Why so much hype?

Fantastic!

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

Lucas Bly (Corey Haim) is a smart bug-loving nerd. He falls in love and befriends new girl Maggie (Kerri Green) during the last days of summer. He pretends to be rich and popular but his family simply mows the lawns. During a school assembly, Lucas gets embarrassed by a football player. His antics earns the respect of football captain Cappie Roew (Charlie Sheen) and his girlfriend Alise (Courtney Thorne-Smith). Cappie is nice to him because he helped him before. Maggie starts to fall for Cappie and the more popular crowd. She even joins the cheerleaders despite Lucas' ridicule. All the while, Rina (Winona Ryder) actually likes Lucas but he dismisses her for Maggie.The great thing in this teen drama is that none of the lead characters are all good all the time. They are simply teens trying to get by. Lucas is ruled by his fears and his awkwardness. He is racked with jealousy and pettiness. His heartbreak is heartbreaking. Maggie and Cappie are nice people trying to navigate a complicated teen romance. Lucas would be a bullied saint in another simplified teen movie. The audience is left wishing Lucas could be his best self.

Personally, I adore this movie. Along with the classic 'boy meets world' conflict, Lucas has a really great cast. Corey Haim showed serious talent in this film in the intelligent, anti-conformist, nerdy role of Lucas Bly. This was the first Haim film I had seen and even after seeing The Lost Boys, I consider this his greatest work. It became really hard to see more mature films of his like Blown Away because I simply couldn't see Haim as anything other than innocent, nerdy Lucas. I don't understand why the film is so underrated; its a classic! If you're seeking an action-packed, hot & heavy 80s film, this certainly isn't what you're looking for.

Here is an ordinary film, ordinary high school stereotypes and adolescent redemption.But it is worth looking at model of the girls, because it is all about getting the girl.You have two guys, the head of the football team played by Charlie Sheen, and a wimpy smart smaller and younger kid.You have three girls. The jock is paired with the blond shapely head cheerleader of course.Then an appealing, athletic redhead moves to town. She brings a story about her randy father that hints that she could in time not be ass innocent and sweet as she is when we meet her. She befriends the small, genuinely appealing guy, who develops a crush. But in time she dates the jock. Both continue to be principled friends. An event occurs where the kid. Lucas, goes from being bullied to celebrated, and the third girl who has been admiring in the wings is set up to be his real love.As I said, the cheerleader is tall, buxom and blond. The contested new girl is fair, redheaded, less shapely and average height. The third girl is smaller yet, black haired, not sexy at all.Now why this is remarkable is because each of these girls is played by an actress who is clearly directed to be as appealing as they can. Almost surely, they each are using traits that are close to their real beings. The blond is the least talented actress and though she has the sexy equipment, and plenty of cheerleading scenes, we are ready to not focus on her.The redhead is played by Kerri Green, who had a run as a child actress playing the appealing, perky redhead. She made her impressive debut as "the girl" in "The Goonies." She is the center of attention for most of the movie, for us, the writers and the two boys. Things are pleasant enough.We don't see the third girl until much later in the film. But when she comes on, she shines and so completely overwhelms every other character, you know from the first moment that she will be the real prize. We end up learning nothing at all about her. We just see her face, and hear a few unimportant lines. This was Winona Ryder's film debut, and it really underscores why she rose so fast — and probably suggests why her career stalled when she outgrew what we would accept from this presentation.This isn't a John Hughes movie where you play with the notion of stereotypes. That's what made the man an interesting filmmaker. It is instead just taking the stereotypes and moving them around like game pieces. But wow, Winona does charm. No wonder Johnny Depp ended up with her name tattooed.Ted's Evaluation -- 2 of 3: Has some interesting elements.

"Lucas" from 1986 is a great film. Yes, it has all the typical 80s teen movie clichés, such as the nerdy kid who gets picked on by all the jocks in high school; the nerdy kid loves the most popular girl in school but she doesn't love him back; the nerdy kid lives in a dump and has an alcoholic father. But all these clichés work in this film. Corey Haim was perfect as Lucas, the smart, nerdy, short little kid in high school who befriends a popular girl Maggie (Kerri Green) during their summer break. But when school starts Maggie begins hanging out with all the football players and getting close with Cappie (Charlie Sheen), who has always stuck up for Lucas when he is being picked on. So to get Maggie to start having feelings for him again, Lucas joins the football team, despite all the criticism he gets for being short. Lucas is a sweet and smart kid who only wants to be loved and have a friend and be popular. He has a girl who likes him (Winona Ryder) but he doesn't realize it. You start to feel sorry for Lucas because you want him to have friends too and you start to yell at Maggie for pushing him aside. This film can get a little too sentimental at times and can become boring, but it is such a sweet film and you want to see what happens to Lucas. I think Corey Haim should've gotten more recognition for this role because he played Lucas perfectly. Too bad his career slumped. But I think "Lucas" is a great film and anyone who loves 80s teen dramas should watch it. It will definitely make you cry and smile at the same time. Thank you for reading my review! ~LaTissa~