Wonderful '80s comedy about a high school senior and aspiring journalist (Joyce Hyser) who, believing sexism is responsible for her not getting the newspaper internship she wanted, changes schools and pretends to be a boy to win the internship and show up the sexist pigs. At the new school, she-posing-as-he falls for a nerd while dealing with a school bully and an oversexed female admirer.
An appealing starring vehicle for Joyce Hyser, an actress largely forgotten today save for this movie and for being an ex-girlfriend of Bruce Springsteen. I first saw this as a teenager and there was something very alluring about her. Okay, yeah, the killer body with one of the best topless scenes from any '80s movie is right up there but I mean there's something else. She has a likable screen presence and a believable tomboy quality without ever seeming butch. She's like a sexier Nancy McKeon. Billy Jacoby is lots of fun as Hyser's horny brother. He really steals the movie. Clayton Rohner is the nerdy love interest, although the movie's definition of nerd is different than mine. He's got a nice chemistry with Joyce. Sherilyn Fenn steams things up as the girl who falls for "boy" Joyce. Today a movie like this would be a lot less fun with more focus on heavy-handed messages. This is an under-appreciated politically incorrect gem with an upbeat but cheesy soundtrack and lots of laughs. Plus it has William Zabka as the high school bully. How can a movie with Zabka as a bully possibly be bad?
An appealing starring vehicle for Joyce Hyser, an actress largely forgotten today save for this movie and for being an ex-girlfriend of Bruce Springsteen. I first saw this as a teenager and there was something very alluring about her. Okay, yeah, the killer body with one of the best topless scenes from any '80s movie is right up there but I mean there's something else. She has a likable screen presence and a believable tomboy quality without ever seeming butch. She's like a sexier Nancy McKeon. Billy Jacoby is lots of fun as Hyser's horny brother. He really steals the movie. Clayton Rohner is the nerdy love interest, although the movie's definition of nerd is different than mine. He's got a nice chemistry with Joyce. Sherilyn Fenn steams things up as the girl who falls for "boy" Joyce. Today a movie like this would be a lot less fun with more focus on heavy-handed messages. This is an under-appreciated politically incorrect gem with an upbeat but cheesy soundtrack and lots of laughs. Plus it has William Zabka as the high school bully. How can a movie with Zabka as a bully possibly be bad?