Uma Garota Muito Especial

The absolutely horrific generic '90s "dance" music throughout the entire movie notwithstanding, "Just One of the Girls" is a very funny take on gender-switching, kind of an extended end of an era of '80s goofball comedies.

Corey Haim (who is always likable, c'mon admit it) plays Chris who dresses as a girl to avoid the bully at school, and what happens? The bully falls for Chris, Chris falls for the bully's sister, and Chris is forced to keep up the act so he can do his music. How's that for the start of decent hi-jinks?

And that video cover....no joke, absolute perfection. Remember when we can laugh at stuff like this, and this premise was strictly a comedy premise? Now here we are, thirty years later, and if you are against a man dressing as a woman and going into a woman's bathroom or locker room, you'd be called a "transphobe" or something ridiculous by a lot of nutcases.

However, back at a time when people were more rational (and could define what a "man" or a "woman" is without having to be a biologist), we can laugh at the absolute craziness of the comedy that is a boy dressing as a girl and going into the girl's showers to gawk at the nude gals.

Ah yes....when comedy was just comedy, and not the sad reality.

Corey Haim left us way too early, having finally succumbed to his demons. Maybe some (or many) consider his work to be lightweight, but hey, the guy was talented even at a young age, and in his comedies, made us laugh.

The best thing about this movie is Cameron Bancroft and company playing a particularly nasty gang of oafish bullies who make Corey Haim's life hell. Cameron in his black leather jacket is that irresistible blend of sex appeal and menace that you get from few actors.

Alanis Morrisette (pre-makeover) as the teeny-bopper singing 2 minutes before the credits roll - what else is there to watch in this movie? Alanis' mere pre-introspective presence is worth the rental!

Well, here we have yet another role reversal movie. There were many worth watching, despite the tired plot of gender reversal. However, this one is not. In previous reviews, I think I've made my point about the general decline of enjoyment for Haim movies that followed the late 80s. This is one of them.

'Just One of the Girls' is about a high school kid (Corey Haim) who tries to avoid his bullies by dressing up as a girl and attending another school. He joins the cheerleading squad and makes friends with fellow cheerleader, Marie (Nicole Eggert). Obviously, he can't keep up the charade for too much longer.

I thought this movie was utter crap, and it wasn't even funny. But, judging by a majority of reviews, it looks like fans of Alanis Morrisette or teen sex queen, Nicole Eggert, are the only ones who'd want to watch this. If you're looking for a good Haim feature (or role switching comedy), look no further than 1989. This is about the point that Haim's career tanked.

• Not that that's really saying much, but this movie was actually quite decent. Amazingly watchable, all things considered.

Okay, here's what you get from this movie: A young Corey Haim (of "The Lost Boys"-fame), going undercover as a girl, to avoid getting beaten up by the school bully, Kurt (Cameron Bancroft of TV-fame only).

Originally, his plan is to just disguise as a girl to get past the bullies at the entrance, but once he's inside the school, a bunch of teachers comes over to him and asks him why he's not in class - and since it's his first day at school, he's forced to introduce himself as being a girl - thus ensuring that he's gonna have to wear a dress all year long. But things don't go as smoothly as planned, because suddenly he falls in love with this girl, Marie (played by the gorgeous Nicole Eggert), but he can only become her best friend, since he cannot reveal to her that he's a guy! Furthermore, his parents are unaware of his problems, so he constantly has to hide things from them, so they wont find out about it, which makes for a few funny scenes.

Anyway, apart from a tiny cameo by Alanis Morrissette, there's not much to look for in the supporting cast - unless you're a fan of Lochlyn Munro (from "Scary Movie") perhaps, who plays Marie's annoying ex-boyfriend who wants to push her into having sex with him before she feels ready. The director, Michael Keusch is mostly known for his straight-to-video Steven Seagal actioners (Attack Force, Flight of Fury, Shadowman), and some unknown German stuff, so this movie really stands out on his resumé as being something completely different.

Overall, this movie (called "Just One Of The Girls", rather than that other lame title) had a somewhat clichéd premise, but pulled it off quite nicely with a decent and likable performance by Haim and Eggert, coupled with a hilarious performance by Bancroft, as the love-stricken bad guy, who tries to get in touch with his softer side, in order to impress the woman of his dreams - who coincidentally looks like a guy.

By the way, if you liked this movie, then you're probably gonna love this one, called "Blown Away": http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0103843/ - starring both Corey Haim, Nicole Eggert, AND Corey Feldman!