CLASS. Directed by Lewis John Carlino; screenplay by Jim Kauf and Davie Greenwalt; produced by Martin Ransohoff for Orion. Starring Rob Lowe, Jacqueline Bisset and Andrew McCarthy. Rated R.
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Most comedies deal with situations that aren't really funny at all. Certainly, they would not seem so, if we were actually involved instead of merely observing.
This is the case in Class, a comedy which doesn't stop with the laughs but at least tries to explore the serious ramifications of its situation. Neither the comedy nor the drama is 100% successful, but it is an entertaining movie with appealing characters.
The story centers on the developing friendship of prep school roommates Jonathan (McCarthy) and Skip (Lowe). After an initial trade-off of imaginative practical jokes, their relationship sails along smoothly for a while, or at least until Jonathan—who has been spending steamy weekends with an older woman—discovers that the lady is Skip's mother.
After this revelation the serious scenes predominate, except for a few interludes that are largely carried by Skip and Jonathan's friends, who make up a nice comic ensemble.
The events are fairly predictable, but the situation is not unfeelingly exploited, as it could have been. By the time the story takes its serious turn, we care enough about the boys to want it to be serious, as no one likes to see a good friend made the butt of a cruel joke.
Class could have become too melodramatic, but its avoids this fate by keeping the focus on Skip and Jonathan. However the melodrama almost wins out when the mother/lover (Bisset) is on-screen. Because her life is so wretched, her story wants to overwhelm the essentially upbeat main plot. But her scenes are few enough, and Bisset uses enough restraint that this doesn't happen.
The slapstick scenes early on and the snappy comebacks which pepper the dialogue are the movie's highlights. Lowe and McCarthy look and work well together. On their own and along with their aforementioned friends, they are a real treat.
Some of the jokes are vulgar and the language is "schoolboy foul," which is the main reason for the R rating. And I suspect that some adults, especially women, may be offended with the way adults (and, again, especially women) are portrayed in Class.
But, after all, the movie is about teenage boys, a group not always known for having mature feelings about females or much respect for the way their parents handle things.
I give Class a B+ for above average, light summer entertainment.
August 3, 1983