TWO COMEDIES FROM THE 1980s

BY RICK JACKSON

Going through my movie archives, I found two comedies from the 1980s that earned four stars. Since I am still hard to please when it comes screen comedy, I thought it would be nice to return to two I praised: Diner and The Secret Of My Success.

DINER (MGM/UA, 1982)

Written and directed by Barry Levinson, Diner is a funny, allegorical comedy that captures a period in our lives that we can look back on. It is an affectionate reminder of our youth when being one of the boys was fun and and all that mattered was the present.

Set in Baltimore in 1959, this is the director's own postcard from the past. It is not another nostalgic trip like American Graffiti (1973) or a sex farce like Porky's (1982). It is a fond reminder of what Levinson remembers personally or knew about and as you watch it all unfold you are constantly asking yourself about your own past as an adolescent and the friends you hung out with at the places that quickly come to mind. For the director, it was the diner and in 1959 when rock and roll was still young, it was the music, food and friends that made living such a fond time. Sure, it is easy to dismiss the entire film as just another teen comedy but it resonates on a higher level when you may have shared in a similar experience or experiences when you didn't want to give up your freewheeling habits and found it hard to live up to accept what society preordained you to follow in the same footsteps like previous generations went through.

Ask anyone, growing up can be painful. Eddie (Steve Guttenberg) is uneasy about marriage and devises a football trivia quiz for his girl to pass. Trivializing it is part of Levinson's point of view about life in your teens.

The rest of the cast features Daniel Stern as Shrevie who is already married but cannot adjust to his new life. As for Fenwick and Boogie (Kevin Bacon and Mickey Rourke respectively, they are friends who share the fact they don't value the importance of money. The former spends it foolishly. while the latter is a poor gambler.

All of them share a common interest at going to the diner, a place of finite enjoyment and a time for escape from the real world.

In two fine supporting roles, Timothy Daly plays Billy, the mature youth with problems of his own, and Ellen Barkin is Shrevie's wife Beth.

A closer examination of what Levinson has brought to the surface are the problems of growing up and, yes, you get to laugh at the funny bits and the film's message: although it's fun to meet at Fell's Point Diner, there comes a time when you must grow up.

During the wedding reception at the end, you feel as if this small group of friends are prepared to face whatever the future brings. Their friendship also has its poigant moments. Here is a film that will definitely make a difference in re-evaluating your youth and Levinson ties it all together with a touch of sentiment and spontaneity.

It is rated AA, with the warning: not recommended for children.

April 14, 1982

Copyright Rick Jackson 1982

SECRET OF MY SUCCESS (UNIVERSAL, 1987)

In The Secret Of My Success, Michael J. Fox excels as Brantley Foster, a kid from Kansas who goes to New York to succeed in the business world. What happens to him when he arrives is all part of the fun in this new comedy from producer/director Herbert Ross (The Sunshine Boys).

Fans of the Canadian-born actor will be laughing themselves silly at his screen character. It is different from any other role of his career. You get to see him improvise more and use a bit of slapstick. He is also more down-to-earth and a lot funnier.

Based on an original screenplay by Jim Cash, Jack Epps Jr. and A.J. Crothers, from a story by Crothers, the film is set in the 1980s. The topical reference to the hit TV show Miami Vice during a robbery starts the comic pace which never lets up.

Without divulging too much of the plot, Foster gets a job in the mailroom at the Pemrose Corporation, a multi-national conglomerate whose products range from dog food to missile guidance systems. Not content to stay in the mailroom, he devises a clever scheme in which he can move up the corporate ladder.

The beautiful and talented Helen Slater stars as Christy Wills, an ambitious female executive who is reluctant to have an affair with Brantley.

Director Ross describes the actress in the Universal press kit as a very beautiful girl who has those wonderful qualities of breeding that Grace Kelly brought to her roles.

Lending excellent support are Richard Jordan and Margaret Whitton who are Brantley's Uncle Howard and Aunt Vera respectively.

Grammy Award-winning composer David Foster is responsible for the film's contemporary music score which is effectively used to help convey the narrative of the story through musical montage. The best examples of this are in the elevator sequences where Fox makes his daily switch from one job to another.

Filmed on location in New York, the headquarters of The International Paper Company substituted for the fictional Pemrose Corporation.

The Secret Of My Success is the season's wild card comedy.

It is rated PG/Parental Guidance.

April 22, 1987

Copyright Rick Jackson 1987