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

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

The acting in this movie is really good.

This movie had the misfortune of opening the same month, February, 1988, as John Waters "Hairspray." I suspect critics who compared it to "Hairspray" were probably unkind. If it had opened a month or two earlier, it may have been more successful.The movie seems derivative of a lot of other 1970's and 1980's teenager movies: "Risky Business," "Footloose," "Grease," and even "American Graffiti." It doesn't come off well in a comparison with any of them. The little known Arthur Penn classic, "Four Friends" also is much better.Yet, the movie does have a number of charming and sweet moments and often manages to find its own style. The references to Natalie Wood, for example are a nice touch. One forgets that Natalie Wood was a great influence on teenagers of the early 60's with movies like "Splendor in the Grass," "Gypsy" and "This Property is Condemned." I don't think many teenage girls related to the blatant casual sexuality of Marilyn Monroe or the deeply repressed sexuality of Doris Day, but Natalie Wood slowly explored and embraced her sexuality in a way that teenagers could relate to.Donovan Leitch, Jennifer Runyon and Joe Pantoliano are all enthusiastic and fine in the leads. Also watch Scott Plank's nice performance as Dugan. Plank died tragically at 42 in a car accident after a successful career mostly on television.Anyways, the lead actors are good, the music is good, and the dancing is good. The biggest problem is perhaps the script that doesn't create much tension or deep involvement.It is unfortunate for this film that so many great films have been made about Rock and Roll of the early 60's. This film suffers by comparison only because it is not great, but as I noted before, individual moments make it worth watching.

Many of my friends and i were extras in this when they filmed it in Wildwood. The film company took a bunch of high school kids from the nearby high schools. It was the beginning of my sophomore year in 1986 and quite a way to start it. It is a great campy movie and a much overlooked one, too. Altho i think my personal scene was cut (so much for my 15 minutes of fame), i know many dear friends...who i am still close to this day...do appear in it. The experience of being put in hair, makeup and costume resonates with me to this day. My gang and I still talk about it when we get together. For a brief 15 seconds, i was able to meet some of the stars. Joey P. really took his career to big heights, in spite of this flick. Regardless, this reviewer's very biased opinion: give it a roll!

Or Dance party as it was when i had it years ago. This is a classic film, how can anybody not like it! Saying that i like all the teenage music films like hairspray, shag, footloose etc. Why has this not been released on DVD yet?, its a classic, it should be. Its all about this guy, Del who falls for a good looking girl (Cant remember her name)who obviously has a boyfriend (as they all do) but he gets put inside and Del manages to worm his way in with his girlfriend on the TV show. She ends up falling for him but the X is always there in the back ground. You have to watch it to see but if you like the cheesy teenage dance films you will love this... I Do

This movie was overshadowed by the similarly themed "Hairspray" which was released a year earlier, but while Hairspray was more of a comedy, The In Crowd is more dramatic. The movie concerns a boy getting to dance on a local TV dance show in Philadelphia. There he finds a new set of friends who are resented by his old set. The dance scenes are well done, the music is great, Joe Palatino is great as Perry Parker, and Donovan Leitch does a good job as the lead. The ending is a little silly, and is sort of a more late 80's view of the 60's, but overall a very good film.