This is one of those movies that was all over cable when it first came to town. I was 10, and as a 10 year-old I loved it. Re-watching it at age 30, I was prepared to groan through it. But I was pleasantly surprised at how well it holds up.
(POSSIBLE SPOILERS)
Chris Makepeace ("Wudy da' Wabitt" from "Meatballs") stars as the new kid in school. He's rich, has a really bad mushroom-cloud of a hair-do, so naturally...he's a primo target for the school-bully (Matt Dillon).
Bullies in my school never wanted protection-money, but these bullies do. Simple math: your milk change = I won't whoop your butt.
But our fashionably-challenged hero is no dummy, and he figures if you're gonna shell out dough to a psychopath...it may as well be one you like! Enter Ricky Linderman (Adam Baldwin) as "the bodyguard". Ricky is universally feared and completely misunderstood. And he looks old enough to have flunked 6 grades.
A friendship soon forms, walls are torn down, and a feel-good movie is your end result. If you like buddy-movies where the jerk(s) get theirs in the end, this one's for you. The lead characters are likeable, and you're rooting for them all the way. Ricky's big "revelation-scene" is total cheese and won't bring nary a tear to your eye. Still, you feel for the big-lug.
Things I learned from this movie:
-bullies spend hours after-school stalking empty bath-rooms
-50 cents was a lot to a kid in the 80's.
-fight scenes have come a LONG way since the 80's.
-Matt Dillon is lucky to still be working after this.
The supporting cast is a virtual who's who of 80's talent....Martin Mull, George Wendt, & Joan Cusack.
I wouldn't shell out a dollar to rent it (unless I was throwing a cheesy-80's party) but if it comes on cable (and it will, they always do) give it a chance.
(POSSIBLE SPOILERS)
Chris Makepeace ("Wudy da' Wabitt" from "Meatballs") stars as the new kid in school. He's rich, has a really bad mushroom-cloud of a hair-do, so naturally...he's a primo target for the school-bully (Matt Dillon).
Bullies in my school never wanted protection-money, but these bullies do. Simple math: your milk change = I won't whoop your butt.
But our fashionably-challenged hero is no dummy, and he figures if you're gonna shell out dough to a psychopath...it may as well be one you like! Enter Ricky Linderman (Adam Baldwin) as "the bodyguard". Ricky is universally feared and completely misunderstood. And he looks old enough to have flunked 6 grades.
A friendship soon forms, walls are torn down, and a feel-good movie is your end result. If you like buddy-movies where the jerk(s) get theirs in the end, this one's for you. The lead characters are likeable, and you're rooting for them all the way. Ricky's big "revelation-scene" is total cheese and won't bring nary a tear to your eye. Still, you feel for the big-lug.
Things I learned from this movie:
-bullies spend hours after-school stalking empty bath-rooms
-50 cents was a lot to a kid in the 80's.
-fight scenes have come a LONG way since the 80's.
-Matt Dillon is lucky to still be working after this.
The supporting cast is a virtual who's who of 80's talent....Martin Mull, George Wendt, & Joan Cusack.
I wouldn't shell out a dollar to rent it (unless I was throwing a cheesy-80's party) but if it comes on cable (and it will, they always do) give it a chance.