Up the Creek (1984)

Bob McGraw is in his 12th year of college, goofing his way through life. Bob the slacker, Irwin the alcoholic geek, Gonzer the human food disposal and Max the ne'er do well are the four ... See full summary »

Director:

Robert Butler

Writers:

Jim Kouf (story), Jeff Sherman (story)

Stars:

Tim Matheson, Jennifer Runyon, Stephen Furst

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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 Keough	...	Molly (as Jeana Tomasina)
Romy Windsor	...	Corky

Storyline

Bob McGraw is in his 12th year of college, goofing his way through life. Bob the slacker, Irwin the alcoholic geek, Gonzer the human food disposal and Max the ne'er do well are the four losers forced and bribed to represent their university in an intercollegiate raft race., They make some friends like the lovely Heather Merriweather, but mostly enemies, among others a whole team of marines, and preppy IVY-leaguers determined to win.

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Plot Keywords:

bikini | slacker | college | blonde | lust | 

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Taglines:

Get set to get wet ! [Australia]

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Genres:

Comedy

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

6 April 1984 (USA)

Also Known As:

Rafts

Filming Locations:

Bend, Oregon, USA

Box Office

Gross USA:

$11,700,000

Company Credits

Production Co:

Orion Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

96 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Michael Keaton was originally approached to play Bob McGraw. The role later went to Steve Guttenberg, who, over the course of a weekend, instead signed on to "Police Academy", leaving the production without a lead actor.

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Quotes

Heather Merriweather: You wouldn't lie to me?
Bob McGraw: Of course I would lie to you, I'm a guy. But I'm not lying now.

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Connections

Spoofed in Futurama: Mars University (1999)

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Soundtracks

One Track Heart (Passion In The Dark)
Performed by Danny Spanos
Written by Randy Bishop, Carmine Appice & Duane Hitchings

User Reviews

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.