SpuffyWeb
Sadly Over-hyped
TeenzTen
An action-packed slog
Dirtylogy
It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.
Predrag
This isn't a great film but its still one of my personal favorites. Basically, this story-line is familiar from anyone who saw any teen films in the mid-80's. Likable but nerdy boy falls for the school beauty and, with the help of a much cooler James Dean type, pursues her against tremendous odds (well, against her football player boyfriend anyway) and in the end, discovers that beauty is only skin deep. However, this film manages to take that basic concept and actually liven it up with a sharp script, breezy direction that keeps the story moving, and finally some really winning performances, especially from Doug McKeon (the likable geek in question who is hardly portrayed as an angel here), Catherine Mary Stewart as the type of girl we all actually loved in high school but didn't know how to talk to until college, and especially a talented actor named Chris Nash who takes on the stereotypical James Dean rebel-without-a-cause role and actually reveals to us a vulnerable, genuinely likable human being.Kelly Preston plays the beauty queen and she really is the stuff of dreams until the wrapper comes off. Doug McKeon plays the geek who becomes a prize himself. Catherine Mary Stewart is the nice girl that I wish had lived next door to me and Jami Gertz is the metamorphosed hormone miracle. The cast is rounded out by Chris Nash. Each does a good job in the role. Teen angst comes to the fore and a worthwhile story actually results.Overall rating: 7 out of 10.
twhiteson
In the mid-1980's, Hollywood became nostalgic for the teenage world of the 1950's/early 1960's. (Baby-boomer screenwriters and directors looking back on their youth.) This nostalgic fixation peaked in 1985 when "Back to the Future," "Heaven Help Us," "Porky's Revenge" and "Mischief" appeared in theaters. While the first two films owed significantly to George Lucas' "American Graffiti" with their attempting to recapture the "lost world" of 1950's/1960's, the latter two were obvious grabs at the audience that had made 1982's raunchy "Porky's" a surprise hit.Like "Porky's," the 1950's setting of "Mischief" is just window-dressing. Play a bunch of 50's rock songs on the soundtrack, get some old cars, put girls in poodle-skirts, saddle-shoes, and ponytails and have all the guys dressed to fit stereotypes: mean jocks wear letter-sweaters, cool cats in leather jackets and t-shirts, and nerds wear rolled-up pants and sweater vests. Yet, remove all the above and "Mischief" could be set in 1985 and not miss a beat. It's just 1980's actors in 50's costumes with no real attempt to bring the era to life. "American Graffiti" this is not.The plot: nerdy, Ohio high-school student Jonathan (Doug McKeon) befriends new "cool" kid, "Gene" (Chris Nash), who shows Jonathan the ropes into making-it with the ladies. Jonathan has a crush on "Marilyn" (Kelly Preston)- the hottest girl in the school- and with Gene's advice he's eventually able to bed her, but then realizes that he doesn't actually know her. What a revelation! It seems that the whole point of the movie was to briefly reveal Mrs. Travolta's assets on film in a tacky, awkward sex scene ala "Porky's." (Despite living in the supposedly "Puritanical" 1950's, Marilyn noticeably has no tan lines.) Oh, there are also subplots with Gene wooing another pretty girl, fighting her jerk-jock wanna-be boyfriend, and dealing with his rotten dad (a youngish looking Terry O'Quinn)."Mischief" is not good. Chris Nash's career fizzled-out for good reason. He couldn't really act. And "Mischief" proved that Doug McKeon, who had been a promising child actor, didn't have the presence to move into leading-man roles. It is never really explained how the runty and rather obnoxious Jonathan (Gene's advice transforms him into a creep) is able to win-over Marilyn who is clearly out of his league. I guess we're just supposed to accept it because Jonathan is the main character and the main character must get the girl. Lazy screen-writing. And by film's end, Jonathan is about to land the stunning Jami Gertz (who has a small role as the "geeky girl"- yeah, right.) It's just nerd fantasyland.Overall, "Mischief" is a cheesy 80's teen sex-comedy that isn't either funny or touching. Instead, it was a very shallow and calculated cash-grab to latch onto the "Porky's" gravy-train. (Some legacy. The "Porky's" franchise were abysmal films and just as forgotten, but, at least, they were somewhat original.)
Michael_Elliott
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.
itamarscomix
The title and DVD cover, as well as the first few scenes of Mischief, may give the wrong impression: it's not a sexy-hi-jinx comedy in the vein of Porky's or other such movies made in the 80's. Rather, it's a nostalgic coming of age film, the legitimate spiritual successor of American Graffiti and The Last Picture Show, even if it's decisively more light-hearted and sexy than those films. While the characters in Mischief are based on familiar stereotypes, none of them are flat caricatures - Jonathan isn't a nerd but a very realistic shy, reserved boy of 17, and Gene is a slick, cool Don Juan but he also has the problems and insecurities of a teenager. Likewise, while the plot hangs tightly unto many clichés of the 50's-set teen comedy, it has enough heart and soul to set itself apart, to grab the viewer and make him care about the characters, who fill real and full. While it's not a masterpiece and it's very much a product of its time, Mischief is one of the better teen sex comedies of the 80's and a surprisingly mature and touching film that's still well worth seeing.
