A Brilliant Conflict

Entertaining from beginning to end, it maintains the spirit of the franchise while establishing it's own seal with a fun cast

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

It is both painfully honest and laugh-out-loud funny at the same time.

This is probably one of the most obscure features I've yet to see on late night television, and on watching THE VIRGIN QUEEN OF ST. FRANCIS HIGH you quickly realise why you never heard of it before: it's poor, as poor as the usual fare from Crown International Pictures. The only difference with this one is that it's Canadian, but otherwise it's a cookie cutter romantic comedy.The plot is simplistic stuff about two guys who make a bet that one of them can score with the school's 'virgin queen'. The rest of the film sees the guy trying to do so, but real romance gradually gets in the way. It's as trite as it sounds, mixing dumb jokes with sentiment, and the acting is notably poor here. Joseph Straface comes across as desperate and creepy, and Stacy Christensen has virtually none of the charisma you'd expect from someone so supposedly alluring.As usual, the film is marred by cheap production values and a general lack of ineptness which makes it quickly boring. You'd be better off with a John Hughes film from the same era; at least they were well written, and thus popular for a reason.

Shy and insecure nerd Mike (a fine and likable portrayal by Joseph R. Straface) makes a $2,000 dollar bet with smarmy jerk big man on campus Randy (a pleasingly obnoxious turn by Lee Barringer) that he can deflower Diane (a wonderfully sweet and beguiling performance by the adorable Stacy Christensen), who's the most popular girl in high school. However, things get complicated when Mike falls in love with Diane. Writer/director Francesco Lucente takes a premise that could have been easily done as your basic crassly pandering raunchy smut and instead treats it with surprising taste, warmth, heart, and even genuine charm: There's a touching and good-natured affinity and sensitivity for the appealing main characters that's impossible to dislike or resist, Mike's fantasies are both funny and witty (the James Bond send-up are especially amusing), and the upbeat conclusion doesn't comes across as remotely forced or too sappy. Straface and Christensen both do terrific work in the lead roles; they receive fine support from J.T. Wotton as Mike's loyal, long-suffering friend Charles, Anna Lisa Iapaolo as Diane's sarcastic best gal pal Judy, and Bev Wotton as Diane's strict, overprotective mother. Joseph Bitonti's bright cinematography gives this movie an attractive sunny look. The bouncy rock soundtrack keeps things bubbling along. A real sleeper.

The other day I found this video at a bookstore by chance, and I wonder how come Hollywood does not make such innocent movie anymore rather than making those filthy ones. Mike (Joseph R. Straface) appears as a shy boy, and he is such a sweet actor. I fell in love with him and I watched this video many times. Of course I recommended to my friends. Also the music was great and if you like top gun soundtrack or 80's sound then you will definitely love this one. My recommended tracks are "wait for another day" (theme of this movie) and "strange things to remember". I was surprised that "paradise bungalows" and the hotel where Mike said his father own the place (Banff springs hotel) really exists in Canada. If you are looking for a fresh, innocent movie then please check this out!

In most respects, this film is a clunker, hence the bad reviews; however, it is only fair to note that what the film is, and what it obviously intended to be, are two entirely different things.I don't know anything about the film's history, but it comes across like a no-budget college student film. Penned and directed by Francesco Lucente, the story is about a wager between two high school students, Mike and Randy. Mike, frustrated by the fact that he's constantly one-upped by the hubristic Randy, bets his nemesis $2,000 that he can bed Diane, the title character, who obviously has a reputation at stake. And the `courtship' is on. However, as Mike undertakes the challenge, he finds himself falling for his intended conquest.Similar plot lines have been used to better effect in recent efforts, namely She's All That starring Freddie Prinze, Jr. and Rachael Leigh Cook, and American Pie, featuring the relationship between Chris Klein (Oz) and Mena Suvari (Heather), both released in 1999. Unfortunately, Lucente didn't have an astronomical budget to work with - heck, none of the scenes even feature St. Francis High. But, low budget efforts have worked before, so that can't be targeted as the primary reason this film doesn't work.The film mainly falls flat for two reasons: 1) a weak script, and 2) a wooden performance by Joseph Straface in the leading male role. Straface just doesn't possess the acting chops to convince the audience that Mike has what it takes to win over Diane, and therefore it isn't very believable when he does succeed in his mission. Even so, Stacy Christensen delivers a respectable performance as Diane, the title character, and Anna-Lisa Iapaolo (now a New York-based jazz singer) as her best friend Judy, Lee Barringer as Randy, and J. T. Wotton as Charles (Mike's best friend and Judy's younger brother), do adequately in their supporting roles. Wotton, in fact, comes across as a natural in front of the camera, managing to salvage many of his scenes with Straface, whose character has most of the screen time. The ending of the film was downright ridiculous, consisting of a `chickie run' between Mike and Randy. I was left with the impression that Lucente chose to work the scene in out of homage to Rebel Without A Cause, a true teen classic, completely neglecting the fact that it was an absolutely pointless maneuver on his part. It just doesn't seem to really fit into the film. It was as though he had run out of ideas and was fishing for a dramatic ending.Although the film does have some heart, it lacks much else to recommend it, save for some half-way decent tunes on the soundtrack. Sadly, I must concur with the overall consensus that there really isn't much going to recommend this film to others, unless you want to be left, like I was, with a feeling of what could have been but never will be.