Fresh Horses (1988)

Director:

David Anspaugh

Writer (WGA):

Larry Ketron (screenplay)

Release Date:

18 November 1988 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

Love doesn't have to last a lifetime.

Plot:

A Cincinnati college student breaks off his engagement to his wealthy fiancée after he falls in love...

Plot Keywords:

Engagement | Fiancee | Melancholy | Passion | Secret

Cast

Molly Ringwald	...	Jewel
Andrew McCarthy	...	Matt Larkin
Patti D'Arbanville	...	Jean
Ben Stiller	...	Tipton
Leon Russom	...	Kyle Larkin
Molly Hagan	...	Ellen
Viggo Mortensen	...	Green
Doug Hutchison	...	Sproles
Chiara Peacock	...	Alice
Marita Geraghty	...	Maureen
Rachel Jones	...	Babe
Welker White	...	Christy
Christy Budig	...	Laurel
Larry Ketron	...	Roy
Ken Strunk	...	Dr. Lippincutt

Also Known As:

Fresh Horses (UK)

Runtime:

105 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Iceland:12 | West Germany:12 | Spain:13 | Finland:K-11 (original rating) | France:U | Netherlands:6 | Australia:M | Finland:K-10 | Sweden:11 | UK:15 | USA:PG-13

Filming Locations:

Alexandria, Kentucky, USA

Company:

Weintraub Entertainment Group

Trivia:

One of the few PG-13 rated movies that allowed the use of the word "fuck" more than one time and still maintain its rating. Neither use was in a sexual connotation.

Quotes:

Sproles: Your friend is, uh...
Tipton: Just shut up!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Psych: Murder?... Anyone?... Anyone?... Bueller? (#3.2)" (2008)

Soundtrack:

South Of Cincinnati

Vastly Underrated and Under-Mentioned Flick

I saw this movie in the theater when it first came out. I was in love with Ringwald at the time as she was(and is still if the laws of physics still apply) about 5 years older than me. I really liked it then, and have been trying to get this on DVD for years.

I was afraid that the film wouldn't be as good as I remembered, and it wasn't in the WAY that I remembered, but it was BETTER in ways that I didn't have the experience or maturity to appreciate at the time.

While aspects of the film are dated, namely the syrupy, St. Elmo's Fire-ish theme song in the opening/closing credits, it held up surprisingly well. The only thing that keeps me from giving this higher marks is the unfortunate 80's gloss that works so well for the John Hughes films, but keeps this one from transcending the rat-pack genre.

If this film were made today, it would never be filmed or sold as a "box-office" film, but would rather go through Sundance, IFC, etc., and the style would be more raw, more gritty. By and large though, that just didn't happen with "Teen Stars" in the 80's, and I'm amazed they got this film made at all! Also, for the people who don't seem to get the "Fresh Horses" reference, my take on it is not definitive, but there is a line where Ben Stiller is talking to Matt (McCarthy) and says something to the effect of letting a tired horse go, and getting a "fresh horse" in reference to dropping Jewel.

It seemed to me that the metaphor was that while the characters all cared about each other, each relationship("horse") had more selfish/cynical motivations behind them. In effect, the relationships were being used to move themselves from one-point to another towards their goals/desires, whether or not they themselves understood or acknowledged them.

Ringwald uses McCarthy to get out of her marriage, McCarthy uses Ringwald to get out of his engagement, Stiller seems to use his friendship with McCarthy to avoid growing up and getting serious, McCarthy seems to be trying to fulfill an image of himself as a white-knight, though he finds that he doesn't have the character, he also seems to need the superiority he feels over Jewel due to her lack of education and so on....

Unfortunately for most(it seems!), the movie required you to do a little thinking, and probably drew the wrong crowd due to its co-stars, who were maybe expecting Pretty in Pink II, or Pretty In Pink "for adults", but I do not agree with that view of the movie.

If you haven't seen it, give it a shot. Just go in with a blank slate and take it as it comes....