FLOYD MUTRUX

Bil’s rating (out of 5):   BBBB. 

USA, 1980.  Casablanca Filmworks, Polygram Filmed Entertainment.  Story by Floyd Mutrux, Richard Lederer, William Tennant, Screenplay by Floyd Mutrux.  Cinematography by William A. Fraker.  Produced by Richard Lederer.  Production Design by Lee Fischer.  Costume Design by Darryl Levine.  Film Editing by Stanford C. Allen, Scott Conrad.  

Something of a shallow version of American Graffiti, this music-filled comedy takes place in the sixties on the last night that a local diner will be serving food before closing. The joint is popular with the teenagers, so they decide to pay tribute to a dying era by spending an entire evening trashing the city in an effort to create a night worth remembering. Goofy, mindless comedies like these were a dime a dozen in the early eighties, but two elements elevate this one high above its contemporaries: a soundtrack that never stops pounding out hit after Wolfman-Jacked hit, and a tender sense of nostalgia that affects every frame. The laughs are good and plentiful, and you even get to see Michelle Pfeiffer, Tony Danza and Fran Drescher in the earliest stages of their careers. Rent it, for a party or for yourself, it’s a terrific movie.