Mutant Reviewers from Hell do
"Hey, Hoops, you ever notice how people die in alphabetical order?"

1986 PG / Comedy Directed by: Savage Steve Holland Starring: John Cusack, Demi Moore, Curtis Armstrong

Tagline

They're out of school, out on Nantucket, and out of their minds. With this crowd, anything can happen!

Summary Capsule

Teens spend a really crazy summer on an island, fighting against the forces of evil snobs and punks with pink wigs.

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Justin's Rating: I wish i hAD THat cRAZy VOIce!
Justin's Review: One Crazy Summer is the second movie in the so-called Savage Steve Holland trilogy (the first and third being Better Off Dead and How I Got Into College, respectively). Holland is a like-it-or-leave-it director; you either dig his juvenile love of sight gags and fantasy elements, or you pish-posh yourself out of the room. Although he's not as famous as John Hughes, Holland's films did much to define several teen movie clichés of the 80's: the music montage, the prom, the good kids vs. snobby jocks, and wild abandon for traditional rules of comedy. I find his stuff refreshing after viewing the painfully rigid formulas today — and it's more or less inoffensive humor for the whole family!

"The Godzilla scenes had me snorting my Cheez-Its, and I'm sure its inclusion was the fulfillment of every childhood fantasy Savage Steve had."

One Crazy Summer nearly seems like a sequel to Better Off Dead, including the casting of amateur cartoonist Hoops (John Cusack, who starred in BOD). Following high school graduation, Hoops and his best friend travel to Nantucket island, where the inhabitants are stranger than anywhere else in the world. Among them is my favorite loud-mouthed comedian Bobcat Goldthwait (who plays Egg), military wuss Ack Ack (played by another BOD veteran Curtis Armstrong), Squid and her ever-so-ugly dog, and Godzilla. Ah, yes, the Godzilla scenes had me snorting my Cheez-Its, and I'm sure its inclusion was the fulfillment of every childhood fantasy Savage Steve had.

Other than this island being some insane asylum for characterizations, the plot is very typical: evil real estate developers (remember, this was the eighties) are trying to buy out a large swath of land, which has sweet girl Cassandra's (Demi "I do comedies?" Moore) house on it. Good guys must stop bad guys. You high IQ people get the picture.

Savage Steve Holland does his films like cartoons (and even throws in quite a bit of cartooning as well), so expect a lot of hit-and-miss scenes here. The boy scout troop that was rabid for first aid, I liked. The love triangle seemed tedious. The grand finale — a boat race, this time — lacked any real suspense, but pulled itself off in such a happy way that I can't fault it for trying. I could have written the whole radio station givaway subplot in advance. Cusack is good, but somewhat toned down from his much loonier self in BOD, and is often shown up by his costars (except for Demi Moore's fake singing). And so it goes.

However, while predictable, One Crazy Summer is never short on caffinated entertainment, which is the hallmark of the great eighties comedies. If you liked Better Off Dead, why not see the pseudo-sequel that has boats instead of skiing? I'm asking you, answer me!

Kyle's Rating: Less is more... Demi Moore!
Kyle's Review: After buying and loving Better Off Dead, I figured I had to own One Crazy Summer, and then I would love both of these John Cusack-starring Savage Steve Holland films. Now I own them both, and I am happy.

"It won't make you blow milk out of your head holes"

One Crazy Summer isn't a paradigm shift like I see Better Off Dead as — OCS is more of a hour and a half of amusement. Cusack and friends on some island, having fun and working towards getting a young smoky-voiced (rrragh!) Demi Moore and Cusack together. It won't change your life, it won't make you blow milk out of your head holes, and it may not even make you smile if you're too out of it. But it will allow you to pass a hour and a half mostly happy. And that's enough.

Old Godzilla was hoppin' around Tokyo City like a big playground "...this is NOT where I left my car..." Yeah, you're going to draw her naked. Oldest trick in the book.

Didja Notice? [some sources: IMDb]

• It's John Cusack's friend and PCU alum Jeremy Piven as one of the jocks!
• Generic High School and Generic Elementary School
• Hoops' cat has trophies of kills on its carrier
• Savage Steve Holland did the animation for the film. He was upset Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert roasted his earlier John Cusack film, Better Off Dead . Two bunnies that get blown up at the end of the movie bear a strong (and not accidental) resemblance to the movie critics.
• Cassandra says DOW makes Mace. The DOW Chemical Company has never manufactured Mace. They did create Agent Orange, but not Mace.

Is It Worth Staying Through End Credits?

At the end of the credits: THE FILM'S OVER... YOU CAN GO NOW.

Intermission! [some sources: IMDb]

This was Joel Murray's (George) first film — he's the younger brother of Bill Murray, believe it or not!

The name Hoops McCann was taken from a character in the 1980 Steely Dan song "Glamour Profession."

When Calamari picks up two women at the dance, the strawberry blonde on the right is director Savage Steve Holland's sister, whose childhood nickname was Squid and is the basis for the little girl in the film, also named Squid.

Groovy Quotes

Egg: Ack Ack, let me tell you a little story. A story about a little fat kid who everybody made fun of, and nobody liked and he had a twin brother, and everybody said he never looked like his twin brother, but he wanted to...
Ack Ack: Egg, where you that little boy?
Egg: No! No! But I used to beat the s**t out him! "Why are you so fat? Why are so ugly?" Aaagghh!
Ack Ack: Great story, thanks.

George: Hey, Hoops, you ever notice how people die in alphabetical order?

Ack Ack: Do you realize that for every lost doll there's a little girl with a broken heart.
George: Are you sure you want to be a Marine Acky? I just can see you having a killer instinct.

George: Chilly dog?

DVD Review

It's a decent little package, complete with a trailer and commentary track (which is quite funny to listen to!).

If you liked this movie, try these:

• Better Off Dead
• How I Got Into College
• The Sure Thing