I love After School Specials. Now that they are on DVD I get to re-live the ones I loved and get to see the one's I missed. One of the ones I missed the first time around was ACE HITS THE BIG TIME, which is based on a popular and celebrated young adult book from the '80s.
This movie stars the oldest son from MR BELVEDERE, Rob Stone (and, no, I am here to tell you once and for all Rob is NOT Marilyn Manson!) as a kid starting out in a his new urban high school that is rumored to be run by thugs and gangs.
On Day One he meets a cute girl in class named Raven and agrees to have lunch with her (Even though he's already thrown away the apple and bagel Mommy packed for him in a plastic bag). She goes to introduce him to her friends and, lo and behold, her friends are gang members from the gang The Purple Falcons. Tough name, right? Nope! Because of pink eye (I think) Ace is wearing a patch over his eye. He's wearing a black and gold dragon themed jacket, jeans and sneakers so OF COURSE they assume he was a thug at his old school and ask him to join their gang because they're afraid if they don't make friends with him he'd be a tough enemy. We later find out these toughs aren't as "tough" as they'd like people to believe and don't really hot wire cars or steal old ladies purses.
Since Ace started school he's noticed a black limo following him around. It ends up there is a movie being shot nearby and they want real gang members as background characters. The lady behind making this movie gushes over Ace in such a way that I was beginning to suspect she wanted to sleep with him. He, along with his fellow FALCONS, go to work on the movie set every day after school for $25 a day. The movie is sort of a modern day WEST SIDE STORY and so we are forced (more than once) to watch teens dressed in cute gang glad rags dance like they are auditioning for SOLID GOLD.
A fellow gang finds out about the movie and gets miffed that THEY weren't asked to be in it. Now they wanna get even with the Falcons.
Of course, none of this is realistic from the get go. Getting dressed like a gang member ...the guy was just asking to get knifed on his first day of school. But the biggest disbelief of all was him getting asked...the first time he dresses like this...to be in a movie. The way the lady director gushes you'd think he was starring in the thing...with no previous experience. Then the woman says "You and your friends" without ever seeing his friends. Sight unseen they are welcome to star in this movie too! And wouldn't parents somewhere have had to sign consent forms???? Perhaps the sillyest dumb plot point of all is the finale where Ace and Company dance and sing and do an Early MTV style video singing about how far they've come.
Have we learned anything from watching this pap? And if so: WHAT???