Life lessons are not always the most prevalent in coming of age genre films. Sometimes they're real obvious, while others are more obscure and look to have their viewers find the deeper meaning themselves. It's also hard to say how significant a coming of age film can be when it is a Rated R comedy. Some have worked brilliantly - The 40 Year Old Virgin (2005) is one. This on the other hand is a strange mix of elements that plays its cards right in some respects, while at other moments it's questionable to what the crew was thinking here. This is the story of Johnny Walker (Anthony Michael Hall), a high school athlete who has quite a fan club. After winning the last football game of the season (by cheating no less), Walker is approached by recruiter upon recruiter to play for their college team.There are also other people who want Johnny to go with their opinion. Wayne Hisler (Paul Gleason), the high school coach wants him to attend a college of his choice so he can acquire special benefits and he'll do anything to make sure it happens. Johnny's mom and grandpa want him to get an education more than a sports scholarship and his girlfriend Georgia (Uma Thurman) wants him to attend State with her. So many opinions, which one will he choose?! Well, Johnny ends up attending mostly all of their open houses. This ends up having him being bribed with things that seem almost unrealistic or things that have nothing to do with getting an education or playing football. Of course fame grants several of these things but at a high school level? The kid and his team didn't even play fairly winning the last game so how does that even qualify? Are the refs that blind?Plus, what's even more shocking is to how this production was able to gather now famous actors when they were starting off and the chemistry feels almost nonexistent. And, the screenplay was completed by three writers, all of which worked on Revenge of the Nerds (1984). How is that barely any charm are given to these characters? There are only a couple of moments that Johnny goes through that actually develop him as a character. Other than that he's placed in silly events that should trigger his conscience saying he shouldn't be there. The best parts of the film are when Johnny's family is on screen. Somehow they seem to have the best lines and character arcs. My favorite family member was the grandfather (George Hall). Such a nice old man.Uma Thurman's character has a very typical character arc, loves her boyfriend - finds him as a jerk briefly - then resorts back to him. Possibly the strangest of all is Robert Downey Jr.'s character. Either he tries too hard to be funny or his jokes don't make any sense. It's baffling, I guess Downey Jr. didn't realize how much funnier he is when he says his lines deadpan than actually trying to be comical. Fans might also get a kick out of actor Marshal Bell's performance as Uma Thurman's dad, also the chief of police. He has some funny one liners at times too. All right enough of the characters. Jay Ferguson's music to the film is appropriately set but doesn't have anything to remember about it. Was it a comedy that had laughs galore? Not so much. Does it feel like a coming of age movie? Not really.The cast contains famous actors of today in their youth and has a moral somewhere in its story but its delivery is overshadowed by hit and miss comedy. Much of the events that take place feel impossible too, decreasing its believability.

I'm not sure where all these bad reviews are coming from. I haven't watched this movie in years but I remember it as a very funny movie that made good fun of the college football recruiting process. I was thinking about this movie the other day and decided to check out the rating for this movie and was shocked to see that it was hovering around 4.1. I must have seen an entirely different movie or there are a lot of people that don't see this movie the way I saw it. I loved Micheal Anthony Hall movies back in the day and this is one of my all time favorites. I really liked 16 candles as well as Noation Lampoons Vacation. Who can forget Weird Science. So there is no way this movie deserves a 4.1 review. 10 all the way for me. Really probably around a high 7 but since people are all butt hurt by this movie for some reason I'm giving it a 10.

Uma Thurman, in her movie debut at the age of 17 or 18, is as gangly and succulent as ever, and maybe more so. She's awfully easy on the eyes. Too bad there isn't more of her.That's about it, as far as I'm concerned. I can imagine others getting more out of this noisy and ridiculous flick about a high-school football hero being courted by various colleges who offer him money, bribes, margaritas, and of course sexy women.I can imagine most of those others being adolescents because the film illustrates and endorses all the adolescent virtues. That wouldn't in itself be the kiss of death. Some very amusing movies have been made about adolescence.But -- well, let me give two examples of humor in this movie. You're supposed to laugh at both of them.The story opens with a football game. One of the cheer leaders on our side has removed her pants. The two rival teams line up. The quarterback on our team shouts, "Hey, that cheerleader has no pants on!" The rival team glances over and our side bursts through their line.Example number two. The happy family of the hero is seated around the family dinner table and chatting away. Even the little daughter with the missing front teeth asks impudent questions. The scene closes with the family members and the guest throwing pieces of food at each other and laughing.If you find this funny, if you like loud electronic guitars and pounding percussion, if you find raunchy comments about genitals amusing in themselves, you will enjoy this movie.I don't know how it ended because I couldn't watch it all the way through, but I imagine that Johnny the football hero gives up money, celebrity, beer, and girls, joins a monastery and becomes a contemplative monk.

You'd think a movie with that kind of title (taken from a song) would be a silly, over-the-top movie. Well, it is, but not in a good way. Is Johnny a troublemaker, or just a troubled kid? The movie reunites Anthony Michael Hall with his "Breakfast Club" co-star Paul Gleason, in case you never figured that out. The characters have no chemistry and there's no real story. It doesn't make you laugh, only chuckle. And it's certainly not even trying to be a good movie, much less a funny one. If there is any believable scene, it's towards the end of the movie, where everybody starts fighting after Johnny's announcement. What is the point of this assembly, anyway? From what I could tell throughout the movie, it didn't seem Hall ever decided on one. Talk about a cheat!** out of ****