A brilliant film that helped define a genre

This is a tender, generous movie that likes its characters and presents them as real people, full of flaws and strengths.

It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

This movie is not a superficial teen coming of age high school comedy drama at all. It may seem at first it's about hooking up and coolness. As the movie progresses it gets more and more involving. By the end there are some real insights into people's characters especially Kelly Preston's character is a very real lesson for guys to distinguish between physical attraction vs what's inside. Really feel for the cool guy Eugene who gets unfairly treated. Here is a feel good ending that is not too far out. Catherine Mary Stewart and Kelly Preston are the girlfriends. Worth watching.

Mischief (1985): Dir: Mel Damski / Cast: Doug McKeon, Chris Nash, Catherine Mary Stewart, Kelly Preston, D.W. Brown: Set in 1956 wrapped in rock and roll music, diners, juke boxes, and chasing girls brandishing ribbons in their hair. Doug McKeon plays Johnathan Bellah in total 50's nerd appeal. He becomes fast friends with the cool biker Gene, played by Chris Nash. They both have their sights on a couple females. Gene decides to assist Johnathan with his inability to communicate with women. Directed by Mel Damski who previously made Yellowbeard. Here he captures the 50's in all its free spirited innocence. The screenplay is detailed with the exception of an ending that doesn't quite gel. McKeon plays off the awkward nature of Jonathan whose quest for girls lands him in comedic situations in the face of adults. Nash as Gene establishes a friendship with an unlikely source and finds himself struggling more than Jonathan. Catherine Mary Stewart plays Bunny who Gene has his sights on but her bully of a boyfriend takes a disliking to this. Kelly Preston as Marilyn is Jonathan's fancy to the point where Preston has her famous nude scene while her parents are out. Other characters are mere clichés and types that join the formula. Reckless humour throughout with a picture of 50's innocence that turns out not to be so innocent. It conceals the mischief behind all the picket fences. Score: 7 ½ / 10

Teen sex comedies are a dime a dozen. Seen one, seen them all more or less. Hollywood never tires of churning out these movies but it is very rare that one of them sets itself apart from the pack in any way. Such is the case with Mischief. This was one of the first of the genre and that, along with its 1950s setting, makes it at least a little bit different from what we see nowadays. A little sweeter than today's teenage sex romps. And certainly a lot less raunchy. It's just endearing enough that you can consider it to be at least a modest success. Nothing spectacular to be sure but it's OK.Set in Ohio in 1956 Mischief tells the story of introverted, socially awkward Jonathan. He desperately wants to hook up with his classmate Marilyn. She's the town's resident teenage goddess. Every town has one. Well every movie town does at least. Of course Jonathan's got no shot with Marilyn. But then Gene comes along. He's the cool new kid in town and he takes Jonathan under his wing, teaching him the tricks of wooing the ladies. Jonathan sets about winning over Marilyn while Gene goes for Bunny. Bunny's the girlfriend of Kenny, the mean kid in town. So we've gathered all the teenage sex comedy clichés together. The nerd, the unattainable hot chick, the cool kid, the mean kid, the mean kid's girlfriend who stays with him even though she really knows better. And floating around the periphery of the movie throughout we have Rosalie, the nice but unattractive girl who could probably be hot if she tried. Toss all these characters together and watch them interact more or less as they do in every teen movie you've ever seen, with our nerdy hero finding that what you want and what you need may be two different things.Mischief is charming enough. But it's never really funny enough to be considered a great movie. For a supposed comedy there certainly are plenty of sizable gaps between laughs. The performances are all pretty good, all the actors fit their clichéd roles well. Doug McKeon's suitably nerdy as Jonathan. Chris Nash is totally cool as Gene. And if in 1985 you were looking for an actress to play a teen goddess you couldn't do any better than the impossibly beautiful Kelly Preston. Perhaps the best thing the movie has going for it is its soundtrack, those classic 1950s rock and roll tunes fit the story perfectly. Unfortunately that story is so similar to so many other movies of this genre that it's hard for Mischief to stand out. It's a reasonably enjoyable movie though. As teen comedies go there have been better but there have certainly been a lot worse.

I watched this expecting a lazy knock-off to "Porky's", and though that's pretty much where it starts from, it takes a different direction pretty quickly. The sleazy approach I knew and loved was replaced by a very warm approach I got to know and love. Our main guy all in all is pretty standard (Dan Monahan school of sympathetic nerds, wants to lose his virginity no matter what) but once his friendship with new guy Gene is established the dimensions start to even out, the stereotype walls crumble of. This duo is so thoroughly enjoyable you really don't care about the comedy values anymore. The gags get the job done (the store mannequins!), but they're not that high in number, nor would I want them to be. Quite remarkable about this movie, which let's not forget was brought out between a staggering amount of light-hearted cornball 80's sex comedy fluff, is the surprisingly downbeat ending. Though the movie is played for laughs most of the time, you don't sit through the credits (like nobody does anyway, but still) laughing your ass of. Interesting choice. A hidden gem, just not hidden particularly well.