DVD/Movie Review: Private School

 

Private School is a coming-of-age comedy from 1983 starring Phoebe Cates, Betsy Russell, Matthew Modine, Kathleen Wihote, and Ray Walston. The best way I can describe this movie is a combination of Porky's and Fast Times at Ridgemont High, yet nowhere near as good as either of them. However, if you were a boy anywhere near puberty in the 1980s this was one of the movies you always hoped came on cable late at night when you got to stay up late. The script and acting are atrocious. Even though the movie had some young stars who would go on to be relatively good actors, they were not given much to work with, even by teen sex comedy standards. There were also some whose careers never made it out of the 1980s. It has about every 80s movie cliche you can imagine (right down to the cheesy music montage). 

The DVD is very bare-bones. There are no extras such as deleted scenes, making-of featurettes, or the like. Realistically, given that it was not one of the major teen comedies of the 1980s and is far more of a cult classic, it is not surprising that it did not get a more expensive DVD release.

The two best things about the movie are Betsy Russell and having some relatively good songs on the soundtrack. Phoebe Cates was the big star in the movie, coming off her role in Fast Times. And although she was the "sexy one" in that movie, she plays the rather bland "good girl" in this one. She is of course still gorgeous and did show a little bit toward the end of the movie, but Betsy Russell is the one who amps up the sex factor here. Ultimately you know what you get with this. It is not great by any means. Do not expect an Academy Award winner, but if you fall within the demographic who remembers this movie from your youth, you can have a good laugh at how good you probably thought it was when you were young and fondly remember ogling Betsy.

DVD/TV Series Review: Life As We Know It - The Complete Series

 

Life as we Know it was a coming-of-age teen drama that aired on ABC in the 2004-2005 season. It starred Sean Faris as Dino Whitman, a star hockey player for Woodrow Wilson High School in Seattle, Washington, and his friends Ben, played by Jon Foster, and Jonathan, played by Chris Lowell. The series is basically about the boys' navigating their high school lives with their girlfriends played by Missy Peregrym, Jessica Lucas, and Kelly Osbourne. The series was a bit unique in that it had the characters breaking the fourth wall and talking to the audience, and dealt with issues such as the effect of parents' separation due to an affair, the school-life balance, academic stress, and of course, the stress and pressure of sex. And, the show had a fairly controversial student-teacher sexual relationship storyline. The focus of the show was the teenagers, but the show had a strong cast of adult characters including Lisa Darr, D. B. Sweeney, and Marguerite Moreau, as well as a great guest cast which included Craig Ferguson, Peter Dinklage, Connie Britton, and Busy Phillips.

For those who get the DVD set, the thirteen episodes (two of which were not aired after the show was canceled) are spread across three discs. The extras include commentary tracks on select episodes, deleted scenes, a gag reel, and a photo gallery. So, a good amount for those who like watching the bonus features, especially for a show that was canceled without airing all of the episodes.

Overall, the show is very good. It dealt with issues that many people go through as teens (and adults). The student-teacher relationship storyline was probably what tanked the show. Of course, it was not the first or last time such a storyline had played out on a TV series; Dawson's Creek did a similar storyline years earlier, and more recently Hulu had the series A Teacher. But, Dawson's Creek was on a smaller network, and that kind of storyline was much less controversial in 2020 when A Teacher was made than in 2004. While the show had a ridiculously attractive cast, the writing was very good, and the young stars were very good actors. I have been surprised that only Peregrym and Lucas really had strong TV careers after this series ended. Given that the series ended abruptly, it never really gets a proper ending. The last show that aired is actually a better series finale than either of the two unaired episodes, but those do give you an idea of how the series would have progressed had it not been canceled. But, just know that the show does not get anything close to a satisfying ending. That said, I do think it is worth watching as the main themes of the show are pretty timeless and hold up well even years later.