Pretty Good

Don't listen to the negative reviews

It is not deep, but it is fun to watch. It does have a bit more of an edge to it than other similar films.

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

There is not much of a story or character development in this movie. The movie leaves you with no clear idea what the real characters of the 4-5 protagonists really are. It gives you not much of a reason to identify with any of them. We don't learn who these people really are, where and how things had started and what they had been doing with their lives aside from the fact that the nerd used to dream about the hottie and the jock is wandering around with no reason. We can forgive the poor beginning in the hopes of an interesting story would follow. Then when the story doesn't improve and becomes interesting over time, this time you would at least start to expect the movie to move faster and see where it goes. But this doesn't materialize, either. Despite the story is poor, pacing is still slow. There is not even enough conversation between the characters as you would expect in this type of movie. And the other characters aside from the 4-5 protagonists had nothing to contribute. The 50s feeling of the movie which is the background setting, drive-in movie theaters, Eisenhower and James Dean references, the classic cars, dresses, the charm of the two leading actresses and the major supporting actor and the lovely soundtrack saves the movie. SPOILERS: Especially since the writer didn't bother to build a bond between the nerd and the jock first, the jock's suddenly befriending the nerd and decide in the first day of their acquaintance to shoulder all his problems ends up appearing totally unconvincing. And even though the main theme is suggested to be that, the jock doesn't seem to teach and the nerd doesn't seem to learn and try interesting ways to get the girl to give us an interesting story. So the hottie suddenly liking the nerd and sleeping with him even without any effective effort from the nerd aside from appearing even more bumbling and goofy on the way is also unconvincing. One couldn't understand why and how the hottie would go out with the nerd here. A guy with no confidence, no looks. Not even academic record or nervous but sincere advances by him towards her which the hottie might appear to find cute like we see on many nerd&hottie movies. And it's a pity that even after sleeping with her, even though he still likes her, the nerd still couldn't get some confidence to start a relationship with her, so remains passive and so get dumped by her despite she had asked him out for the prom.

Set during the mid-1950s, this nostalgic comedy focuses on an unlucky-in-love teenager who finds a mentor in the new kid on the block, a James Dean type with a reputation with the ladies. The film successfully captures the flavour of the 1950s through thoughtful costuming, sets and music choices, and as the film affectionately catalogues several commonplace growing up experiences (looking up skirts; jealous boyfriends), 'Mischief' is pleasant enough to view. There are, however, some issues in the character department and the casting is far from perfect. Doug McKeon significantly lacks charisma as the nervous protagonist and his character is written as a dislikeable jerk who has no interest in women other than for his own gratification. Kelly Preston has an even more awkward character though as the object of McKeon's affections. She constantly comes off as unrealistically calm amid all of McKeon's shenanigans, continuing to still date him even after he rips her underwear in half (!) and more worried about being caught by her parents than something way more pressing after a pivotal love scene. Chris Nash nails it as McKeon's suave mentor though with an interesting romantic subplot of his own, and a great film could have been spun from focusing entirely upon him. That said, the film is worthwhile as it is - just not all one might expect from a script by 'Pretty Poison' director Noel Black.

Mischief (1985): Dir: Mel Damski / Cast: Doug McKeon, Chris Nash, Catherine Mary Stewart, Kelly Preston, D.W. Brown: Set in 1956 wrapped in rock and roll music, diners, juke boxes, and chasing girls brandishing ribbons in their hair. Doug McKeon plays Johnathan Bellah in total 50's nerd appeal. He becomes fast friends with the cool biker Gene, played by Chris Nash. They both have their sights on a couple females. Gene decides to assist Johnathan with his inability to communicate with women. Directed by Mel Damski who previously made Yellowbeard. Here he captures the 50's in all its free spirited innocence. The screenplay is detailed with the exception of an ending that doesn't quite gel. McKeon plays off the awkward nature of Jonathan whose quest for girls lands him in comedic situations in the face of adults. Nash as Gene establishes a friendship with an unlikely source and finds himself struggling more than Jonathan. Catherine Mary Stewart plays Bunny who Gene has his sights on but her bully of a boyfriend takes a disliking to this. Kelly Preston as Marilyn is Jonathan's fancy to the point where Preston has her famous nude scene while her parents are out. Other characters are mere clichés and types that join the formula. Reckless humour throughout with a picture of 50's innocence that turns out not to be so innocent. It conceals the mischief behind all the picket fences. Score: 7 ½ / 10

Mischief (1985)*** (out of 4) Ohio, 1956 is the setting as high school dork Jonathan (Doug McKeon) becomes friend with a rebel (Chris Nash) from Chicago who tries to help him score with the woman (Kelly Preston) of his dreams. From the title, poster and storyline you'd expect this to be yet another film in teen-sex genre that was running wild during this era. While there are a few elements of that, this film is mainly a drama about the two men's friendship as well as their attempts at finding romance. The film starts off with some pretty raunchy scenes as Jonathan tries to improve himself so that he can score with the much more beautiful woman. Of course this makes for some pretty funny scenes including one in the classroom where the teen is dropping his pencil to look up her skirt when things go terribly wrong. There's also a lot of mention of James Dean and REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE, which clearly had an influence on the picture. This here is obvious during some of the fight scenes, which there are actually quite a few of. One of the biggest reasons this film works so well are because of the performances. I thought all three leads, as well as Catherine Mary Stewart, did a wonderful job and performed well together. The screenplay also benefits from being quite believable and down-to-Earth, although the film did lose some of its gas during the final thirty-minutes. Add in the terrific soundtrack full of golden oldies and you've got a nice little picture. This certainly isn't a classic but fans of the genre should be entertained.