Weekend Pass (1984) Crown International/Comedy RT: 92 minutes Rated R (sexual humor and references, nudity, language, brief violence) Director: Lawrence Bassoff Screenplay: Lawrence Bassoff Music: John Baer Cinematography: Bryan England Release date: April 27, 1984 (Philadelphia, PA) Cast: D.W. Brown, Peter Ellenstein, Patrick Houser, Chip McAllister, Pamela G. Kay, Hilary Shapiro, Graem McGavin, Daureen Collodel, Annette Sinclair, Grand L. Bush, Sara Costa, Valerie McIntosh, Cheryl Song, Peter Bailey-Britton, Phil Hartman, Theodore Wilson, Bunny Summers, Lynne Stewart, Mona Charles, Debbie Christoffersen, Joan Dykman. Box Office: $21M (US)
Rating: ***
In the first 15 minutes of Weekend Pass, a T&A comedy about four sailors on the make in L.A., the viewer gets the following: a dumb hemorrhoid joke, a cheesy opening song and the obligatory first-stop visit to a strip club. Taken together, along with it bearing the Crown International logo, there’s never any confusion about what type of movie it is.
Written and directed by Lawrence Bassoff (Hunk), Weekend Pass may sound like an R-rated version of the 1949 musical On the Town, but I can assure you that Frank Sinatra and Gene Kelly would not approve of what these sailors get into over the course of 72 hours. None of it involves tap dancing, you can believe that!
Four Navy men fresh out of basic training hit the City of Angels for three days of R&R before shipping out. They’re looking to get laid, of course, but they have other things going on. Aspiring stand-up comedian Fricker (Brown, Fast Times at Ridgemont High) has a gig at a comedy club. Ladies man Webster (Hauser, Hot Dog… The Movie) has a hot date with his college crush Cindy (Shapiro, Hunk). Nerdy Lester (Ellenstein, The Last American Virgin) has a blind date with his CO’s niece Tawny (McGavin, My Tutor). He’s nervous about it because he’s a virgin. Tough black dude Bunker Hill (McAllister, Hamburger: The Motion Picture) wants to reconnect with his old girlfriend Etta (McIntosh, The Naked Cage) who’s now with the leader of his old street gang.
As you can see, Weekend Pass isn’t heavy on plot. Did you expect anything more…. or less? It mainly focuses on the guys’ escapades like trying to help Lester lose his virginity. The guys employ the services of an Asian masseuse who comes to their motel room and leaves Lester looking like a human pretzel. A visit to Bunker’s old neighborhood results in a violent confrontation with the aforementioned gang leader (Bush, Die Hard). Webster’s hot date becomes the date from hell when Cindy turns out to be a high maintenance phony who ignores him while she talks on the phone or schmoozes with important people at an expensive Beverly Hills restaurant. At the end, there’s a party at an aerobics studio that should erase any doubt that Weekend Pass was made in the 80s with the outfits, cheesy music and break dancers.
There’s romance too. Bunker meets an attractive aerobics instructor Tina (Kay, Rescue Me) who initially rejects his advances, but changes her tune after he persists and persists. Fricker meets an attractive comedienne (Collodel) at the club. Lester’s date goes well; it turns out she’s a nerdette. Even better, she has a cute cousin Maxine (Sinclair, Hide and Go Shriek) who takes a liking to Webster. My movie’s end, they all have girlfriends. Spoiler, what spoiler? You had to know this would be the eventual outcome. Silly T&A comedies like Weekend Pass aren’t known for plot twists.
Surprisingly, Weekend Pass isn’t as sleazy as it looks. I’m not sure I’d even classify it as a dirty movie even though it has a decent amount of nudity and sex humor. I didn’t like it when I first saw it at a Saturday afternoon matinee way back in April ’84. I didn’t find it particularly funny and it has one of the worst opening songs I’ve ever heard. It’s a bouncy number with some truly awful lyrics. Take a gander at the chorus- “Weekend pass, weekend pass, this is just a weekend pass/Weekend pass, you took me on a weekend pass/Weekend pass, we only have a weekend pass/Weekend pass.” The song is written by John Baer and sung by Robbie Baer (not sure if and how they’re related). It’s terrible yet somehow it fits right in with the tone of the movie. It’s so bad, I love it! I have it on one of my playlists.
In the 40+ years since its release, I’ve developed an appreciation for bad 70s and 80s T&A comedies, especially the ones from Crown- e.g. The Pom Pom Girls, The Van, Malibu Beach, Van Nuys Blvd., The Beach Girls and My Tutor. None of them are high art, but they’re great for what they are.
Like its cinematic brethren, Weekend Pass is made to be watched on cable late at night by teenage boys who keep the sound turned down low so as not to rouse the parentals from their peaceful slumber. Looking at it now, it’s still not a particularly outstanding movie nor is it hysterically funny. It’s absolutely dated with the punk/New Wave fashions and attitudes towards women and sex. The acting isn’t especially good or bad. The lead guys are likable enough; the girls are sufficiently attractive. None of them would go on to become big stars. The only who did is the late Phil Hartman (SNL cast member 1986-94) who plays the comedy club emcee.
Weekend Pass is an entertaining movie that never pretends to be anything other than a harmless and dumb T&A comedy aimed at horny teens and dirty old men. If taken on its own terms, it’s actually not too bad. It has a few laughs, some hot babes and a short running time. What else could you possibly want? If you say plot, you’re watching the wrong movie.
