Welcome to an exciting year-long project here at The Nerdy. 1985 was an exciting year for films giving us a lot of films that would go on to be beloved favorites and cult classics. It was also the start to a major shift in cultural and societal norms, and some of those still reverberate to this day.
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We’re going to pick and choose which movies we hit, but right now the list stands at nearly four dozen.
Yes, we’re insane, but 1985 was that great of a year for film.
The articles will come out – in most cases – on the same day the films hit theaters in 1984 so that it is their true 40th anniversary. All films are also watched again for the purposes of these reviews and are not being done from memory. In some cases, it truly will be the first time we’ve seen them.
This time around, it’s April 12, 1985, and we’re off to see The Company of Wolves, Lily in Love, and Moving Violations.
The Company of Wolves
I have to admit, when I saw this was yet another version of Little Red Riding Hood I balked, but I very much did not see the ending coming.
The Company of Wolves jumps around in time a bit to become an anthology of wolf stories, but the primary one is set at indeterminate time in the past that focuses on a new take on the Little Red Riding Hood fairy tale. All of the stories somehow revolve around wolves and werewolves, with the oddest being an entire wedding party turning into wolves as an act of revenge by a scorned lover. But the overall ending does give you pause for a wholly new take on the main story.
The film is fine, the special effects at times are really fun and at other points laughable (Yes, I’m talking about that beheading scene). But the stories are what make the film work, and it’s just a weird little jaunt on an updating of a classic tale.
Fun, but inconsequential watch.
Lily in Love
Sometimes movies can overcome their laughable premise, and this is one of those times.
Fitz Wynn (Christopher Plummer) is married to Lily (Maggie Smith), a writer who has written many productions for her actor husband. Her new movie, which he wants to star in, looks to be one of her best works, but she doesn’t see him in the part. So what is an actor to do? Put on a so-so disguise and try to fool his wife that he is a completely different actor.
The fact Lily is supposed to know from the jump it’s him is the laughable part here, but Plummer turns in a great performance and you just don’t care. His turn as “Roberto Terranova” is just too much fun to care about the logistics of the story.
Good for a couple chuckles, and a great performance. Nothing you absolutely need to see, however.
Moving Violations
It was not the least bit surprising to me that this was written by the same person who wrote Police Academy, but this one was better.
Dana Cannon (John Murray) racks up enough tickets to have his work truck impounded, and he is sent to traffic school to earn back his license and his truck from the impound. Once at the school, he makes friends with the other oddball students, and they learn the whole thing is a scam to sell their impounded cars. Of course it’s time to take down the corrupt cop and judge.
There are some definite laughs in here, more so than from Police Academy actually, but Murray’s performance is just so distracting. Yes, he is Bill Murray’s brother, and he just comes off as trying to imitate his far more famous brother. It’s quickly grating because he’s just not in the same league as his famous sibling.
There are some definite laughs in the movie, but it’s an easy one to avoid to be sure.
1985 Movie Reviews will return on April 26, 2025, with 1918, Death Warmed Up, Hellhole, Just One of the Guys, and Stick.
