Just One of the Guys (1985)

User Rating:

5.9/10   

Director:

Lisa Gottlieb

Writers:

Dennis Feldman (screenplay) and
Jeff Franklin (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

26 April 1985 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Romance

Tagline:

Terry Griffith is about to go where no woman has gone before.

Plot:

Terry Griffith has got it all -- looks, popularity, the perfect college boyfriend, and an article that's...

Plot Keywords:

Bully | High School | Writing Contest | Sexism | Male Drag

Awards:

3 nominations

Cast

Joyce Hyser	...	Terry Griffith
Clayton Rohner	...	Rick Morehouse
Billy Jayne	...	Buddy Griffith (as Billy Jacoby)
Toni Hudson	...	Denise
William Zabka	...	Greg Tolan
Leigh McCloskey	...	Kevin
Sherilyn Fenn	...	Sandy
Deborah Goodrich	...	Deborah
Arye Gross	...	Willie
Robert Fieldsteel	...	Phil
Stuart Charno	...	Reptile
John Apicella	...	Coach Mickey Morrison
Kenneth Tigar	...	Mr. Raymaker
Steven Basil	...	Mark (as Steve Basil)
J. Williams	...	Julian & Prom Band - Brock / Davis

Runtime:

90 min | Sweden:100 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:A (Nova Scotia) | Canada:PG (Manitoba/Ontario) | Iceland:L | Australia:M | Finland:K-3 | Sweden:11 | USA:PG-13 | West Germany:12 | UK:15

Filming Locations:

Arcadia, Phoenix, Arizona, USA

Company:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

The plot of this film (very) loosely correlates to that of the play Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare, with Terry analogous to Viola/Cesario, Rick analogous to Orsino, Sandy analogous to Olivia, and Terry's brother Buddy analogous to Viola's brother Sebastian.

Goofs:

Continuity: Terry's cup of punch at the prom has a frog in it. In the close-up, the frog has completely changed positions and is a much lighter color of green before returning to its original position and color in the wide shot.

Quotes:

Buddy: Don't get me wrong. It's not like I've never had sex before; I've had lots of sex. It's just that now I'd like to try it with a partner.

Movie Connections:

References Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)

Soundtrack:

Just One of the Guys

Not a great movie, but a very charming and likable one.

Rating: ** 1/2 out of ****

I happened to come across Just one of the Guys on TV the other day, and with absolutely nothing else to do that day, I decided, what the heck, why not just give this 80's teen sex farce a shot. At any rate, it was bound to be better than Porky's and I might even get a few cheap laughs in the process. To my surprise, Just One of the Guys turned out to be one of the better teen comedies I've seen in a while, thanks in no small part to Joyce Hyser.

The premise is gimmicky. Basically, hottie teen Terry (Joyce Hyser) decides to dress up like a guy in order to prove she could get her previously rejected article published if she were a man. Well, she ends up befriending a loner named Rick (the underrated Clayton Rohner, who was so funny in April Fool's Day), but does so while in drag. She thinks it's up to her to help him out by getting him a date for the prom, but whatta you know, she starts to fall for him and the rest can't be hard to guess from there.

Okay, I realize I just made this movie sound pretty bad, but if you actually give it a shot, you might find it rather enjoyable. Surprisingly enough, there's not that much nudity to speak of (mostly male, though, thankfully, Hyser does give us a quick shot of her breasts) and the humor isn't half as smutty as I'd expected. Rather, the humor we're given is Terry's balancing act between her "old" self and this new identity she's created. Not all of the jokes work, but there are plenty of inspired moments that keep the momentum going. Take, for instance, the girl (Sherilyn Fenn) who has a crush on Terry; what could have been a set-up for a cruel and tasteless gross-out is given a little weight, and the way this subplot is resolved is satisfying and actually even a little sweet.

The film prefers to use its premise not for gross-out gags, but to build a cute love story, and yeah, it does a pretty good job at that. Hyser and Rohner have appealing chemistry, though it's Hyser who gets the lion's share of the work. Having to balance between playing a very pretty girl and a convincing male teen isn't easy, but she pulls it off with flying colors.

Obviously, the film is going to end with Rick discovering Terry's real identity. That scene is handled rather well, but I found the epilogue a little too abrupt to be entirely satisfying. I found myself caring a lot about these characters; would have been nice to know where they ended up from there.

But enough with the quibbles. Sure, Just One of the Guys isn't a great movie, not by a long shot, but it takes the time to make us care about the characters and their dilemmas, and while the lack of potty humor might not make it as gut-bustingly hilarious (if potty humor is your preference, that is) as some of today's offerings, the fact that the movie touched me made it superior to just about any other teen comedy I've seen in a long time.