As you already know, the 80s were chock full of teen comedies. In fact, there were so many that even now it’s hard to keep up with them all. This week, Olive Films have taken it upon themselves to bring one of the smaller titles to Blu-ray. Secret Admirer features all of the typical tropes you might expect from a film of its era. However, it also gets some adult cast members into the mix, leading to some extra and unexpected laughs. The movie isn’t perfect, but it’s certainly funnier than many others of its ilk.
The plot revolves around a (not-so) mysterious love letter written to high school student Michael Ryan (C. Thomas Howell). He immediately hopes that girl-of-his-dreams Deborah (Kelly Preston) is the author. So naturally, our good-natured but somewhat clueless hero enlists the aid of best friend Toni (Lori Loughlin) to help him write a passionate response to the note. Unfortunately, both letters find themselves falling into the wrong hands. As more and more people misinterpret the declarations made on paper, numerous misunderstandings occur between the teens as well as their parents.
Of course, it takes some time to introduce all of the participants. The lead has a wacky friend and college foe he must contend with, all part of the usual trappings of these types of films. Despite the slow start, when the letter does start getting into the wrong hands, there are some genuinely amusing gags. In fact, the movie jolts to life almost immediately after an early misunderstanding results in a Michael chastising his local mailman.
While the kids are likable and do a decent job of selling the material, it is the adults who really nail the silly stuff. In particular, it’s Fred Ward (Tremors, Miami Blues) that steals the show. He plays a hilariously gruff police detective and father to one of the kids who becomes convinced his wife is having an affair.
The character’s controlled rage manifests itself in all sorts of entertaining ways, perhaps none funnier than a crude insult to Michael while passing by the teen on his front porch. Pretty much everything that comes out of his mouth in this film gets a chuckle (for a teen comedy, he drops an awful lot of unexpected f-bombs) and it all climaxes in an incredibly tense and awkward game of bridge between all the adult characters.
Admittedly, there are some storytelling problems towards the end. There are so many characters involved and the film is in such a rush to get to the final credits that a few of the story threads are given short shrift and aren’t wrapped up particularly well. However, the middle act is generally solid and should garner plenty of laughs for fans of 80s teen comedies.
Additionally, the picture quality is quite strong. The movie looks crisp and sharp; there seem to be no issues at all with the image despite the film’s age. In fact, I can’t imagine this movie ever having looked better than it does here. So while Secret Admirer isn’t a comedy classic, the awkward conversations and increasingly exaggerated scenarios do lead to plenty of funny scenes. Overall I enjoyed the film and feel that it definitely has some entertainment value.
Included below is a trailer for the film that is also included on the Blu-ray. And if you want to read more about Olive Films and its slate of titles, you can do so at www.olivefilms.com.