Genre Guesstimation – Just One of the Guys (1985)

The idea behind this feature (Genre Guesstimation) is for me to watch a bunch of new movies (or ones that I haven’t seen many times) from the chosen monthly GG genre in order to expand my knowledge of movies within that particular genre.

This month’s Genre has been chosen by Christopher Cooper of Angelman’s Place and we will be reviewing our favorite 80’s Teen Sex Comedies

Please get me your submissions by the 25th of March by sending them to teenagechris@movierob.net

Try to think out of the box! Great choice Christopher!

Let’s see if I felt that this movie would be worthy of being in the company of my others favorite movies in the genre of 80’s Teen Sex Comedies.…

“[Buddy holds the hand of a girl in the cafeteria] Can I be totally honest with you? Your touch is the reason why I went through puberty.” – Buddy

Number of Times Seen – At least 5 times (numerous times on cable in the 80’s, 21 Apr 2001 and 10 Mar 2019)

Brief Synopsis – A female high school senior who feels that she is being discriminated against due to her gender, assumes the role of a new boy in town in order to win a summer job as a journalist at a local newspaper.

My Take on it – This was one of the first films that came to mind when Chris chose this genre.

As a kid, I recall watching this film numerous times on cable and it certainly fits the theme of this month’s genre.

This is actually one of the better gender-bending films of the 80’s and I think it might have a lot to do with the fact that this one follows a female teenager instead of a male one.

It’s quite enjoyable in what it does yet unfortunately isn’t able to be very groundbreaking even if it has a great message.

I was actually surprised to see that none of the cast had a successful film career following this film besides William Zabka who made a name for himself playing 80’s teen flick bullies which he obviously excelled at playing.

The story and plot of the films actually works on numerous levels and that largely has to do with the fact that it has a female lead who must deal with being a male instead of the usual vice-versa.

This film has it’s raunchiness peppered throughout which is par for the course in this genre, but they are able to keep things toned down enough that it doesn’t feel like a typical T&A film especially since it also deals quite heavily with the premise of gender equality and fighting for what’s right.

Bottom Line – Iconic gender bending film of the 80’s that is enjoyable yet not groundbreaking.  Surprisingly, this film stars no actor who became famous save for Zabka who was typecast in the role of the bully in the 80’s. The story itself works on numerous levels and stays interesting throughout because these kind of film usually feature teenage boys in the lead and the change makes it intriguing to watch.  As with all films of this genre, it can get a bit raunchy but it doesn’t go completely overboard. This gives it some points since this film has a plot and cant be placed in the column of films just trying to show T&A since it does try to have a message about gender equality.  Recommended!

MovieRob’s Favorite Trivia – Clayton Rohner’s Rick character is obsessed with James Brown. Before the prom scene was shot, Brown spent three days on the set teaching Rohner his dance moves. (From IMDB)

Genre Grandeur Worthy? – Comes close, but not close enough. This is an iconic film of the era and was part of lots of gender swapping movies yet doesn’t manage to be very original, despite it being enjoyable.

Rating – Globe Worthy (7/10)

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