(3/10)
It doesn't get trashier than this - plain jane high school girl Sara Gilbert improbably befriends bad girl
Drew Barrymore who - for reasons never fully explained and in fairly inplausible ways - proceeds to
destroy her already rather dismal existence.
This is kitschy garbage that became a big enough cable TV favorite to spawn several straight-to-video
sequels. It was the early 90's and the general public were obsessed with the lurid tale of 'Long Island
Lolita' Amy Fisher. No less than three TV movies based on that story were cranked out quick (one which
starred Barrymore and another which starred "Poison Ivy 2" star Alyssa Milano). But Hollywood wanted
their pound of flesh as well, so New Line Cinema gave us "Poison Ivy."
To be sure the film had the right amount of lascivious thrills, husband and wife sleaze-meisters Katt
Shea Ruben and Andy Ruben - best known for the "Stripped To Kill" series - were recruited to bring
their late night skinemax touch to the proceedings. But their foray into a bigger world is mostly
unsuccessful.
The movie is silly and tacky, but that's to be expected so you can't hold that against it. What you can hold
back is the horrible writing. The dialogue is stupid (many unintentionally hilarious lines), the characters
are never clearly defined (there are times when wicked Barrymore seems more likeable than whiny,
erratic Gilbert), and most annoyingly, the plot devices are beyond idiotic. . People flair into rages for no
apparent reasons, characters seem to let everything get past them and then figure things out for the
slightest, most ridiculous reasons.
Plus, the fact that the characters are so young makes the film disturbing and uncomfortable half the
time (like watching Tom Skerritt graphically tongue-kissing a supposedly underage Barrymore) and the
other half of the time it just feels like a mean-spirited "Pretty In Pink."
The cast gives things more gusto than the material deserves - Barrymore is suitably vixenish, Skerritt is
alternately schmucky and sympathetic as the script can't decide what he should be, Giilbert does what
she can with her annoying lead character and Cheryl Ladd is over-the-top as the sick mother.
It's not a very good movie, but it did spawn quite a following and a slew of sequels which wisely made
the characters older in future installments. There is very little skin, but there is an R-rated and Unrated
version. It should be noted that for reasons I don't understand a strange scene where Skerritt is
revealed to be wearing a hair-piece is missing from some versions of the film. It's availbale with the
second and third film on a single cheap DVD set (which contain the unrated versions, but missing the
toupee scene).
It doesn't get trashier than this - plain jane high school girl Sara Gilbert improbably befriends bad girl
Drew Barrymore who - for reasons never fully explained and in fairly inplausible ways - proceeds to
destroy her already rather dismal existence.
This is kitschy garbage that became a big enough cable TV favorite to spawn several straight-to-video
sequels. It was the early 90's and the general public were obsessed with the lurid tale of 'Long Island
Lolita' Amy Fisher. No less than three TV movies based on that story were cranked out quick (one which
starred Barrymore and another which starred "Poison Ivy 2" star Alyssa Milano). But Hollywood wanted
their pound of flesh as well, so New Line Cinema gave us "Poison Ivy."
To be sure the film had the right amount of lascivious thrills, husband and wife sleaze-meisters Katt
Shea Ruben and Andy Ruben - best known for the "Stripped To Kill" series - were recruited to bring
their late night skinemax touch to the proceedings. But their foray into a bigger world is mostly
unsuccessful.
The movie is silly and tacky, but that's to be expected so you can't hold that against it. What you can hold
back is the horrible writing. The dialogue is stupid (many unintentionally hilarious lines), the characters
are never clearly defined (there are times when wicked Barrymore seems more likeable than whiny,
erratic Gilbert), and most annoyingly, the plot devices are beyond idiotic. . People flair into rages for no
apparent reasons, characters seem to let everything get past them and then figure things out for the
slightest, most ridiculous reasons.
Plus, the fact that the characters are so young makes the film disturbing and uncomfortable half the
time (like watching Tom Skerritt graphically tongue-kissing a supposedly underage Barrymore) and the
other half of the time it just feels like a mean-spirited "Pretty In Pink."
The cast gives things more gusto than the material deserves - Barrymore is suitably vixenish, Skerritt is
alternately schmucky and sympathetic as the script can't decide what he should be, Giilbert does what
she can with her annoying lead character and Cheryl Ladd is over-the-top as the sick mother.
It's not a very good movie, but it did spawn quite a following and a slew of sequels which wisely made
the characters older in future installments. There is very little skin, but there is an R-rated and Unrated
version. It should be noted that for reasons I don't understand a strange scene where Skerritt is
revealed to be wearing a hair-piece is missing from some versions of the film. It's availbale with the
second and third film on a single cheap DVD set (which contain the unrated versions, but missing the
toupee scene).
 |
Rating;
Written by Jim Haggerty
