Summer School (1987)

"You passed and I failed! You asshole! How could you do that to me?"

It's the last day of school, and most kids are dreaming of the unknown pleasures of what lies ahead that summer. Hanging with friends, going on holidays, lazing by the beach during the day before heading to the endless parties at night. When you are a teenager, the summer really does feel endless, and the thoughts of school never come into play until you start realising the evenings are getting shorter, and the inevitable is about to happen: all good things must come to an end.

The last day hasn't gone quite according to plan for professional slacker and alleged teacher, Freddy Shoop (Mark Harmon; The Presidio, The Deliberate Stranger). Burdened with the last minute responsibility of taking on a class of unruly flunkers for the summer, it puts an end to his trip to Hawaii with his beach babe pal. The task? Get a room full of dysfunctional, messed up teens to pass an English exam, or else he will lose his job. The problem is, Shoop is a gym teacher, and has no real experience with getting kids to behave in class, let alone learn anything. How hard could it really be?

The class is made up of the usual suspects: day-dreaming surfer chick, Pam (Courtney Thorne-Smith; Lucas, Revenge of the Nerds II: Nerds in Paradise), the permanently sleeping Larry, football lughead Kevin (Patrick Labyorteaux; Heathers), super geek Alan, pregnant Rhonda (Shawnee Smith; Who's Harry Crumb?) and the token stoners, Dave and 'chainsaw' (Dean Cameron; Bad Dreams, Ski School). It doesn't take long before they are causing a ruckus, and ditching class. Working next door is Robin Bishop (Kirstie Alley; Look Who's Talking, Sibling Rivalry), a straight-laced teacher who is disgusted by Shoop's attempts at ruling the students. it doesn't stop Shoop from hounding her at every possibility, no matter how hard she pushes back. He decides to try and make the class enjoy at least being in his company, and takes them on field trips to places like the beach and a theme park, before his boss catches him and reminds him of the threats to have him fired if the students fail.

In order for the students to allow Shoop to teach them, they make him promise that he will grant each of them a wish that must be fulfilled by the end of the summer. Reluctantly, he agrees; these 'wishes' include driving lessons, pregnancy classes and even throwing a party in his own beach pad for the students. But will it be enough to get the students to concentrate and learn something? Will all this fooling around with the kids come back to bite Shoop in the ass? And will Robin finally take him seriously? All sorts of madness could happen at Summer School!

Like many films from the era, Summer School is less interested in complex plots than it is with putting plenty of hi-jinks and laughs on screen. Where it excels though is with the likable characters, in which it manages to go a bit deeper than just the normal 'Police Academy' approach of 'oddballs versus authority', and gives us something more to remember when the final, predictable ending rolls around. This is established perfectly with the central character of 'Shoop'; a late 30's slacker who's just coasting through his career as a teacher, not even bothering to grade his students at the end of their final year. He's far from intelligent, but has a great sense for finding the best in people, especially troubled teens. He rarely gets angry (even when he's having his home set on fire or his car destroyed) and doesn't want to throw in the towel even when things get to their lowest. This levity is brought to the role perfectly by Harmon, who surprisingly excels at the subtle humour and verbal gags, as well as the drama. It's a role that could have easily been given to the likes of Bill Murray or John Candy, both excellent comedy actors, but I think they made the right decision with Harmon. By refusing to play every scene as a comedy gag, he stops the character of Shoop becoming a one dimensional caricature, which could have easily happened.

It means the humour and drama never feels sledgehammered together, and the one or two moments of straight drama play out seamlessly with the gags. Don't get the wrong impression though, Summer School is an out-and-out comedy, but it just happens to have a trace of decent drama in its veins too. The gags are mostly verbal, and the film has some great one-liners. Both Dave and Chainsaw get the more outlandish comedy scenes, involving faking being attacked by blood thirsty rabbits to demanding a showing of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre in the class. The driving test scene is particularly hilarious ("This hand's gotta be free for the babes!"), as is the discovery that his 'nocturnal' student is in fact a stripper. What Shoop is doing at 'ladies night' in a strip bar is never really explained, but he must have a taste for classy women. 

Kirstie Alley gets the unfortunate straight role, though her screen time is minimal. This was one of her first major leading roles on the big screen though, and before her stint on Cheers. The support cast is great, though, with Courtney Thorne-Smith and Dean Cameron really sticking out. Thorne-Smith went on to have a huge career in TV, which has helped keep this film in circulation over the years. Special mention should be made of Shoop's dog, who gets to share the front cover with Harmon. Although he doesn't have as much a character as say, the dog in Up the Creek, it's still great to see him find his one true love by the end of the film - the toy that was thought to be lost to see. Directed by Carl Reiner, who had a great career in comedy, the film flows nicely, and makes good use of the cast. I'm a little unsure of what the connections with From Here to Eternity mean, despite Shoop wearing the same Hawaiin shirt that Clift wears, and the ending on the beach that's played for laughs. Probably just for fun, I guess. Mention should also be made of the soundtrack, which features the seemingly always-present Oingo Boingo, along with Rick James, Blondie and E.G. Daily.

The talks of a dreaded remake of Summer School are abound with Adam Sandler looking likely for the lead, and is much as I don't hate Sandler, the role would quickly become the opposite of what Harmon brought to it here; the subtlety and humanity would be stripped completely. These are the reasons why Summer School holds up so well -  due to the performances and decent script. And even though I mentioned the ending to be essentially predictable, it doesn't stop it having personality. All the students might not pass, and Shoop might not have fully succeeded as a teacher, but at least they all tried, for once in their lives. And isn't that more important than winning the prize?