Rich Girl (1991) Studio Three/Drama RT: 96 minutes Rated R (language, some violence, sexual content, drugs) Director: Joel Bender Screenplay: Robert Elliot Music: Jay Chattaway Cinematography: Levie Isaacks Release date: May 3, 1991 (US) Starring: Jill Schoelen, Don Michael Paul, Sean Kanan, Ron Karabatsos, Paul Gleason, Melanie Tomlin, Trudi Forristal, Ann Gillespie, Bentley Mitchum, Cherie Currie, Dennis Holahan, Walter Lang. Box Office: $561,000 (US)
Rating: ***
Rich Girl, a one-week wonder in May ’91, is one of those movies that play better the second time around. I didn’t like it too much the first time I saw it at an advance screening the night before it opened. I saw no reason to bother with it again until my buddy Jeff brought his copy to my house. I figured I had nothing to lose other than 96 minutes of my life watching it again. It wasn’t such a waste this time.
Something funny occurred to me while watching Rich Girl. Specifically, I wondered if this movie was actually made in the 80s. Everything in it- the clothes, the music, the yuppie ex-boyfriend, etc.- seems like it came right out of that decade. It feels like something I would have watched in a theater circa 1985 with Ally Sheedy and Patrick Swayze playing the leads.
The plot of Rich Girl is like something out of a romance comic book, a form of “literature” once popular with preteen girls. Jill Schoelen (The Stepfather) plays Courtney Wells, a spoiled rich girl from Beverly Hills tired of having her life controlled by her father Marvin (Gleason, The Breakfast Club). She wants to go out into the world and make it on her own. She breaks up with her fiancé Jeffrey (Kanan, The Karate Kid Part III) after catching him in bed with one of her friends. She goes to L.A. where she finds an apartment and a job as a waitress at a nightclub called Rocco’s. Looking to fit in, she doesn’t tell anybody about her wealthy background.
One night at Rocco’s, she meets Rick (Paul, Dangerously Close), a rock singer from the wrong side of the tracks hoping to make it big someday. Naturally, he and Courtney become romantically involved. Dad doesn’t like his daughter’s newfound independence. Having already cut her off from her trust fund, he delivers an ultimatum to Rick. If he doesn’t stop seeing his daughter, he will ruin him professionally.
Rich Girl is pure trash, but it’s the good kind of trash. It’s corny and melodramatic. It features two attractive leads. The villains are exaggerated stereotypes. Courtney’s co-workers are the usual characters you’d expect to find in a nightclub. The music sounds like it was recorded by a Survivor cover band. Some of the tunes written for this movie are so bad, they’re good.
It would be accurate to describe Rich Girl as campy. It’s like a summer make out movie in that you don’t have to pay too close attention to understand what’s going on. What I like best about it is Schoelen, a young actress who should have been a bigger star. She’s an endearing type in possession of more talent than the entire Brat Pack combined. A talented musician in addition to an actress, Schoelen gets to show off that particular set of skills when she fills in for his band’s lead singer, hard-partying ex-girlfriend Michelle (Currie of The Runaways). Paul, who resembles Scott Valentine (Family Ties) and sounds a little like Springsteen, makes a decent romantic lead. The way he looks at Courtney while he’s up on stage singing would make any young girl swoon. He and Schoelen have nice chemistry together too.
Karan hams it up as Courtney’s rotten ex, an entitled yuppie who will stop at nothing to get what he wants. In this case, it’s Courtney. He almost makes James Spader’s character from Pretty in Pink look like a nice guy. The late Gleason made a career of playing mean bastards- e.g. Trading Places, The Breakfast Club and Die Hard just to name a few. He pulls out all the stops here, ultimately making his own daughter choose between money and independence.
Okay, I’ll admit to liking Rich Girl. It’s a fun trashy movie you can either watch while cuddling with your significant other or laugh at while drinking with friends. The term “so bad it’s great” definitely applies here. It has plenty of overacting, dippy dialogue, cheesy original songs with dopey lyrics and hideous clothing. It even has the predictably happy ending we’ve come to expect from silly romantic dramas aimed at teens. The central message of Rich Girl is, of course, love conquers all. It’s a message we’ve heard many times before, but it’s nice to be reminded once in a while.
