JUST ONE OF THE GUYS (1985)
Tagline: Terry Griffith is about to go where no woman has gone before.
(Romance, Comedy) [PG-13]
I think if you and I were the last man and woman on Earth, the human race would die out.
In this one, a really popular girl at her high school named Terry Griffith (played by Joyce Hyser), wants an internship at the local newspaper. Upon turning in her work, she gets told that she isn’t good enough and she comes to the conclusion that being seen as a “male” writer is somehow going to get her the internship. Terry decides to start dressing like a dude and transfers to another school so that she can put in a new article only this time as a dude. In time Terry’s efforts get the best of her and she finds herself at odds with a kid that is bullying a guy friend she’s met named Rick (played by Clayton Rohner). She is also getting hit on hardcore by this girl Sandy (played by Sherilyn Fenn). Fans of 80’s movies might recognize her from THE WRAITH. Does being seen as a guy really make you a better writer in the eyes of the world?
First off let me say, if you watch the first 15 minutes or so of this movie, you might get the idea that it’s all sexual innuendos and hormones flying all over the place for the movies' entire running time. Terry’s teachers running the school paper really are sexist jerks that the script tries to dust off later, but embedded in this coming of age romp is some heartfelt light-hearted 80’s non PC entertainment. It’s possible this sort of thing happened somewhere in some high school at some point, so I don’t want to completely discount its credibility, but the execution makes it seem even more far-fetched. At one point this movie was considered good enough to be on Entertainment Weekly’s TOP 50 “Best High School Movies” list so I want to give it credit for that.
Overall the acting is good but not great. Joyce Hyser (who was dating Bruce Springsteen when this was filmed) is probably the best part of this movie, but outside of her and William Zabka (best known as Johnny from the KARATE KID series) playing another jerk, the rest of the cast is just so-so. One of the other actors I did recognize in this was Stuart Charno who plays a kid obsessed with bringing animals to school. I know him best from being one of the few survivors from FRIDAY THE 13TH PART II that got decent screen time. Cinematically this movie is shot sub-par with the lighting being off in several scenes, but it’s not enough to ruin anything. I also think the PG-13 wouldn’t fly these days just due to the amount of nudity, even if most of it is in Terry’s brother’s bedroom hanging on his walls.
If I have any complaints about this thing it’s the over-sexed character elements of Terry’s brother who comes across as almost creepy rather than likable and funny, which is what I think the writers were going for. The other issue I had with this movie was the soundtrack which was definitely lacking for a movie that came out during a time when you couldn’t swing a rotten pineapple without hitting at least a one-hit-wonder or an English band with a true hit.
Overall I have to give this movie a 3 out of 7. A few changes and we could have gotten a more solid film that had a better balance of humor that was still edgy but less brash. I should also qualify that by saying when I saw this as a teen on a VHS rental, I would have given this a 5 out of 7 with no reservations at all. So take that for what it’s worth.
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