Payne.