Unearthed Classics has struck again, and this time, they’ve dug far deeper than expected and ‘unearthed’ the rare 1982 teen sex comedy Homework. Watching films like these will always take me back to my youth and early teens. I was a teenager in the mid-to-late-’80s, so I experienced many of these films firsthand. I’ll always be affectionate towards them, whether or not they’re good or bad. For every good one, there were half a dozen bad ones. Homework falls somewhere in between. There’s a lot to like, but it suffers from a story that loses focus right out of the gate.
Tommy (Michael Morgan) is a young wannabe “rock star” who is also a virgin. As he tries to lose his virginity to local high school girls, a classmate’s mother (Joan Collins) decides to make a man of him. The story unfolds through the promiscuous, funny, and sometimes touching life of the young high schooler. By the end of Tommy’s senior year, he’s ready to take on the world.
The main issue with Homework is that the story is all over the place and loses focus quickly. There are far too many stories happening at once, including one with a French teacher and another with an abusive parent. They get abandoned quickly, and you’re left wondering what the point is.
The cast includes Michael Morgan, Lanny Horn, and Shell Kepler, along with veterans like Carrie Snodgress, Lee Purcell, Wings Hauser, and Joan Collins. (The film might be best remembered for the lawsuit Joan Collins brought against the film’s producers for using a body double during a nude scene she never agreed to.) Their characters are interesting and likable. It could have excelled with a more streamlined script, but they did their best with what they were given. The humor falls flat, but there are moments that, if properly executed, could have propelled the film.
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Unearthed has done a fine job on the disc. The picture’s clear and crisp while retaining some grit and a bit of grain. The lighting is lacking, with some scenes being far too dark, but this transfer helps make it a little easier to make out. The bonus features are light, but the nearly thirty-minute interview with legendary producer Max Rosenberg is rather insightful. There’s a promotional gallery as well as several trailers for upcoming releases.
Homework might not be one of the more memorable teen sex comedies of the ’80s, but the cast and a few select ideas make it worth viewing.
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