Class [1983] [DVD]

Jonathan Onger (Andrew McCarthy) is the new boy at a wealthy looking prep-school. We see him being sent off at the bus station by his very humble looking mum and dad and his initial awkwardness as he stumbled around the hallowed halls of the new school looking for his room. When he eventually finds it he is welcomed with open arms by his new roommate, the grandly named Franklin 'Skip' Burroughs IV (Rob Lowe) or “Skip” to his friends. Much to Jonathan’s surprise Skip peels off his dressing gown to reveal he’s wearing ladies underwear. He explains to Jonathan that this is a time honoured first day tradition and eggs him on to don similar attire. Alas for Jonathan this is all part of a practical joke and he is soon left stranded outside, locked out of his dormitory dressed in very frilly skimpies. For the sensitive and timid Jonathan this is a nightmare and he settles into such a dark depression that we wonder if he will make it through the term. But in a turnaround of dramatic proportions he plays his own joke on Skip and in a mess of faked suicides and blow up dolls the two boys become firm friends.

Skip comes from a moneyed and privileged background and for the lowly Jonathan his lust for life and good natured pranks are a real eye-opener. During one such prank Jonathan finds himself the butt of a calamitous series of events and is banned from the dance with the neighbouring girls’ school. To cheer him up Skip lends him some money with the instructions to go into town and not come back with a pair of women’s panties to prove what he’s been up to. Much to Jonathan’s own surprise he actually achieves the target Skip has set him when he meets up with a beautiful sophisticated older woman called Ellen (Jacqueline Bisset) in a rowdy bar. In a weekend of mind blowing sex, Jonathan returns to college a lot more worldly wise than he left.

Jonathan is invited to spend Christmas with Skip and his family, in a scene of jaw dropping silence he meets Skip’s mother only to discover that she is none other than his fantasy older lover. Although the pair of shocked lovers pretend that they don’t know each other the cracks soon show with Skip’s mother getting drunk at dinner much to the displeasure of Skip’s authoritarian father. The boys return to college with Jonathan determined to end the relationship but with Ellen constantly telephoning him it’s only a question of time before Skip finds out what’s really going on.

There’s obvious likenesses here with the classic film “The Graduate” and whilst this film takes an overall more light-hearted look at the problems faced by the characters it makes a pretty good job of the tensions between the leads. Certainly the two boys make a charming and engaging couple. Rob Lowe’s charisma is extremely natural and Andrew McCarthy was always better when playing awkward and sky rather than cool and gregarious.

The only real problem with the film is the rather sloppy and unsatisfying ending. It doesn’t really tie up all the loose ends and rather wimps out of making any real message.

Overall though the film is well worth a watch. It’s worth looking out for other Brat Pack stars like John Cusack and Alan Ruck and is a great reminder of the fashions and feelings of that age.

Two thumbs up