The Last American Virgin (1982)

great movie

Arguable the best movie about high school. Comedy - Drama - Music. The complete packet July 9, 2008

Classic

Arguable the best movie about high school. Comedy - Drama - Music. The complete packet. February 20, 2008

Unrequited Love Blinds An 80s Nice Guy Into Finishng Last

I saw this rare gem in a local video store discount bin but passed on it because the DVD case looked too dated and I doubted the condition. When I did an about face and went back to buy it, it was gone. After finding it here at Amazon and reading all the glowing reviews, now I know why.

This tale of a trio of youth blessed age comers on the make, two of which fatefully vy for the attentions of the same girl, sets you up for school lays scoring and lets you down with gilted reality all in the name of that old fashioned anti-heroic movie staple called real life.

Lead virginal victim Lawrence Monoson is a dead ringer for Jon Cryer. This was his first film and you almost wonder why he didn't follow it up and his star didn't rise to similar heights in the Hollywood teen angst genre. Be that as it may, its a keeper performance that stole the film.

For trivia buffs, James Ingram's immortal "Just Once" serves as the anti-climactic finale theme song. As indeed, it reminds us of a time in Hollywood when scripts, casting and soundtrack still all gelled to make even campy B kids movies appeal to and win over serious adult audiences.

A lot of armchair critics who dismiss this heart-wrenching old school jewel as just another 80s teen flick don't understand the context of the decade it precipitated, the window of media truth it represented and just how far our social mores and pop culture have gone downhill since.

A naive young love morality play of a mensch who becomes a lapdog for a pretty face and gets his heart broken, this was a filmic metaphor for 80s generation bliss which started with innocent moviefare like this and culminated in the greed-is-good "Wall Street" age of excess that followed.

If there were a best of the 80s time capsule, this would be the token throw-in for the perpetual teen set. Sadly, innocence like this wouldn't play in today's evil-is-hip media jungle. If there were a remake, the nice guy would still lose the girl and it would end in gang violence.

To wit, every cinema epoch has its rite of passage picture that defines coming of age. The 70s had "Summer of '42" and the 80s had this teen tearjerk matinee plot twister. Whoever rediscovers it finds out why the best moviemaking escapism will suspend your belief in happy endings. September 23, 2007

Reality in a Hollywood movie?

The ending made this movie. Its not often that you can say a Hollywood movie reflects real life so spot on. This movie sums up the poor decision makeing (men and women) that is rampent when love is involved. It's no wonder 50% of all marriges end in devorce. Smoke and mirrors and refuseing to see the facts April 11, 2007

I love this movie

I have loved it ever since I saw it in 1991( I was 10 at the time). It came on Tv. and I was hooked ever since. It was so so hard to find this movie. I always wanted to rent the movie, but the video stores never had it. I found it on amazon, so I had to buy it. I am now the proud owner of this hard to find movie

This is your teen movie you have to see. The ending made me cry, well almost. Karen totally did Gary dirty, after all that he did for her, when she got pregnant by his friend, who didn't want to claim the baby.
Gary was to nice, but he was in love with the girl. But I don't know if I would talk to my friend who did something like that to me. especially since he knew gary liked Karen. April 1, 2007

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