Secret Admirer (1985) User Reviews

Charming Romantic Comedy from the Wonderful 80's

[claudio_carvalho · 8/10 · 2 September 2015]

On the last day before summer vacation, Michael Ryan (C. Thomas Howell) finds an anonymous love letter in his locker. Michael has a crush on Deborah "Debbie" Anne Fimple (Kelly Preston), who is the most beautiful girl of the high-school, and his friend Roger (Casey Siemaszko) convinces him that Debbie has written the letter. Michael writes a love letter to Debbie and asks his best friend Toni (Lori Loughlin), who actually wrote the letter for him, to deliver the letter to Debbie that is also her friend. However Toni reads the letter and rewrites it to Debbie, who immediately falls in love with the unknown author. Meanwhile, Michael's mother Connie Ryan (Dee Wallace) finds Michael's letter and believes it belongs to her husband George Ryan (Cliff De Young) and Debbie's father Lou Fimple (Fred Ward) finds Debbie's letter and believes it belongs to his wife Elizabeth Fimple (Leigh Taylor-Young). Michael dates Debbie while their parents are astonished with the betrayals of their mates. Soon Michael finds that Debbie is a shallow teenager and he misses Toni. Further, he realizes that she has written the letters and he feels that he loves her. But Toni is aboard of a ship ready to travel to study abroad for one year. Will they meet each other?

"Secret Admirer" is a charming romantic comedy from the wonderful 80's. The plot is naive and funny and makes laugh a lot with the confusion generated by the love letters. The beauty of Kelly Preston is astonishing; C. Thomas Howell is excellent; but the sweet Lori Loughlin steals the show and is the greatest attraction of this film performing a lovely character. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Admiradora Secreta" ("Secret Admirer")

Note: On 07 Sep 2018 I saw this film again.

A movie that would make u laugh!

[Irishchatter · 8/10 · 12 November 2015]

You really have to laugh at this movie, it really gives you the twist from the fault of Toni's love letter to Michael. I honestly didn't expect the parents would get involved in this too. Their reactions were just hilarious and absolutely crazy! They really acted so stupid that I didn't know how long they found out that the letter was not address to either of them! I couldn't believe Michael didn't know it was Toni all along. I mean, her body language was so obvious even I knew well from the start that it was her all along! Lori Loughlin is such a babe like what guy in the world wouldn't take her on?? If you feel like you really want to laugh, watch this film!

An 80's comedy, you just have to secretly admire

[videorama-759-859391 · 8/10 · 16 July 2014]

This is just how we loved these sex comedy films in the eighties, this a cut above a lot of others. Being a C Thomas Howell fan, this is one of my favorites of his his, years before he plummeted into doing continuous dreck, as like many other actors. Smitten by a popular mature girl (Preston), he's longing after, when the real answer was right in front of him, all along, he receives an anonymous love letter, which goes astray, ending up in the wrong hands, well many wrong hands, with disastrous results, it's just fun. This is just another eighties film, which has me wishing, why can't we see stuff like this today. I just wish I could just go back in time. This movie is a lot of fun, while being a bit of a drama too. Howell's friends, larger than life characters, one bringing a suitcase with him, we see, while going up to Howell's crib, are a hoot, where school has ended for the Summer season. The finale that has Howell chase down his admirer, I must say was a little breathtaking, as his admirer is heading off on a weird transport venue of education. All in all, SA is a very enjoyable and and likable comedy where Howell stole a lot of girl's hearts at that time. Fred Ward as Preston's trigger happy cop Father is a classic.

Wonderful teen comedy

[intervalkid · 15 November 2004]

I saw this first when it came out,I was about ten. I watched it again last night. I loved it then and I love it now. The dialogue acting and plot are really good. The characters are all great and fun as well. I noticed the difference between this movie and "teen comedies" made now and it goes like this. Secret Admirer contained, more subtle thoughtful character based humour, characters with a little more chaste morality (even Kelly's jerk jock boyfriend Steve didn't want to cheat), no sluts, plenty of foul language, diverse scene locations, and more intelligent dialogue and plot twists. I liked the characters a lot and the music by Jan Hammer was fantastic and memorable, which makes sense, since Jan Hammer is a bad S.O.B (just listen to Mahavishnu Orchestra and you will know that). I remember that when I was ten I thought that Kelly preston had the greatest breast, and I was right! I still found the movie just as funny as I did then and found the innocence of the characters endearing, in fact I found every scene memorable. Thomas Howell played the party guy in love to a T. Seeing Corey Haim as his little brother made me sad when I think what happened to the poor guy, he was great, very charismatic! You would have thought he had a great future. Bastard drugs! Anyway the humor is constant even at the end when it seems to be getting serious you get a trippy break when Mike asks for directions.

A joy of a film. 10/10.

One of the Better Teenage Comedies

[Uriah43 · 7/10 · 27 March 2020]

This film begins with a high school student named "Toni" (Lori Loughlin) writing an anonymous love letter to another student by the name of "Michael Ryan" (C. Thomas Howell). Although the two of them are very good friends, Toni is afraid that Michael only wants a platonic relationship but to be sure she has decided to test out her theory just in case. The problem is that Michael has a huge crush on another friend of hers by the name of "Deborah Anne Fimple" (Kelly Preston) and when he reads the letter he becomes convinced that Deborah wrote it-even though she really doesn't care for him at all. However, since he feels he has to make the next step he is convinced by Toni to write an equally romantic letter to Deborah. Unfortunately, his writing skills leave much to be desired and as a result Toni decides to rewrite it herself before handing it to Deborah. Not long afterward both of the letters are misplaced and chaos ensues when other people happen to read them as well. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that this was a pretty good teen comedy all things considered. I especially liked the manner in which Michael's friend "Roger Despard" (Casey Siemaszko) kept having the tables turned on him for gossiping about both Toni and Deborah Anne. Additionally, having two gorgeous actresses like Kelly Preston and Lori Loughlin certainly didn't hurt the film either. In any case, I enjoyed this film and have rated it accordingly. Above average.

Worth watching once.

[triple8 · 7/10 · 15 April 2004]

Secret admirer was a really funny movie about a love letter, that winds up in many different peoples hands and creates alot of crazy misunderstandings at the same time! Good movie with a premise that was actually pretty funny. This movie, while NOWHERE aproaching greatness does contain some genuine laughs. and was actually pretty good, if not great. It was far from the best 80's teen movie but the premise was actually very funny, not to mention original and the cast was great! The cool thing about this rather wacky movie, is the premise was actualy quite plausible! Plus it shows how jumping to the wrong conclusion can trigger crazy misunderstandings. This movie is about as 80's as you can get, but might actualy be worth a look for people who haven't seen it and just want a funny, if not unique or exceptional, light, straightforward comedy.

Trite story saved by a good 80s cast.

[vertigo_14 · 6/10 · 8 May 2004]

If you like teen 80s movies, don't pass up Secret Admirer. The story has been done plenty of times. A love letter, of which the author remains conveniently anonymous, unintentionally circulates through many hands, causing loads of misconceptions and people making fools of themselves. 'The Love Letter' (with Ellen Degenerous and Tom Selleck) was the most recent rendition of this story, and I'm sure there was a 50s version of it, too. But what the heck, it's an 80s teen comedy with a well-known teen cast.

C. Thomas Howell is Mike Ryan, a high school guy who is hopelessly in love with the popular, pretty girl, Deborah (Kelly Preston). Only, he can't tell her in person how he feels about her, especially with her tough college boyfriend, Steve (played by Scott McGinnis). Mike confides in Toni (Lori Laughlin), his best friend, instead about how much he loves Deborah.

But, Mike gets the bold idea to write his dream girl a love letter. He doesn't have the courage to give it to Deborah, let alone sign it. So, he gives it to Toni, who can tell that with writing like Mike's, he doesn't stand a chance of making an impression with Deborah. She's a girl with an ego, so it's going to take a lot to impress her. She revises his letter and passes it on. And now Deborah has fallen in love with someone who doesn't exist. Of course, she likes Mike, but she only likes him based on what she has read in the revised letters. In the meantime, Toni wishes Mike would get real and realize that Deborah is no kind of girl for him because she's so insincere and all of that. She's worried about appearances more than anything else. And slowly, Mike starts to realize it, too. In that 'Some Kind of Wonderful' kind of way, he realizes that Toni really likes him, and what the heck, he likes her too.

Meanwhile, there's trouble between Mike's family and Deborah's family as the letters start passing hands of the family members and the parents start suspecting that each other's spouse wants to get involved in an affair just because of this dumb love letter. And they're even willing to have a go because they suspect their own spouses of cheating. It's all a major mistake and one entirely based on lack of trust in their relationships. The consequences are funny nonetheless.

As for the rest of the cast, there's some funny moments with cocky Roger (Casey Seizmasko), who plays Mike's other best friend and poor source of guidance about girls. You can also see a very young Corey Haim in his film debut as Mike's younger punk brother. And, other members of Mike's friends include Courtney Gains ('Can't Buy Me Love') who is in so few scenes and many other familiar faces.

It's good lazy fun even if the story isn't anything new.

A piece of a good memory.

[Hunky Stud · 7/10 · 4 July 2000]

The 80's teenage comedy is sweet and memorable. It brings back the old days when films are not about sex and sex. This movie had a good start, but it got boring after a while.

It has one excellent shot. The guy was wearing a yellow swimming trunk lying a floating red plastic bed, the girl was wearing a red bikini lying the same bed only in yellow. the sharp contrast was visually stimulating. It brings back the romantic inside an audience.

If you miss the 80's, you can watch this video.

Fred Ward steals the show!

[baumer · 9/10 · 29 June 1999]

Lieutenant Fimple ( Fred Ward ) has had a bad day. He thinks his wife is cheating on him so he follows her to a make out point. Then he goes to his mutual friends house and picks her up because the man that he thinks his wife is having an affair with is the woman's husband ( are you following me so far? ). He gets back to the make out point and they are gone. So he drives home his friend and then he gets into an accident. When he gets home, the man's ( who is apparently sleeping with his wife ) son has just finished giving his daughter a good night kiss. " Good evening Lieutenant Fimple, " the boy says, " F*** you! " Fimple replies. It is one of the funniest moments in the film and the film has quite a few of them.

Secret Admirer is one of the slew of teen films that came out in the 80's that was high on entertainment, if you let it do that. It is one of those films that should not be over analyzed. It is simple entertainment and it is goofball highschool entertainment. The characters in the film have fun with the roles they are thrust into and the dialogue is fresh and funny. Look for the part when the mailman comes to Michael's house and is apparently late with the mail. Classic.

I wish they could make films like this as we head into the new millennium. They are here to entertain and nothing more. And that is sometimes all we can ask for.

A predictable, but altogether likable teen comedy

[mattymatt4ever · 6/10 · 10 October 2002]

I've seen so many teen comedies that I was able to predict what would happen in seconds. I mean, can you be any more obvious? In the opening scene, we see C. Thomas Howell walking along with his beautiful best friend (Lori Loughlin) and the blonde bombshell (Kelly Preston) who he wants to snag. And to be even more cliched, the blonde bombshell is going out with a dumb jock. This is pretty much the plot of 5,000-or-so teen movies out there. First of all, why do the guys in these movies always have best friends who are stunningly beautiful? I never had any best friends who looked like Lori Loughlin, surely not longtime best friends. And as I mentioned in past reviews, this always begs the question: Why didn't he ask her out years ago? And anybody who knows anything about teen movies knows that the blondie is simply thrown in as a red herring.

But once the "secret admirer" plot is thrown in, the film gets a lot more interesting. It creates a delightfully funny comedy of errors, which involves the parents as well as the kids. However, after a while the premise wears thin and the film buoys itself on the charisma of the actors, which is considerable. C. Thomas Howell was a charming actor, back when he actually existed. So is Lori Loughlin, who possesses a radiant smile. Kelly Preston looks even prettier than she does now. Boy, John Travolta's a lucky man! Fred Ward, Dee Wallace Stone and the other two actors who played the parents are also very amusing.

The third act is sentimental mush, piling up on the cliches like crazy. Yes, we have another climactic scene where the guy runs after his lover, as she's leaving on a boat. Usually, it's a plane, train or bus, but I'm not gonna give the director credit for changing the mode of transportation. I swear to God, if I see another schmaltzy climax like that, I'm gonna shoot that director in the head. Or better yet, shoot the screenwriters. Go right to the source.

Despite the slow beginning and dreaded final act, I enjoyed the film and consider it to be above-average entertainment with a good deal of laughs. This didn't bother me, but I found the film to be amazingly profane for an 80's teen movie. I know if it were released now, the producers would make sure 50 percent of the cuss words are taken out, as well as the nudity, to reduce it to a PG-13. But I must say, Kelly Preston has a great rack!

My score: 6 (out of 10)

15 years later

[overcaffeined · 5/10 · 21 July 2002]

I watched this film for the first time when it was released, back in the 80s. Now, more than 15 years later, I've watched it again. My curiosity was high, because I remember I enjoyed it when I was a teenager, and now I wished to check how this movie has been affected by time.

First of all, this film suffers the typical "teen style" which can also be seen in other titles from the 80s. This is perhaps the worst point in the movie, because the plot has interesting points, but the film style makes it seemingly look as yet another "Porky's"-like movie. In my opinion, this plot (based on a lost love letter) should have been more elaborate, and the movie should have been made with a higher quality style (for example, closer to "Never been kissed" rather than "Porky's").

Anyway, the movie is enjoyable if you can forgive this "teen style".

Moreover, it has valuable virtues: It exalts honesty and humbleness, and despite its seemingly "Porky's"-like sexual freedom, it exalts marriage and fidelity, and even chastity. It's quite refreshing to see all this in a film.

I voted it as a 5 in 1-10 scale, because I consider it as a "satisfactory movie", with a draw between the weak teen style and some good points (charming love letter plot and exaltation of virtues which are mostly forgotten by Hollywood nowadays).

Anyway, this film makes me feel a bit nostalgic (I've kind memories from the time when I first watched it), so my opinion is perhaps not as objective as it should be.

It holds up today

[egdix · 8/10 · 9 July 2019]

Rewatched it with my kids and they laughed out loud. I of course remember the movie word for word. They really new how to make teen movies back in the day without CGI. They actually relied on dialogue and physical comedy.

Trading letters is too dangerous to old married couples !!!

[elo-equipamentos · 7/10 · 28 July 2019]

Typical eighties romantic school comedy, predicable of course, but unproved of interest, the screenplay provides a pleasant time watching, well-conceived plot has a resourceful design for the old marriage couples, a guy who loves a most beautiful girl, didn't notice that the perfect girl is too near, somehow the picture drifts to those old couples on wrong misunderstanding , both actually have some attractions each other, meanwhile the whole thing weren't fixed, then the disagreement continues strong than never, Fred Ward a bad temper cop, Cliff de Young a cynical performance, and both married women falling in love, C. Thomas Howell should be a true star, something like Tom Hanks or so, strangely he didn't make, already Kelly Preston has some good roles, the comedy apart some nudity scenes isn't so appealing, worth to see it again!!

Resume:

First watch: 2019 / How many: 1 / Source: DVD / Rating: 7.25

Love note falls in wrong hands

[goya-4 · 3/10 · 2 November 2000]

A teenagers secret admirer note is falls into the hands of several people and of course each assumes it is directed to them written by their crush.. a lame comedy that degenerates quickly into predictable nonsense.

On a scale of one to ten..3

* * * out of 4.

[brandonsites1981 · 8 August 2002]

Young man (C. Thomas Howell) gets an unsigned love letter on the last day of school. He thinks it is from the most popular girl in school (Kelly Preston) and sets about trying to win her over. At the same time however, the letter is getting passed along and mixed up with other people who mistakingly think it is addressed to them.

One of the best films of the genre is a charming, sweet and romantic teen comedy that features an adorable score, a great cast that is used perfectly (especially Lori Loughlin as Howell's best friend and Fred Ward as Preston's dad) and a good ending. Plenty of laughs and suspense along the way also!

Rated R; Sexual Situations, Nudity, Mild Violence and Profanity.

Despite that it is blatantly obvious, this is still a charming offering from the 80's

[callanvass · 6/10 · 13 January 2014]

Michael Ryan receives an anonymous letter from someone claiming to be his secret admirer. He has a huge crush on Deborah Fimple and hopes she is his secret admirer. After Deborah gives him the cold shoulder, Michael decides to write a secret admirer letter himself, and asks Toni to give them to Deborah. When Toni finds out how awful Michael's writing is, she writes the letters herself, and acts like they are from Michael. Deborah gets smitten with Michael because of the letters, but Michael grows bored of Deborah's selfishness. Meanwhile, Michael & Debbie's parents get a hold of the letter, and chaos ensues with them. When Michael finds out who truly wrote the letter, he realizes he may have what he's always wanted right there in front of him.

Man. I love the 80's! Things were so simple and entertaining back then. I'm not saying that everything that came out of the 80's was gold. It had a fair share of turds as well, but the 80's were the golden age as far as movies are concerned. This rom-com isn't anything that will turn anyone's world upside down, but it sure is enjoyable. This movie is blatantly predictable from the outset. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to know how this movie is going to end. I knew how this movie was going to end, 15 minutes in. It is also easy to guess who the secret admirer is, even before they reveal who it is. I don't understand how it could take Michael the whole movie to realize who is secret admirer is. It gives you the typical "I love you, but you don't love me" , storyline. It is formulaic in the extreme, but the journey was fun to watch, despite all of the predictability. Let's face it. We've all had a crush on someone we thought would never have the same feelings. This movie explores that scenario in a very cute way. One thing that makes this a cut above the rest of this genre is the creativity manages to make you forget about how obvious it is. They went all out to put our hero, C. Thomas Howell in all kinds of wacky situations. C. Thomas Howell is a lot of fun as Michael. This guy represents everything I loved about the 80's. Charismatic, fun, talented, and above all else, he had presence. I never understood why his career stalled so much in the 90's. He is much better than all of the STD crap he does these days. Somebody give this guy a decent role! he deserves it. Lori Loughlin is an absolute sweetie. She is breathtaking to look at, and a girl a man dreams about getting. Kelly Preston is solid as the prissy b***tch. She's quite the looker herself. Corey Haim is amusing as a money stealing thief. I'll say this. I think Kelly Preston is beautiful, but when it comes to Lori Loughlin? She doesn't compare. I'd pick Lori all the way in a heartbeat. The ending is like a lot of endings in romantic comedies. Contrived in a big way, but absolutely a blast to watch. I certainly won't denounce it for being unimaginative. They ended it in a really neat way.

Final Thoughts: Yes, it's highly predictable and obvious. Yes, it is contrived and unrealistic at points, but I don't care. It was an entertaining movie. It has a lively cast, plenty of laughs, and plenty of smiles for all of you romantics. I'm a guy, but i'm a pretty romantic person. If you manage to seek it out cheap, it is worth picking up

6.8/10

Formulaic, predictable, but Lori Loughlin looks fantastic

[smatysia · 6/10 · 19 October 2004]

A very formulaic teen movie. The only halfway original thing going for it was to develop a few of the adult characters and involve them in the farce. And, actually that worked reasonably well. But even so, every plot turn could be seen coming from miles away. Kelly Preston seemed to be in a lot of these films back then, she was pretty, had a great rack, and would show it. Lori Loughlin was the pleasant surprise of the film. She was total eye-candy, and a pretty good actress to boot. Too bad I haven't seen more of her in the years since. C. Thomas Howell's career seems to have sunken into well-deserved obscurity. Fred Ward badly overplayed his character. I have to agree with the local critic who wrote something to the effect of, "If your monthly Clearasil consumption is down below a quarter-tube per month, you're too old for this film."

Rather decent

[MikeK-7 · 10/10 · 27 December 1999]

I woke up a little early this morning for some reason, so I decided to watch some T. V. and I happened to catch this little film on CINEMAX and found it to be pretty good. Although it's nothing really special, it was interesting to see C. Thomas Howell again, the only other two movies I've seen him in are of course THE OUTSIDERS, and the 1986 thriller THE HITCHER. If you really enjoy teen flicks from the 80's like I do, you should rent this, otherwise watch it on television like I did.

Love's Mash Note Lost

[bkoganbing · 4/10 · 13 March 2010]

Back in the day what C. Thomas Howell got stuffed in his school locker door would be called a mash note. An expression for a more earthy form courtship that has gone out of style. Often times they were unsigned as this one was.

Except in Secret Admirer Tom gets it wrong about who sent the note and he assumes its one girl rather than another. And he asks the right girl to send the wrong girl an anonymous note back. Which the dumb thing actually does. The girls are Kelly Preston and Lori Loughlin and I'll not say which is which.

But then the notes get passed around inadvertently and people start thinking they are meant for them and of course coming to their own conclusions about who sent them.

Now I'm not sure this kind of sophomoric behavior would have worked in a Cary Grant picture much less a Brat Pack one. Adults and packers all look a little foolish here. One of the Brat Pack in the film is the late Corey Haim. The young man had much better and much worse in store for him in his short life.

If you grew up with the Brat Pack this might be a film you'd like. Those of another generation ought to skip it.

functional rom-com as long as movie stays with the kids

[SnoopyStyle · 5/10 · 27 February 2015]

It's the last day of school. Michael Ryan (C. Thomas Howell) receives an anonymous love letter. His buddies convince him that it's from hot Deborah Fimple (Kelly Preston). Roger Despard (Casey Siemaszko) and Michael crash a college party to talk to her but she dismisses him. The guys get kicked out and they crash their van. Michael goes to talk to Deborah's friend Toni (Lori Loughlin) who seems to like him. He writes his own anonymous letter which is stolen by his brother Jeff (Corey Haim) leading to misunderstandings by everybody who reads it. Toni keeps rewriting Michael's letter before passing it on to Deborah.

I don't particularly find the misunderstandings other than the core trio all that funny. It's probably funny as a concept but not in the execution. I just keep wanting to return to the teen rom-com anyways. C. Thomas Howell and Lori Loughlin are nice young stars. They are functional together as long as the movie stays with them. They make a nice trio Cyrano de Bergerac with Kelly Preston. I just don't care about large chunks of this movie.

A Hidden Gem!

[dgordon-1 · 9/10 · 10 September 2002]

This is one of my favourite '80s teen comedy movies that never really got the notoriety that it deserved. Sure, there were a lot of great '80s movies like "16 Candles", "Just One of the Guys", and "Zapped", but "Secret Admirer" really holds it's own. It's about a guy that receives a love letter, thinking that it's from the most popular girl in school. This sets off a wave of misunderstandings throughout the movie. What really makes this movie is that it stars a lot of well-liked actors from that era: C. Thomas Howell ("The Hitcher"/"Soul Man", Lori Loughlin ("Back to the Beach"/"Full House", and last but not least Corey Haim ("First Born"/"Just One of the Girls"). It's a cute story that's not mean't to be taken seriously, it's just a light comedy that has an '80s charm all of it's own. If you like '80s teen comedies that are first rate, this is a definite addition to your movie library that you won't want to miss. I hope it comes out on DVD in the future!

New twist on a familiar theme

[vchimpanzee · 14 September 2003]

High school student Michael Ryan gets a letter from a secret admirer who he believes to be Debbie, a beautiful but shallow girl who only dates college guys. He goes to a fraternity party to find out if she is indeed the one, but that does not work out too well. For one thing, Debbie's boyfriend Steve still wants her even though she is tired of him. So Michael goes to his attractive and intelligent friend Toni, who is also a friend of Debbie's, to find out what to do. Michael starts writing anonymous letters of his own to Debbie (who is not identified), but the letters wind up in the wrong hands, with hilarious results. The letters that make it to Debbie, of course, are not Michael's because Toni doesn't think they are good enough and she makes changes. This is strange because it is clear throughout the entire movie that Toni and Michael belong together, so if Toni wanted Michael, all she would have to do would be to deliver the terrible letters to Debbie, who supposedly wouldn't want Michael after reading them.

There is some, but not a lot of physical comedy in this movie. Some of it results from confusion about who is in love with whom, and jealousy on the part of husbands, wives, boyfriends and girlfriends. There is also a scene where a former girlfriend has found out her boyfriend bragged, and she gets revenge. You wouldn't expect this particular girl to be violent.

I didn't see any great acting performances, though I liked Toni, and Kelly Preston sometimes came across quite well as the self-centered Debbie. Overall, I enjoyed it.

Kelly Preston in Secret Admirer (1985)

[tbills2 · 5/10 · 20 December 2014]

A secret admirer's love letter keeps floating around revealing the hidden desires of whoever the suspected author may be whether it's meaningful or whether it's misleading. Kelly Preston is so bad in this movie, and when I say so bad, I mean so good. Kelly talks a nice talk and walks a mean walk. Thomas C. Howell and Lori Loughlin are two bright young stars, but Kelly Preston is the prettiest girl in the universe. No biggie. She is so bad. Preston unveils her special and spectacular beautiful breasts on more than just an occasion in Secret Admirer. They are a sight to behold. Kelly Preston as well and it's way more than just physical. I hate you, John Travolta. Thomas C. Howell makes his last major appearance as a star in a really good movie. He seems destined for a long future outside of the Hollywood stardom he has achieved at the time as a child. Now, Howell is a man faithfully awaiting a comeback, that he rightfully deserves and as earned, like John Travolta! Lori Loughlin appears in her best role to date, by movies' standards anyhow (think Full House). Loughlin seems like one of those really pretty and really sweet girls that gives boys super crushes. I love her. Fred Ward is great and very funny in Secret Admirer. Secret Admirer is a really good teen comedy from the '80s but it is a good movie for all ages. It has intelligent writing and sophisticated humor and a creative story about childlike love and forbidden affairs shown through the lens of a journeying love letter. Kelly Preston is so hot in Secret Admirer. With Secret Admirer and Mischief, 1985 was a good year for Mrs. Kelly Preston, and for planet earth.

Typical, mid 80s teen comedy, but kinda funny

[smirre44 · 8/10 · 10 January 2001]

I didn't get to see this movie until '94, when it aired on TV here. I gotta say the major reason I liked this movie was because it had Lori Loughlin in it, she's a fox with a capital F, capital O and capital X. :) Anyways, give this one a whirl if you like these kind of movies, but if you're a Lori fan, it's definitely a must-see!

Intended for a specific demographic

[jordondave-28085 · 5/10 · 10 May 2023]

(1985) Secret Admirer TEENAGE COMEDY

Intentioned for the young narcissistic teenage male which the idea is so simplistic, that it only serves only as a backdrop to the failed comedy routines. Long time female teen Toni (Lori Loughlin) craving for a steady relationship with her best friend Michael Ryan (C. Thomas Howell) except that like most of his peers the only girl he want is the most popular teenage girl of the school who is Deborah (Kelly Preston). And then throughout much of the movie, Toni helps him to achieve this. Even if it meant sacrificing herself as a distraction since Deborah has a boyfriend already who is an all around popular athletic jock. Simplistic movie for the average teen male who used to have the hot's for a young Kelly Preston since this may have been the first film she had ever did that showed her breasts, which there was no internet at the time. And ironically is probably one of the few things I remembered about it. Many of my peers also wanted to see more movies of her assuming Preston be naked in those movies too before people knew she was a Scientologist and was married to fellow Scientologist John Travolta. If you ask me, Scientology wasn't even a word for a very long time until Bill Clinton came into office since Travolta was doing a movie about him.