Summer School (1987) [Life’s a Beach Edition] – DVD

*½/**** Image A Sound A- Extras B-
starring Mark Harmon, Kirstie Alley, Robin Thomas, Patrick Labyorteaux
screenplay by Jeff Franklin
directed by Carl Reiner

by Travis Mackenzie Hoover We at FFC ride ourselves on sussing out the subtleties in what is widely condemned as popular junk, and more power to us. But if you're expecting a review of Summer School that illuminates the film's hidden complexities, you've sadly come to the wrong place. Although there are certain thematic features that identify it as an atypical entry in the '80s teen-comedy genre, not the least of which a sort-of social conscience that suggests National Lampoon's Degrassi High, these anomalous credentials are largely wiped out by a thudding lack of wit and a functional ugliness of craft that makes the film barely tolerable at the best of times. While the actors generally convey personality beyond the limited means of the production, they're fighting an uphill battle against a pervasive laziness behind the camera.

Early scenes are almost insufferable as we settle in for TV-cheap hijinks with wacky, wacky gym teacher Freddy Shoop (Mark Harmon), a lovable slob you know is cool because he wears Hawaiian shirts (and kids LOVE those). His nemesis is yuppie-meets-Herb Tarlek vice principal Phil Gills (Robin Thomas), who's threatened to shred Shoop's tenure if he doesn't take on the no-hopers in a summer-school remedial English course. Hep cats vs. squares duly established, the film then introduces the "lovable misfits" of the class, including gore-movie-obsessed cutups Chainsaw (Dean Cameron) and Dave (Gary Riley), winsome surfer girl Pam (Courtney Thorne-Smith), sassy black badass Denise (Kelly Minter), and assorted other nerds, louts, and hopeless cases. No disciplinarian, Shoop schedules field trips to a theme park and the beach, whereupon the filmmakers indulge in PG-13 cheesecake and devil-may-care hilarity.

All said, it's pretty dire. Still, things pick up somewhat once the film plays its would-be dramatic interest. There are extenuating circumstances that slightly elevate these kids beyond archetypal losers: Denise turns out to be dyslexic; Rhonda (Shawnee Smith) is in her third trimester; and Pam has one of those teenage crushes on Shoop that she takes to awkward extremes. (There's even a student who turns out to be a male stripper on the side, but let's not go there.) Thus the film finds its (shaky) moral centre in unearthing the true potential of these slackers: not just in babysitting them, as Phil Gills would have it, but in teaching them as well. Yet for this sudden turn of conscience to have any bite, it would have to transpire in a movie firing on all cylinders–and Summer School barely fires on one. The unusual plot turns are used not to get us to care but to grease the creaky wheels of rebellion and half-hearted sap.

It may not belong to a proud lineage, but Summer School didn't have to be this perfunctory: with material considerably less grave Ivan Reitman conjured a warm and somewhat aesthetic enterprise in Meatballs, while Bob Clark managed with Porky's to broach very serious subject matter without trivializing the topics or compromising the laugh quotient. Here, director Carl Reiner–long severed from his glory days on "Your Show of Shows"–exhibits the same lackadaisical attitude the film ostensibly disdains. Reiner's approach is point-and-shoot all the way, and, coupled with sitcom-scribe Jeff Franklin's groaner-strewn screenplay, the results give the impression of having been dashed off in a drunken afternoon.

THE DVD
Paramount reissues Summer School on DVD in a "Life's a Beach" edition. Super-bright without oversaturating, the recycled 1.85:1, 16×9-enhanced transfer is clean, vivid, and film-like. The Dolby Digital 5.1 audio doesn't have too many opportunities to reel in the surrounds, but what is essentially a prototypical comedy mix is shown to its advantage in this clear-as-a-bell presentation. Extras begin with a commentary reuniting Harmon and Reiner that is almost entirely obsessed with the performances. The pair shower the cast with praise for how they contributed so much and did so well with their parts; the fact that Reiner can't think of anything else to discuss speaks volumes about his directing style–or lack thereof.

"Inside the Teacher's Lounge" (14 mins.) extends this further: though there's mention of Jeff Franklin's experiences as a teacher informing the script, mostly the clip concerns the aptness of the casting and Reiner's ability to bring out the best in his young talent. It's quite convivial, if not especially edifying. More of the same in "Summer School Yearbook" (10 mins.), in which Shoop's students get their moment in the sun. Various members of this now-middle-aged ensemble reveal crushes on as well as admiration for their compatriots. Plus, Franklin admits that HE was the inspiration for the stripper kid, though I won't spoil how. Rounding out the package: a photo gallery and the film's theatrical trailer.

97 minutes; PG-13; 1.85:1 (16×9-enhanced); English DD 5.1, English DD 2.0 (Mono), French DD 2.0 (Mono); CC; English subtitles; DVD-9; Region One; Paramount