While maybe not the best comedy of 1976 (in my opinion that would be "Murder by Death"), this is certainly one of the most nostalgic films I've seen from my growing up years, and I wasn't anywhere near Texas where this is set. When they end up in a roller skating rink and are involved in various kinds of skating activities, I felt like I had gone back to my early teens. There really isn't a plot, just a series of situations surrounding an evening out at the drive-in, complete with the manager giving the rules of the establishment, based on incidents that occurred the previous weekend. Every situation is something I could see happening for a teen night out which would start earlier before dusk at a roller skating rink or bowling alley, and end up at a drive-in where the kids would get rowdier and rowdier, and the film getting sillier and sillier.
One element of this film that works is that even though this came from a mainstream movie company (Columbia), the cast is completely filled with unknowns. They run the gamut of every kind of teenager pissible, although the cast is mostly pasty white outside of a black couple enjoying an evening out. The only real story involves a planned robbery, meant to follow after the film (a fictional spoof of disaster films), and there's also a recurring theme song ("God's gonna Get you for that") which is pretty catchy. This is definitely a film that deserves a cult status as it represents teenage life in 1976 just as "Saturday Night Fever" would in 1977 and "Grease" would in 1978. A fun little bit of nostalgia that may not stand the test of cultural time but is a great time capsule of growing up the year of America's bicentennial.
One element of this film that works is that even though this came from a mainstream movie company (Columbia), the cast is completely filled with unknowns. They run the gamut of every kind of teenager pissible, although the cast is mostly pasty white outside of a black couple enjoying an evening out. The only real story involves a planned robbery, meant to follow after the film (a fictional spoof of disaster films), and there's also a recurring theme song ("God's gonna Get you for that") which is pretty catchy. This is definitely a film that deserves a cult status as it represents teenage life in 1976 just as "Saturday Night Fever" would in 1977 and "Grease" would in 1978. A fun little bit of nostalgia that may not stand the test of cultural time but is a great time capsule of growing up the year of America's bicentennial.