Girls Just Want to Have Fun (1985)

Repressed teenager Janey Glenn (Parker) is newly moved to Chicago with her newly retired military dad, mom, and younger brother, having been enrolled in an all-girls Catholic school, but making a fast friend with the spirited and rambunctious Lynne Sands (Hunt) to help ease her transition.  After spotting her phenomenal gymnastics abilities, Lynne gets her to come out of her shell a bit when she cajoles her into entering a contest put on by a local program, “Dance TV”, Janey’s favorite show, where the prize is to become a regular on their hottest show. She knows her protective father (Lauter) won’t approve, so she has to keep it a secret, and she has to get a dance partner to enter, eventually partnered with Jeff (Montgomery), the macho bad boy on the verge of trade school to become a machinist, but who has a dream of being a dancer, Jeff Malene.  However, Janey and Jeff can’t quite see eye to eye, and all the best dance moves may mean nothing when their competition is the snooty girl, Natalie Sands (Gagnier), whose influential millionaire father is more than willing to buy her success.

Without the cast that would go on to much bigger and better things, Girls Just Want to Have Fun would likely go down as just another innocuous-but-forgettable teen comedy of the 1980s, and even with that cast, it’s not that far off from that status anyway. I would venture that the few who visit the film for the first time are doing so for any other reason than it features a favorite actor, especially fans of Sarah Jessica Parker, Helen Hunt or Shannon Doherty, who plays Jeff’s enthusiastic younger sister, Maggie.  Jonathan Silverman also has a small role as Jeff’s jokey best friend, Drew.  Body doubles appear when the two stars need to perform any dance moves that are actually impressive, and to the credit of the editing, the transitions are seamless, while the gymnastics are quite awesome to behold on the dance floor.

As for the lesser famous members of the cast, Holly Gagnier, though, was a professional dancer whose own dance moves would all be done by her, which is ironic, given that her character is portrayed as the one who needed to fake her success.  Lee Montgomery’s career didn’t quite take off after the film, having been a child actor (he was most well known as the young star of 1972’s killer rat film, Ben) who didn’t quite transition into adult success, and his acting career on the screen would soon end within three years after the release of this film in order to pursue other avenues, and now works as a real estate agent.  Popular Los Angeles-based radio personality and music video host Richard Blade makes a natural-feeling appearance as the host of the dance show in question on Dance TV.

Dance movies proved popular in that era, partially because they featured soundtracks that could drive the film’s box office (Footloose and Flashdance being the prime examples in that time), but also the skin-tight dance attire meant a built-in sex appeal, even in PG-rated fare like Girls Just Want to Have Fun.  

The film’s title is based on a song by Cyndi Lauper, and while the song does appear in the film, the singer would not approve the use of her original (which, technically, itself was a cover of a 1979 demo song by Robert Hazard), with the expensive licensing forcing the producers to instead use a cover by Deborah Galli (with Tami Holbrook and Meredith Marshall).  Lauper has been rumored to have been offered a part in the film playing Helen Hunt’s character of Lynne, but Lauper was not happy with the script and the male-centric nature of the original song’s lyrics, which changed into a feminist take in her version.  She didn’t like the lyrics reverting to the original’s lyrics which was told from a male point of view and did not give the movie her blessing.

The directorial duties go to Alan Metter, whose best movie would be the next one, in Rodney Dangerfield’s Back to School, before fizzling out with Richard Pryor’s Moving and the last nail in the coffin for his career with 1994’s Police Academy: Mission to Moscow.  Metter had been earning his living in directing music videos, and Girls Just Want to Have Fun definitely capitalizes on his skill to make upbeat and pop-friendly entertainment in a long-form.  The script is from Amy Spies, her first and only to be turned into a feature film, though she would go on to work with Shannon Doherty again as one of the writers for the popular 1990s TV shows, “Beverly Hills 90210” and “Melrose Place”.

As for its success, Girls Just Want to Have Fun would debut at number 10 at the box office in April of 1985,  and would soon fizzle out after an overall take of about $6 million, which meant it would break about even, given a budget of $3-5 million.  It would, however, have some legs on home video and became a staple of cable showings for the next several years to entertain teenagers.  As for today, it mostly only exists for 80s nostalgists and fans of the stars who enjoy seeing their early works before they would become famous.

Girls Just Want to Have Fun is a likable, cotton-candy comedy for those who enjoy the MTV heyday of the mid-1980s and the kinds of films that were churned out with lots of glitzy dancing and pop music video appeal.  The script is scant and the themes almost weightless, with a plot that makes little sense (a TV show signing a teenager to a permanent spot on their dance show that would require tons of rehearsal time without the need for parental consent seems absurd),  and an ending that wraps everything up a bit too tidy, too quickly. It’s a mixed bag of mediocrity, too uninspired to make any waves, yet it is mostly harmless, with an appealing cast, and has some very good dance sequences to make it fun to watch in spots.

Qwipster’s rating: C+

MPAA Rated: PG for some mild peril
Running Time: 99 min.

Cast: Sarah Jessica Parker, Lee Montgomery, Helen Hunt, Ed Lauter, Holly Gagnier, Shannon Doherty, Jonathan Silverman, Richard Blade, Morgan Woodward, Biff Yeager
Director: Alan Metter
Screenplay: Amy Spies