Tomboy (1985)

Purely Joyful Movie!

Fantastic!

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

The movie is wonderful and true, an act of love in all its contradictions and complexity

A tomboy coincidentally named Tommy Boyd is a mechanic who discovers love when she meets a race car driver.Crown International Pictures strike again is all I can say. These guys seemed to have made a succession of comedies in the 80's that were of a similar quality to this one. Tomboy is one of several such undistinguished efforts, all of which also qualified as that other 80's cinematic idea – the high concept movie. Those were an invention of Hollywood executives, in that they were films whose plot could be described in one sentence. So, yes, Tomboy is simplistic stuff. It's one of many teen sex comedies made in that decade and it's pretty much as funny as most of them; in other words, not very funny at all. It's predictable, slightly racy and full of 80's cheese; if that's enough for you then this might appeal.

Boy, Crown International Pictures have done it again. That is, churned out yet another entirely forgettable teen comedy, with sex and gratuitous nude scenes to draw in the crowds. TOMBOY is a pitifully-written '80s high school comedy about the titular character, a tomboy who dreams of winning over the hunk of her dreams. Will she manage it? Does anybody care? It took me a while to realise that the lead actress, Betsy Russell, is better known for playing Jigsaw's wife in the SAW franchise. She's COMPLETELY unrecognisable here which shows how much work she must have had done. Still, Russell is a pretty poor actress, failing to invest her character with any moments of sympathy, and the rest of the cast are no better. The humour is so lightweight that it's easy to miss it, and the racing scenes and stuff are all predictable and have been done better elsewhere. TOMBOY really is a film to miss.Trivia fans take note: director Herb Freed is better known for helming the early '80s slasher GRADUATION DAY, which is considerably better than this film!

Tomasina 'Tommy' Boyd (Betsy Russell) is an independent girl. She's a mechanic and had always been a Tomboy. Her best friend Seville Ritz is boy crazy and wants to be a famous dancer. Tommy only has eyes for race car driver Randy Starr. Seville needs an investor for a TV pilot and she talks Tommy into taking her to a party with Randy Starr and his rich friend Ernie Leeds Jr. Randy wins over Tommy but he won't consider her as his equal in the car. She challenges him to a race.Betsy Russell is not the best of actresses but the rest of this cast makes her award winning by comparison. Kristi Somers does have a fun shower scene early on. There are a few scenes that shows the film knows that this is a cheese fest. Betsy is as sexy as ever even when she's Tomboyed up. This has its fun cheesy moments but it never exceeds its B-movie characteristics.

Betsy Russell, the 80's B-film queen who provided two of the only three reasons that Private School is worth seeing (Michael Zorek is the other) is miscast as Tomasina "Tommy" Boyd, a young woman who works as a mechanic and dreams of being a stock car driver and meeting her idol Randy Starr. She is also the tomboy of the film, who acts like a jock with her love of athletics than the usual girl things, unlike her friends.Once again, this is an 80's film, so get ready for the requisites of the best decade of the 20th century. You'll see an aerobic style dancing display, shower scenes, a party, feathered hair, horrible fashions, music in the background almost half the time, etc. At least it's easier to take than the cheeziness you'll see in teen-pop videos, but it's cheddar all the way.Betsy Russell, even with the Joel Polnochek hairstyle, just can't play a realistic tomboy. She's a gorgeous looking woman. Granted, I may be stereotyping here, but she's not the type who conveys it properly. I'd say that Drew, Lucy, and Cameron of "Charlie's Angels" fame are more "tomboyish". While nothing more than poor, there are a few good scenes, such as the silly donut commercial that Tommy's friend Seville does, a scene where Tommy eyes her Randy Starr poster and the camera pans it down to a certain area. Also, if the makers of Gran Turismo are reading this, please put the cars featured in this movie in your next game, they rock. I'd love to drive one of those instead of a $2,000,000 F1. Otherwise, pass!