High School U.S.A. (1983)

Wonderful character development!

Lack of good storyline.

it is the rare 'crazy' movie that actually has something to say.

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

HIGH SCHOOL U.S.A. is a lame and tame high school-set teen comedy of the early 1980s, chiefly of interest today for featuring Michael J. Fox before he became famous. This was a TV movie which explains the lack of contentious material - when most films of this genre were full to the brim of sex and skin, this one seems to have been made with kids in mind. Certainly the plotting is of a childish nature, completely obvious, a rivalry between the geeky unpopular heroes and the impossibly cool and slimy bad guys. Fox is endearing to a degree and does his best, and there are some other turns for the likes of Crispin Glover and Anthony Edwards, but generally this one's a bore, and that closing car race is as dull as it gets.

I was flipping through fast rewind,and came across a couple of 80s movies I hadn't seen. Among them was High school USA with Michael J fox, And crispin clower. I was wondering how this had slipped under the radar back then,when we usually went head over heals for high school comedy.Turn out the reason for it was, it was the most unfunny thing I ever had seen. I don't think I laughed once.The acting was sub par even from Fox. Crispin is his usual strange self,which he is in all his movies.The plot that wimpy Michael J fox should try to steal the girlfriend of the coolest dude in school isn't believable. There's not any edge to him. A lot of the story lines just doesn't really go anywhere either,Which don't really help the film

Contrary to some of the other comments, Crispin Glover actually does have a big role here, so much so that he should have been listed 2nd or 3rd in the credits. And yes, he does steal the show. Also the chemistry he has with Fox is excellent, and makes for a great double feature with Back To The Future. It is a shame the two didn't make more films together.Anyways, this is one of the best films of the 80's, TV or otherwise. And its one of the best high-school oriented films as well. The cast is perfect and the story is cute and funny. Also expect some major star-gazing from a who's-who of vintage TV, along with many now-famous movie stars. And above all, for those who lived through this era, it will be a slice of nostalgia heaven.So give this neglected classic some love! Pronto!

update 12/2/2002: OK just watched High School USA again for the first time since my review 12 years ago. It's still not a great film,but it is fun and i'll give it a break since its a TV movie. It's actually neat to see so many 80's TV actors in one place (and no less than 4 from Leave it to Beaver!). Not much of a story: rich,preppy A-hole (Edwards) has sweet,cute girlfriend (McKeon) that nice,funny normal guy (Fox) likes. Fox and Edwards make a bet on a car race that will somehow determine who is the coolest guy in school and most likely win over sweet girl McKeon. whatever. Crispin Glover actually has more screen time than anyone but Michael J Fox. Crispin & Michael Zorek provide most of the comedy as Fox's loser friends. I'll raise my movie review to a 6 and add another point for Glover/Zorek to make my final grade a 7.Zep