Terrible Movie Marathon #9

Troop Beverly Hills

(Jeff Kanew, 1989)

From the director of Revenge of the Nerds, Gotcha!, and Tough Guys comes an equally 80's-bound comedy I'm going to call the finale of the Shelly Long cycle, following such films as Irreconcilable Differences (84), The Money Pit (86), Outrageous Fortune (87), and Hello Again (87). You could include Terrible Movie Marathon entry #2 The Boyfriend School, but that would break our vow to never speak of it again (despite not being able to get the insipid theme song "Don't Tell Her It's Me" out of our heads). At the end of the 80's there was a lot of trash that didn't know the 90's was coming, from Tango & Cash to Teen Witch to Troop Beverly Hills, a movie that can't decide if it's an adult divorce/rom-com about shopaholic Phyllis Nefler (Long) and her philandering muffler mogul husband Freddy Nefler (Craig T. Nelson), or a "bad news bears"-ish romp about a Girl Scout Troop coming together to win a cookie-selling challenge that ends with some kind of race through the wilderness (honestly, it was way easier to follow than Battlefield Earth, but I found it very difficult to attend to over an hour in). The highlight here is young Jenny Lewis as the Nefler's daughter Hannah, who lands the only laugh-worthy line in the film:

Troop Leader:   "I won't let you take the girls out there alone." 

Phyllis Nefler:   "Why not?" 

Hannah Nefler: "Because you get lost in your walk in closet."

The deadpan delivery by Lewis sums up everything terrible about this movie: the central character is very difficult to care about, much less root for, given her general ineptitude and class-ist superficiality. You begin to wonder why Hannah doesn't just break at some point and lead the troop herself, especially since Long makes them lug around collapsible Gucci camping gear. At one point Long goes full Jerry Lewis at the sight of a snake, and you kind of want Jenny Lewis to slap her. The "overcoming obstacles in the woods" finale is less than thrilling, and the subsequent romantic conclusion is troubling, at best. 

Jen's Award for Best Dialogue

(Troop Chant)

"Beverly Hills! What a thrill!"

Tomorrow: 

We continue to sift through the litter box of crap cinema.