Losin’ It | Through the Shattered Lens

America, Hell Yeah!

As I always do, I celebrated Independence Day by watching one of the greatest films ever made, the original Red Dawn (1984). The communists land in America and try to take over and, sadly, they succeed to a large extent. However, a group of high school students led by Patrick Swayze and Charlie Sheen refuse to go down without a fight. Say it with me, “Wolverines!” This film really doesn’t get the respect that it deserves. Not only is it well-acted but, despite it’s reputation, it doesn’t glamorize war. Most of the Wolverines do not survive. C. Thomas Howell, the most committed of the Wolverines, loses a bit of his soul and goes from being a fresh-faced high school student to someone who can execute a former friend without a moment’s hesitation. While evil Russian William Smith plots to destroy the rebels, Ron O’Neal comes to respect their dedication. Still, in the end, the best thing about this film is that it’s shamelessly patriotic and unapologetically anti-communist. “Avenge me!” Harry Dean Stanton yells and you better do it. The film can be found on Max.

Warren Oates, Hell Yeah!

Yesterday was the birthday of the great character actor Warren Oates. Brad reviewed two of his films and Jeff shared a scene from Strips. I would like to recommend the enigmatic 1966 western The Shooting (1966). Deliberately paced and philosophically-minded, this film features Oates in a leading role. Millie Perkins and Jack Nicholson (who wrote the screenplay) make for a wonderfully menacing duo of villains. The Shooting can be found on Tubi.

Sylvester Stallone, Hell Yeah!

Today is Sylvester Stallone’s birthday. As far as I’m concerned, Stallone’s best performance was in First Blood (1982). The sequels, which were a bit more simplistic and jingoistic than the first film, have tended to overshadow just how good Stallone was as a troubled veteran who just wanted to get a cup of coffee and who found himself being thrown in jail for refusing to “go across the border.” Of course, it’s not just Stallone who is great in First Blood. Brian Dennehy and Richard Crenna were, arguably, never better than when they played Sheriff Teasle and Col. Troutman. First Blood was one of the first films to really be sympathetic to the plight of the Vietnam veteran. Rambo may snap and destroy an entire town but, after what he’s put through, you won’t blame him. First Blood is on Tubi!

Of course, if you really want a fun and wonderfully absurd Stallone film, check out the arm wrestling epic, Over The Top (1987). Stallone is Hawk, a truck driver who makes his living as an arm wrestler. Robert Loggia tries to Stallone’s son away so Stallone has to prove himself to be the world’s greatest arm wrestler. I distrust anyone who doesn’t love Over The Top. It can be viewed on Tubi.

Tom Cruise, Hell Yeah!

If you’re still in the mood to celebrate Tom Cruise’s birthday, Losin’ It (1982) features Cruise as a teenager in the 60s who goes down to Mexico with his friends so that he can …. well, lose it. While the comedy is often predictable, Losin’ It is still an amiable enough film and Cruise gives a likable performance and his character has a really sweet romance with Shelley Long. The great John Stockwell is also in the film. Director Curtis Hanson went on to do L.A. Confidental. Losin’ It is on Tubi!

It’s become fashionable to criticize Risky Business (1983), released a year after Losin’ It, for being a materialistic film but …. eh, screw that. Between the soundtrack, the surreal direction, Guido the Killer Pimp, and Tom Cruise bringing out the sunglasses at night, Risky Business is one of the best films of the 80s and it can be viewed on AMC+’s Prime Channel.

In Cocktail (1988), Tom Cruise is the last barman poet! A guilty pleasure for sure but a pleasure, nonetheless. Cocktail can be viewed on AMC+.

The Running Man, Hell Yeah!

There’s a remake of The Running Man coming out this year. I’ll live it to you to decide whether or not that’s a necessary thing. I will say that the original Running Man (1987) holds up very well, as both an action film and a media satire. You can smell the cigarettes and gin whenever Richard Dawson is on screen. The Running Man can be viewed on Tubi.

Beach Fun, Hell Yeah!

Saturday was National Bikini Day. If you missed your chance to celebrate, you can make up for it be watching Malibu High (1979), a film from the legendary production company, Crown International. It’s all fun and games the beach until a young woman is dumped by her boyfriend and decides to become a professional assassin. Malibu High can be viewed on Tubi.

The End of the World, Hell Yeah!

If you’re in the mood for some end of the world action, the low-budget, independently made A Thief In The Night (1972) is currently on Tubi, along with its sequels, A Distant Thunder, Image of the Beast, and The Prodigal Planet. A Thief In The Night is not necessarily a great film but it does have a few moments of dream-like intensity. And it’s short! It can be viewed on Tubi.

Click here for last week’s entry!

Originally, my 32nd entry in my Back To School series was going to be Made In Britain, a film about a 16 year-old Neo-Nazi played by Tim Roth. And, while I still suggest that you track down and watch Made In Britain (mostly for Roth’s amazing performance in the lead), I have to admit that, as I rewatched it, I found myself really struggling to find a way to fit it into the Back to School theme. Made in Britain is a good film about a juvenile delinquent but it just didn’t seem like it was right for this series. Maybe I’ll revisit it when I do my long-threatened series of “Europe Is As Messed Up As America” series of film reviews.

Instead, I decided to close out the 1983 portion of this series by taking a look at Losin’ It. Along with Risky Business and All The Right Moves, Losin’ It is one of the three films released in 1983 that starred Tom Cruise as a high school senior who is obsessed with losing his virginity. Much as in Risky Business, Cruise’s initial plan is to hire a prostitute. And much like in All The Right Moves …. well, actually Losin’ It doesn’t have much in common with All The Right Moves beyond the presence of Cruise. For that matter, it doesn’t really have much in common with Risky Business either. Whereas All The Right Moves was a coming-of-age drama and Risky Business was a satire on capitalism, Losin’ It is pretty much a straight comedy.

And an amazingly generic one at that!

Set in 1965 and featuring a soundtrack that appears to exist solely to remind you that the film is set in 1965, Losin’ It tells the story of four teenage boys who go down to Tijuana, hoping to get laid. There’s Woody (Tom Cruise), who is the nice guy who smiles all the time. There’s Spider (played by future director John Stockwell), who we’re told doesn’t have to pay for it but wants to go down to Tijuana so he can see a “donkey show.” (If you don’t know what a donkey show is, I’m sure it can be looked up on Wikipedia.) And then there’s Dave (Jackie Earle Haley), who is short, loud-mouthed, and idolizes Frank Sinatra to the extent that he even wears a Sinatra-style fedora. Tagging along is Dave’s younger brother Wendell (John P. Navin, Jr.), who is too young to get into any Mexican brothels but is hoping to buy some fireworks that he can then sell at school.

Anyway, they may think that they’re just going to Mexico but it soon turns out that they’re on a collision course with wackiness! Dave and Wendell end up being held hostage in an auto junkyard. Spider gets in a fight with a bunch of Marines and ends up in a Mexican jail. And Woody — well, listen, we all know that there’s no way fresh-faced, All-American Tom Cruise is going to lose his virginity in a dirty old brothel! Instead, he ends up pursuing a tentative romance with Kathy (Shelley Long), a newlywed who has come down to Tijuana to get a quickie divorce.

(Do they still give out quickie divorces in Tijuana or is that just something that happens in the movies? I’m just asking for future reference…)

Anyway, of the Tom Cruise Must Get Laid Trilogy, Losin’ It is easily the most generic and forgettable but that doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s a terrible movie. Curtis Hanson keeps the action moving at a steady pace (and, if that sounds like faint praise, just try sitting through a film with an unsteady pace) and the cast is likable. Tom Cruise is the one who gets all of the attention on the back of the DVD and he’s likable enough but really, if I had been alive and a film critic in 1983, I probably would have picked the handsome and charismatic John Stockwell as the one most likely to become a star.

Instead, 31 years later, Tom Cruise is the star (albeit a fading one) and John Stockwell is the one directing movies about life on the beach.

It’s a strange world.