Plain Clothes (1988)

To prove his brother's innocence, undercover officer Nick enrolls in high school again, dealing with crushes, bullies, humiliations, popularity swings, and quirky teachers and staff to find the real murderer.

Director:

Martha Coolidge

Writers:

Scott Frank (screenplay), Scott Frank (story),

Stars:

Arliss Howard, Suzy Amis, George Wendt

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Arliss Howard	...	Nick Dunbar
Suzy Amis	...	Robin Torrence
George Wendt	...	Chet Butler
Diane Ladd	...	Jane Melway
Seymour Cassel	...	Ed Malmburg
Larry Pine	...	Dave Hechtor
Jackie Gayle	...	Coach Zeffer
Abe Vigoda	...	Mr. Wiseman
Robert Stack	...	Mr. Gardner
Alexandra Powers	...	Dawn-Marie Zeffer
Peter Dobson	...	Kyle Kerns
Harry Shearer	...	Simon Feck
Loren Dean	...	Matt Dunbar
Reginald VelJohnson	...	Captain Graff
Max Perlich	...	Carter

Storyline

Trying to get his brother out of jail, Nick has to bump his way out again from high school, find the murderer, keep his job as a policeman and run away from crazy little girls.

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Plot Keywords:

school | undercover | murder | police | teen | 

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Taglines:

An Undercover Nightmare.

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Genres:

Comedy | Mystery | Romance

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

July 1989 (Peru)

Also Known As:

Assassinato em 2º Grau

Filming Locations:

Ballard, Seattle, Washington, USA

Box Office

Gross:

$289,323 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Pictures, Sierra Alta Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

98 min

Sound Mix:

Ultra Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Arliss Howard plays a 24-year-old going undercover as a high school senior. His biography shows him to be 34-years-old when this was released, making his believable youthful appearance even more surprising.

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Quotes

Matt Dunbar: Just pretend to be a student - you're supposed to be good at that kind of thing.
Nick: Matt, no one is going to believe I am a high school kid.
Matt Dunbar: Nick, be serious - no one believes you're a cop!

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Soundtracks

"YOU'RE RICH"
By Sarah Taylor, Bill Mumy (as Billy Mumy) and Robert Haimer
Performed and Produced by Sarah Taylor

User Reviews

No oscars, but fun

The first time I saw Plain Clothes was a coincidence. Changing channels on a Saturday night and finding (and sticking with) this movie. It is an eighties high school comedy with a funny little cross over to thriller.

Watching B-movies is fun and I do it lots. I have no high expectations and I don't pay a fee to go to the movies and end up wanting my money back. In the nineties there is a growing tendency of B-movies being etremely violent, groce and "bloody". Film makers are trying to be noticed among the hundreds of B-movies made every year by going over the top making their movie "special". My point? Well, not every movie will win an oscar or go into history as a classic, a box-office success or a cult-movie. My point is that this is fine! But people don't seem to understand that one can make a nice movie without having the greatest script or actors of all time, or the money to do Star Wars-like gimmicks. To me Plain Clothes is a perfect B-movie. A nice, simple story, nice actors, funny here and there and quite entertaining. I have watched it now a couple of times and it is still fun! With the cop entering the school as a "thug" (as his little brother calls him). His change into the cool guy. His methaphore-poetry. His romance with the teacher. George ("NORM!!!") Wendt as the insane teacher/bad guy. A good climax. I love the Godfather saga, One flew over the Cuckoo's Nest. the Shawshank Redemption, Schindler's List, etc., but that doesn't mean that a movie that isn't in this category flunks. Plain Clothes is, plain and simple, a nice, ok movie. Average, may be, but fun average and that is more than I can say of zillions of movies (starring "stars" like Pamela Anderson or Arnold Schwarzenegger).