Welcome to an exciting year-long project here at The Nerdy. 1984 was an exciting year for films giving us a lot of films that would go on to be beloved favorites and cult classics. Imagine a world where This is Spinal Tap and Repo Man hit theaters on the same day. That is the world of 1984.
We’re going to pick and choose which movies we hit, but right now the list stands at nearly three dozen.
Yes, we’re insane, but 1984 was that great of a year for film.
The articles will come out on the same day the films hit theaters in 1984 so that it is their true 40th anniversaries. All films are also watched again for the purposes of these reviews and are not being done from memory.
This time around it’s August 24, 1984, and we’re off to see Cal, Old Enough, and Oxford Blues.
Cal
A film about the IRA and its complicated relationship with its countrymen, as well as the anger between Protestants and Catholics in Ireland, was a weird place to set a love story, but that is precisely what Cal is.
Cal (John Lynch) is adrift in life. He has trouble finding work, and relies on his father, Shamie (Donal McCann) for everything. What Shamie doesn’t know, however, is that not only is his son wrapped up with the IRA, but he even assisted in the murder of a policeman. A year later, he unknowingly runs into the policeman’s widow, Marcella (Helen Mirren), and is enthralled by her.
Cal’s life from that point forward is a mixture of bliss and tragedy until the film arrives at its rather odd conclusion that I won’t spoil for anyone.
It’s well acted, but the script is lacking in a lot of ways. The eventual resolution of Shamie’s story happens completely off-screen and almost feels like the actor left the set for some reason.
Then, there is the lighting of the film. While I understand setting a mood, large portions of night shots felt as though they were lit with two drug store flashlights that had been dropped in the mud, and no one had cleaned them off. It is a muddy mess that is incredibly difficult to follow at times.
Overall, it’s a fine film, but not one I can ever imagine me spending a second thinking about ever again.
Old Enough
I knew absolutely nothing about this film going into it, and lucked out that I walked away pleasantly surprised.
Lonnie (Sarah Boyd) is the 11-year-old daughter of a well-off family in New York City who ends up meeting and befriending 14-year-old Karen (Rainbow Harvest), the daughter of a family that struggles to get by, one summer. Over the course of the summer break, both of them find different ways to expand the life experiences of the other while also coming of age. They have their ups and downs, but both come out of the experience better for it.
Both girls turn in excellent, believable performances. They are not perfect, but they are enjoyable watch.
The only major issue I had with the story was the constant attempts by Karen’s older brother, Johnny (Neill Barry), to sleep with Lonnie. Yes. Things such as that happen, but it was still uncomfortable to watch it.
It’s a fun little, unassuming movie, that’s not a bad time if you’re looking for a slice of teenage life pre-technology.
Oxford Blues
I would love to tell you what Oxford Blues was about, but I’m not sure the people who made it knew themselves.
Nick Di Angelo (Rob Lowe) wants to go to Oxford University, not because an incredible rower, but because he wants to meet and woo Lady Victoria Wingate (Amanda Pays). After a bit of a turn as a gigolo, he makes it there and sets his sights on Victoria, while also befriending Rona (Ally Sheedy), setting up a rivalry with Colin Gilchrist Fisher (Julian Sands), getting into trouble with the school, learning the value of teamwork, and, I guess, going to class.
The movie hits on so many college film tropes that it’s as if someone put several movies in a blender, and Oxford Blues popped out. At the very end of the film, after only the most tenuous examples of Rona and Nick having feelings for one another, they kiss. Nick looks at Rona and says, “Why didn’t we ever do that before?” Rona replies, “I don’t know.”
Don’t worry fictional characters, the audience didn’t know either.
If you have time for only one 80s college film, I guess make it this one as it will serve essentially as the Cliff Notes for all of the rest of them.
1984 Movie Reviews will return on August 31 with Choose Me, Bolero, C.H.U.D., and Flashpoint!
