Moving Violations (1985)

User Rating:

4.9/10   

Director:

Neal Israel

Writers:

Paul Boorstin (story)
Sharon Boorstin (story)

Release Date:

19 April 1985 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Tagline:

What the creators of "Police Academy" did for law enforcement is nothing compared to what they're doing to traffic school!

Plot:

A group of careless and unlucky drivers are sentenced to attend traffic school to keep their records clean...

Plot Keywords:

Traffic School | Police | Parade | Sex In Chamber | Traffic Violation

Cast

John Murray	...	Dana Cannon
Jennifer Tilly	...	Amy Hopkins
James Keach	...	Deputy Halik
Brian Backer	...	Scott Greeber
Ned Eisenberg	...	Wink Barnes
Clara Peller	...	Emma Jean
Wendie Jo Sperber	...	Joan Pudillo
Nedra Volz	...	Mrs. Loretta Houk
Fred Willard	...	Terrence 'Doc' Williams
Lisa Hart Carroll	...	Deputy Virginia Morris
Nadine Van der Velde	...	Stephanie McCarty
Ben Mittleman	...	Spencer Popadophalos
Victor Campos	...	Raoul Bienveneda
Willard E. Pugh	...	Jeff Roth (as Willard Pugh)
Sally Kellerman	...	Judge Nedra Henderson

Runtime:

90 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:L | Netherlands:6 | Australia:M | Finland:K-12 | Sweden:11 | UK:15 | USA:PG-13

Filming Locations:

Brea Civic Center - 1 Civic Center Circle, Brea, California, USA

Company:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

When exiting the airport terminal to meet Mrs. Houk, Clara Peller turns to the skycap and asks, "Where's the bags?" This is a homage to her famous Wendy's commercials, in which she always asked "Where's the beef?"

Goofs:

Continuity: During the chase sequence when they are entering the Police convention Judge Nedra Henderson can be seen wearing heels, when they leave the convention you can clearly see she is wearing tennis shoes. Later when they are entering the police station to see the Chief she is wearing heels again.

Quotes:

Dana Cannon: [to Mrs. Houk who is standing watch] Did you see anybody?
Mrs. Loretta Houk: I don't know.
Dana Cannon: Good.
[Mrs. Houk, who has been drinking, lets out a huge belch]

Movie Connections:

References Saturday Night Fever (1977)

Soundtrack:

DANA and AMY'S THEME

Harmless 80's fun

I was surprised to see how low the ratings for this movie was, while not a classic it's not exactly Freddie Got Fingered either. It's very much in the eighties, starring three siblings of more famous movie stars (although the first time I saw it I thought Deputy Halik *was* Stacey Keach) and Sally Kellerman in a somewhat undignified role, but it doesn't seem anyone's trying to upstage the show.

The plot revolves around a group of miscreants trying to take traffic school to get their licenses and cars back from a mean hearted cop. Lots of funny episodes, and bit player actors you saw all over the place in the eighties but who seemed to have gone away, along with the four times natural size multi-colored hair of that era.

The final episode seems like a try to recapture the manic rush of The Blues Brothers but doesn't quite succeed. Still, there's a lot worse ways to spend a few hours of your time.