Movie review: ‘Summer School’

FloridaGator80

As we speed to Labor Day in about three weeks (as of the date of the original posting of this review in 2014), there’s enough time left in summer for one of those breezy and light films so easy to watch this time of year. “Summer School” with Mark Harmon and Kirstie Alley isn’t great (actually, barely manages being good) but has some interesting characters and won’t challenge your intellect. However, it is simply the definition of what summer fluff should be – fun and watchable. There are a bunch of simply horrible “summer” films – try “Corvette Summer” (click here to read my review) and hold on to your stomach – but this isn’t one of them. Give “Summer School” a chance and you won’t be sorry.

‘Summer School’
(1987; 97 minutes; rated PG-13; directed by Carl Reiner and starring Mark Harmon, Kirstie Alley and Robin Thomas Grossman)

IT’S THE TEACHING AND NOT THE TEACHER

(NOTE: I expanded this review with additional opinion as well as updating some links on Feb. 2, 2016. I again expanded the review on Feb. 17, 2019. I updated the review with the death of the director and the updating of links on Aug. 1, 2021. I again expanded the review on June 10, 2024.)

It’s easy to like “Summer School.” Both Mark Harmon and Kirstie Alley are likable and do a good job; the villain is appropriately bad without being too sleazy; and while some of the students are stereotypes, a few are actually able to be interesting and the actors give more than you’d expect. All in all, it’s light summer fluff, but you never find it objectionable.

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“Summer School” isn’t a beach movie, although it has beach scenes; and it isn’t about complete delinquents, although these students just enjoy screwing around by not studying and thereby frustrating authority. So, it’s not a “Beach Party” (click here to read my review) nor is it a “Grease” (click here to read my review). It doesn’t aspire to greatness, but you’ll enjoy the hour-and-a-half you’ll spend on it.

“Summer School” is just what the title says: summer school time has arrived at “Ocean Front High School.” The teacher who’s supposed to ride herd on a class of “dummies” for the summer wins a scratch-off lottery and bolts. The nasty assistant principal in charge blackmails the slacker phys-ed teacher into the summer classroom and the hilarity begins.

Here’s a look at the headliners:

  • A four-time Golden Globe nominee (not for this one), Harmon has done an exceptionally scary Ted Bundy in the TV docu-drama series “The Deliberate Stranger” to his signature role on tee-vee’s “NCIS.” In “Summer School,” he’s outgoing and fun here and makes his character “Freddy Shoop” somewhat memorable. Harmon is able to express a couple levels in his acting and you’ll enjoy watching him. “Summer School” shows Harmon’s versatility with comedy. If you like Harmon, also try him in “The Presidio” (click here to read my review) opposite Sean Connery; in one of my favorites with Jodie Foster – “Stealing Home;” or “Freaky Friday” with Jamie Lee Curtis. “The Presidio” is his second best by far after “The Deliberate Stranger.” Harmon was nominated for “The Deliberate Stranger” and the TV movie “After the Promise” and a pair for the TV series “Reasonable Doubts.”
  • A Golden Globe winner and five-time nominee (not for this one), Alley does a straightforward and solid job as “Robin Elizabeth Bishop,” a teacher of an honors class who’s slowly drawn into Harmon’s life. She doesn’t want to at first (she’s dating the evil assistant principal), but cannot avoid the inevitable. I thought Alley was better in “Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan” (click here for my review) and she was also in “Look Who’s Talking” and its two sequels and a variety of TV series including her signature role as “Rebecca Howe” in the legendary comedy “Cheers.” Alley won her Globe and got three nominations for “Cheers.” Her other nominations came for the TV movie “David’s Mother” and the TV series “Veronica’s Closet.” Alley’s work here isn’t her best, but it isn’t bad and that’s somewhat high praise for an actor in a film like this. Alley died at 72 of colon cancer in 2022.

The students get introduced through the credits as they get their notices to appear in a classroom to be told they’ll be going to summer school. While there are stereotypes (a pregnant student; a geek; and the somewhat dumb jock), there’s also a few interesting ones: the two horror flick fans (one called “Chainsaw”), the dyslexic student, the boy who moonlights as a stripper and the surfer-girl slacker who’s very Zen-like with her calm demeanor and in her philosophy.

Here’s a rundown:

  • A Screen Actors Guild winner and two-time nominee (not for this one), Courtney Thorne-Smith plays “Pam House,” a beautiful blonde surfer girl who complicates Harmon’s life much deeper than the others. She does an adequate job in a role that’s not demanding and so gets a passing grade – pun intended. Thorne-Smith’s also been in films such as “Revenge of the Nerds II: Nerds in Paradise” but has made her career in TV on shows such as “According to Jim,” “Melrose Place” and “Two and a Half Men” (both in the good seasons and some after the addition of the talentless and annoying Ashton Kucher). Thorne-Smith has a relatively light CV with only 36 acting credits spanning five decades since the first in 1986 and the last in 2020 in a single episode of the TV sitcom “Mom.”
  • Dean Cameron is “Francis ‘Chainsaw’ Gremp” and Gary Riley is “Dave Frazier” and the two are horror film gore addicts who are obsessed with “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” (the original, of course since this was released in 1987 and the sequel had come out the year before) and the gorgeous Italian exchange student in the class. Both are equally good here and maybe should have had their own sitcom based on these characters. Cameron was in “Men at Work” and “Ski School” while Riley was in “Stand by Me,” “Back to the Future” and “Planes, Trains and Automobiles.”
  • Kelly Jo Minter plays dyslexic “Denise Green” and Richard Steven Horvitz plays “Alan Ekian,” the nerd who isn’t too brainy. Both do good jobs, but Horvitz doesn’t have much to work with and Minter is just brash enough to give some substance to her character. Minter was in “The Lost Boys” (click here for my review) and “Mask” while Horvitz was in “Snow Dogs” and a string of TV shows and a bunch of video game and animation voice overs.
  • Ken Olandt plays “Larry Kazamias,” who is a male stripper at night and sleeps during class. Olandt, who was in “April Fool’s Day” and a string of TV roles, is one-dimensional but it is a good one-dimension, I guess.
  • Rounding out the students is Patrick Labyorteaux as football player “Kevin Winchester,” Shawnee Smith as the pregnant “Rhonda Altabello” and Fabiana Udenio as sexy exchange student “Anna-Maria Mazarelli.” Forget ’em. Nothing special going on with them.

The two most interesting supporting roles are by Robin Thomas, who plays “Vice Principal Philip ‘Phil’ Gills” and he is appropriately staid, priggish and back-stabbing against Harmon; and director Carl Reiner, who also plays teacher “Mr. Dearadoian” … the one quits summer school when he wins the lottery (“They’re friggin’ idiots,” he exclaims when told that some lottery winners keep on working).

Another supporting actor worth mentioning is Tom Troupe, who plays the judge in the boozing on the beach case against “Chainsaw” and “Dave.” He does a really solid job because he’s able to be smooth but strict and doesn’t take himself seriously. The courtroom scene is the best in the entire film for the actors playing the two boys. Troupe was also in one of my personal favorites: “Kelly’s Heroes” (click to read my review). He is also in “The Devil’s Brigade” and “My Own Private Idaho.” His acting resume of 69 credits has some gaps (notably between 1998 and 2012), but he has since been on a TV series as well as the film “Caravaggio and My Mother the Pope” and his last was an interesting sci-fi short called “Time Out” from 2019. Troup’s first acting credit was from “The Kaiser Aluminum Hour” on TV in 1957.

Despite a summer curriculum that includes trips to the petting zoo, an amusement park and the beach, everything works out in the end for everyone except Grossman. The storyline closures are actually pretty good, including the pregnant girl giving up her child for adoption and the climax in the principal’s office where the students learn their test scores.

If you’re looking for some mind candy that has a smidgen of depth, give “Summer School” a try or try it again.

“Summer School” made $35.6 million at the box office in 1987 and was the 32nd ranked film of that year, according to Box Office Mojo. The No. 1 film of the year was “3 Men and a Baby” with $167.7 million. Here are the films from that year that I’ve reviewed for my blog:

Additional cast and film notes (via IMDb.com):

  • Thomas’ birth name is Robin Thomas Grossman, while Dean Cameron’s is Dean Eikleberry.
  • Directly from IMDb.com: “The Hawaiian shirt that Mark Harmon wears is the same exact Duke Kahanamoku model Montgomery Clift wears in “From Here To Eternity.”
  • Harmon wears red Ray-Ban sunglasses in the film.
  • Paramount Pictures has tried to get a project rolling to do a remake of “Summer School,” but the last one, reportedly in 2012, didn’t pan out. Actually, this is one film where I wouldn’t mind seeing filmmakers do it again.
  • The school used for filming here was the one used to film “The Karate Kid.”
  • Finally and directly from IMDb.com: “The casting of Mark Harmon in the lead major role was the idea of director Carl Reiner. Reiner has said: ‘We originally discussed having a major comedian for the role. However Mark impressed me very much in the mini-series The Deliberate Stranger (1986) in which he portrayed convicted murderer Ted Bundy. When I saw him being interviewed on a news program, he was so personable and had such a winning smile that it was clear he would be well suited for the role of our gym-coach turned instructor. And he brings surprising depth to the character.’”

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