Up the Creek (1984)

Director:

Robert Butler

Writers:

Jim Kouf (story) and
Jeff Sherman (story) ...

Release Date:

6 April 1984 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Tagline:

Get set to get wet ! [Australia]

Plot:

Bob McGraw is in his 12th year of college, goofing his way through life. Bob, Irwing, Gonzer and Max...

Plot Keywords:

College | Fight | Military | Bully Comeuppance | Class Differences

Cast

Tim Matheson	...	Bob McGraw
Jennifer Runyon	...	Heather Merriweather
Stephen Furst	...	Gonzer
Dan Monahan	...	Max
Sandy Helberg	...	Irwin
Jeff East	...	Rex Crandall
Blaine Novak	...	Capt. Braverman
James Sikking	...	Tozer (as James B. Sikking)
John Hillerman	...	Dean Burch
Mark Andrews	...	Rocky
Will Bledsoe	...	Roger van Dyke
Grant Wilson	...	Reggie
Julia Montgomery	...	Lisa (as Julie Montgomery)
Jeana Tomasina	...	Molly
Romy Windsor	...	Corky

Runtime:

96 min | Sweden:95 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Canada:R (Nova Scotia) | Iceland:L | Australia:M | Canada:18 (Nova Scotia) | Finland:K-12 | Norway:12 | Sweden:11 | UK:15 | USA:R

Company:

Orion Pictures Corporation

Movie Connections:

Spoofed in "Futurama: Mars University (#2.2)" (1999)

Soundtrack:

Chasin' The Sky

Get "Up" and laugh....

How can a movie like this miss?

It has two veterans from "Animal House" (Matheson and Furst), Pee-Wee from "Porky's" (Monahan), the cop from "Hill Street Blues" (Sikking), a Playmate (Thomasino), a Mel Brooks regular (Helberg), and laughs aplenty. Oh, and did I mention the rapids?

"Up the Creek" just goes to show that the right elements in any movie, when they click, make the experience all the more pleasant. For instance, if you want to make a movie about a bunch of losers that compete for their college in a water rapids race against college twerps that are richer, meaner and, in one case, more militaristic, it helps if you have a cast like mentioned above.

It also helps if there's a dog on hand like Chuck the Dog. He's smart, he's helpful, he knows how to attack where it hurts the most and he plays a mean game of charades. If all dogs were this smart, humans would be in a lot of trouble.

And those rafting scenes: top notch. Not a lot of detail goes into most movies like this. But when they go to that extra trouble, it works. These guys actually did brave the rapids for this flick, the nuts.

This would make a solid rent alongside "Animal House", that is how good "Up the Creek" truly is. Besides, how many slob comedies do you know that try to visually quote the final scene in "Bridge on the River Kwai"?

Seven stars and a twenty-one canoe salute for "Up the Creek"; it serves up the comedy.