Thoughts on Girls Just Want to Have Fun

via IMDB

"Army bases are pretty dead, unless you're in the Army. So I always had a lot of time to daydream, and my daydream was always the same, that someday, I was going to get to Chicago, because that's where they make 'Dance TV.'"

Janey (Sarah Jessica Parker), new in town, is daughter of retired Col. Glenn (Ed Lauter). He doesn't want her running around an unfamiliar location, but flamboyant Lynne Stone (Helen Hunt) convinces Janey to audition with her for Dance TV (think Solid Gold with even more attention on the dancers). An experienced gymnast, Janey ends up paired with talented dancer Jeff Malene (Lee Montgomery). The're chosen as finalists to be the newest members of the Dance TV troupe, facing an awful lot of conflict leading up to a final, judged, live, on-air performance.

Will Janey be able to keep her dad from finding out that she's cutting class and sneaking out? (No.)

Will Jeff, who's increasingly losing his interest in trade school, resolve his uncertainty about the future? (Yes.)

Will rich girl co-finalist Natalie Sands (Holly Gagnier), who's not above jeopardizing Jeff's dad's job (he works for one of her dad's factories), succeed in her schemes? (In the long run, no.)

Will J&J decide they're a couple? (Yes.)

"He's just ... ugh! You know, I mean ... ugh!"
"Is he gonna call you tomorrow?"
"... Yeah. I think so."

Parker and Hunt are great together, elevating nothing special material* with their chemistry. Montgomery is also likable, whether opposite Parker, Johnathan Silverman (as would-be entrepreneur Drew) or Shannen Doherty (as Maggie, Jeff's sister, who wants to be anything but a pre-teen). Where Parker and Montgomery get in trouble, however, is in the dance scenes.
*Janis Hirsch (Square Pegs, Frasier), credited as a production consultant, was involved with the script in some capacity (She initially wrote it? She doctored it?). The final writing credit went to Amy Spies, who went on to write for Beverly Hills, 90210.

Director Alan Metter (Back to School) might as well have been flashing "The stars are not doing this work" on screen whenever Janey and Jeff show what they're capable off. Tricks like shooting from a distance or using fog barely work once, let alone throughout a movie. My hat is off to stunt woman Alison Brown, who I assume did the gymnastics for SJP.

Girls Just Want to Have Fun isn't so much a bad movie as it is a dull movie. While I watched, my mind would wander and I'd wonder about things like just how far was Janey traveling to get from her all-girl Catholic school to the studio where she and Jeff would rehearse. Janey's end-of-movie, race against time journey from her apartment building to the Dance TV studio, complete with walking on top of cars to get out of a traffic jam, inspired similar questions.

I mean, I already had a good idea how the movie would end.

"We did it!"

Not Recommended.

Thoughts:

-- "He's a boy and he's alive, what's there to hate?"

-- Box Office: Grossing $6.3 million on a less than $5 million budget, this opened at No. 12 and came in at No. 107 for the year.

-- Critic's Corner: "What's a shame is that this film could have been so good so easily," Gene Siskel lamented. He had issues with the out of date characterization of Janey and the overall lack of sisterhood. "Why not a girls-against-the-guys story?" Janet Maslin, meanwhile, felt that Desperately Seeking Susan was the real movie that captured the spirit of "Girls Just Want to Have Fun." Still, Alex McLevy of The A.V. Club liked it. "A delightful party of a movie," he wrote in 2016.

-- "Velcro. Next to the Walkman and Tab it is the coolest invention of the 20th century." I'm glad Lynne ended up as Dance TV's new music news reporter.

-- Memorable Music: The score's 12-12, once again a tie between songs written for movies and songs used in moves. I just can't give a point to Deborah Galli's cover of "Girls Just Want to Have Fun," played when Janey, Lynne and Maggie are inviting bikers, punks, a transvestite, pumped up chicks and other outcasts to Natalie's coming out party. It's just so lame. The song, not the spirit of the scene, which I actually liked quite a bit. I will give a point to "Wake Up the Neighborhood." Performed by short-lived Chicago-based band Holland, it plays when all hell breaks loose at the party.

-- The primary choreography was by Otis Sallid (Fame, School Daze, Smokey Joe's Cafe). Additional choreography came from Steve LaChance, who played Natalie's partner, Ben, and Bill Goodson (Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo). I'm assuming the gymnastics choreography is by Chuck Gaylord, who previously worked on Footloose.

-- Hey, It's ...!: Gina Gershon is one of the dancers and Robert Downey, Jr. is an extra in the party scene. IMDB claims Cyndi Lauper is a "woman in diner," but I'm 90 percent sure it's a lookalike. Why would Cyndi want to be in the movie? She wouldn't allow her version of "Girls" to be used.

-- Hey, It's 1985!: In a joint Los Angeles Times interview, SJP and Hunt regretted going through "Hair Hell!" for the movie. "Next time ... a wig!" Hunt vowed. By this time, Sarah was living in L.A. with RDJ. I wonder if she stayed on the West Coast when he was on SNL. Anyway, Sarah was a fan of Helen's. "She always seemed to be on the money; she was never a victim of overacting." 

-- Different Times: Drew tricking Tiffany (Deanna Shapiro) into playing "Tune in Tokyo," giving him the chance to briefly treat her boobs like radio knobs, feels like it was cut from some Porky's ripoff.

-- "Do you do everything you're told? ... Oh, God. ... You do."

-- Next: Ladyhawke. On deck: The Purple Rose of Cairo.