Summer School (1987) Paramount/Comedy RT: 97 minutes Rated PG-13 (language/obscene gestures, brief partial nudity, teen drinking, gruesome images) Director: Carl Reiner Screenplay: Jeff Franklin Music: Danny Elfman Cinematography: David M. Walsh Release date: July 22, 1987 (US) Cast: Mark Harmon, Kirstie Alley, Robin Thomas, Courtney Thorne-Smith, Dean Cameron, Gary Riley, Patrick Labyorteaux, Shawnee Smith, Kelly Jo Minter, Richard Steven Horvitz, Ken Olandt, Fabiana Udenio, Duane Davis, Frank McCarthy, Lucy Lee Flippin, Amy Stock. Box Office: $35.6M (US)
Rating: ****
Looking back at my fondest summer memories, I would have to put August 12, 1987 somewhere at the top of that list (top 3 at least). It was a Wednesday and I took my then-girlfriend Judy to a nearby multiplex for a triple shot of summer movie fun that included two Cannon movies. We started with Masters of the Universe, jumped over to Superman IV: The Quest for Peace and finished out the day with Summer School. That’s the comedy starring Mark Harmon (St. Elsewhere, NCIS) as the unlikely teacher of a group of high school misfits attending summer school. It was a great way to wrap things up that day as we both found it hysterically funny.
Directed by Carl Reiner (The Jerk), Summer School is the kind of summertime comedy that you almost never see anymore. In the 80s, the hot weather seemed to bring out the best in comedy filmmakers as it was during those months that many of the classics hit screens. The short list includes Caddyshack, The Blues Brothers, Stripes, Bachelor Party, Fletch, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Back to School, A Fish Called Wanda and Weekend at Bernie’s. Summer School made $35.6M at the box office which isn’t a lot these days, but was pretty good for a comedy with no established stars. What does it matter anyway? Those who went to see it, LOVED it.
What I want to know is how anybody could dislike Summer School? It’s such a good-natured funny movie? There’s absolutely nothing mean-spirited about it, unlike many of today’s so-called “comedies” that go to great lengths to show the cruel side of human nature. I’ll NEVER understand what’s so funny about Office Space. Where is the humor in such mean and spiteful behavior? I’ll take Summer School any day.
It’s the last day of school before summer vacation and everybody is looking forward to a little R&R. That is, until slimeball Vice Principal Gills (Thomas, About Last Night) takes a group of problem students aside and informs them that they have to attend summer school for remedial English. After the regular teacher (Reiner) wins $50,000 from a scratch-off, Gills finds himself in need of a quick replacement. He coerces phys ed teacher Freddy Shoop (Harmon) into taking the assignment by threatening to deny him tenure. Oh well, there go his plans to vacation in Hawaii with his hot younger girlfriend.
Shoop’s new class consists of underachieving students who failed an English basic skills test. At the head of the class are Chainsaw (Cameron, Bad Dreams) and Dave (Riley, Ruthless People), a pair of morbid pranksters obsessed with horror flicks (especially The Texas Chainsaw Massacre). These are the dudes that everybody remembers from Summer School. The rest of Shoop’s students are the easily distracted Pam (Thorne-Smith, Melrose Place), football player Kevin (Labyorteaux, Heathers), pregnant Rhonda (Smith, The Blob), sassy Denise (Minter, The Principal), geeky Alan (Horvitz, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers), the always-asleep Larry (Olandt, April Fool’s Day) and a big black dude named Jerome (Davis, The Hidden) that we don’t see after the first day of class. A hot Italian transfer student named Anna Maria (Udenio, Austin Powers) also joins the class and immediately becomes the object of affection for Chainsaw and Dave.
Shoop meets fellow teacher Robin Bishop (Alley, Cheers) on the first day and instantly falls for her. However, she doesn’t care for his lackadaisical attitude towards his job. Furthermore, she’s dating Gills. Shoop has no idea how to teach so he spends the first few days goofing off, taking his class on field trips to the beach and an amusement park. When Gills finds out, he threatens to fire him unless ALL of his students pass the final exam. The kids agree to study, do homework and pay attention in class if Shoop grants each one a favor in return. And so it goes. It’s like To Sir, with Love meets Animal House.
What really makes Summer School work is that there’s a gifted funnyman in the director’s seat. Carl Reiner (father of Rob “Meathead” Reiner) has a rather impressive list of credits that also includes Oh, God! (1977), Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid (1982), The Man with Two Brains (1983), All of Me (1984) and That Old Feeling (1997). Even his lesser efforts- Summer Rental (1985), Sibling Rivalry (1990) and Fatal Instinct (1993)- have a handful of laughs apiece. The general plot (“Underdogs rule!”) of Summer School has been used many times before. Off the top of my head, I can name Meatballs, Police Academy and Revenge of the Nerds as primary examples. In the right hands, it works!
That being said, I have to admit that Summer School took me by surprise. When I went to see it that day, I was more familiar with the director than leading man Harmon. All I really knew about the actor was that he had been on the TV medical drama St. Elsewhere, a show that I never watched. I knew who Kirstie Alley was from her roles in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982) and Runaway (1984). I think they both do a very good job. It goes without saying that my favorite students are Chainsaw and Dave; a gorehound instantly recognizes his own. I also developed dual crushes on Shawnee Smith and Courtney Thorne-Smith (no relation). Although I had seen them before in Iron Eagle and Revenge of the Nerds II respectively, this is the first time that I really stood and took notice of them.
Of course, the most important thing about Summer School is that it’s funny. That’s really the bottom line when it comes to comedies, isn’t it? Harmon is easy to like as are his students. There’s something inherently appealing about a group of misfits who have been made to feel inferior by the constant put-downs and insults of their arrogant peers (or teachers, bosses, commanding officers, etc.). The viewer just knows they will step up and prove their tormentors wrong. It usually makes for a movie that’s as fun as it is funny. As for other factors influencing my positive feelings for Summer School, all I can say is that it brings back happy memories every time I watch it. A triple bill with a really awesome gal (my first true love, for the record), what could be better than that?
