The Rachel Papers

A delight indeed, albeit a little dated now. 8 years ago, this was one of those movies I watched every day almost (along with the Breakfast Club) - hey, I was 19. It deals with what the main character calls his "move into manhood" and centres around Dexter Fletchers character and his "love", Ione Skye.

Martin Amis' novel of the same title is fairly faithfully painted onto the screen, though with tweaks to bring us from the 60's novel to the 80's movie (i.e. less drugs and sex!).

For a British movie, a top cast, excellent acting, memorable script, unusual and racy direction...8/10 today, 10/10 when I was 19!

Despite some fine performances and great source material, this movie doesn't stand up as well as I'd hoped it would. It's either too dark and serious for the comedy it hopes to be or it's too gauzy for the serious look at modern teenagers in Britain that it hopes to be.

Still, it's interesting to see Dexter "did you know I was in Bugsy Malone AND Lock, Stock & 2 Smoking Barrells" Fletcher, Ione "wow, am I really this naked in this movie" Skye, Jonathon "why aren't I working more often?" Pryce and James "didn't I play this same character only with more lines in Pretty in Pink" Spader in a movie that hardly any American has ever heard of...

This has its clever moments, its funny moments, its heartbreaking moments and a few moments that are meant to be (and are) disturbing... It's not as clever as its American cousin, or as funny...but it does have a bit more depth...and Ione Skye is REALLY naked in it.

That's worth a rental, isn't it?

Charles Highway (Dexter Fletcher) sees himself as a player and keeps girls' info in his computer. He has worked out strategies to get girls. He lives with his sister Jenny and her oddball husband Norman (Jonathan Pryce). He is completely taken by mysterious American Rachel Noyce (Ione Skye). She doesn't seem interested but he's persistent. He thinks he has a date with her but then her boyfriend Deforest (James Spader) shows up. Norman convinces him to continue persistence.

This is a pretty simple romance. Dexter Fletcher plays a Ferris Bueller wannabe and he fits the role very well. I can see how girls would find him charming but he's not suave. Ione Skye is a great smart sexy girlfriend material as shown in "Say Anything..." which came out around the same time. She seems really deep and mature for her age. The two of them make this a nice sexy romance and I love the bittersweet ending.

I confess: I only watched this movie because a friend of mine told Ione Skye took her clothes off in it. Well, I may not have watched it with the best intentions, but I ended up liking the movie for a lot more than Ione's breasts.

I had a similar relationship at about that time (nerd wins over babe, finds out she's rather annoying) so I could identify with this film.

One scene really got to me (in a good way). Rachel has just climbed into a taxi, but the window is down. Charles finally works up the nerve to try to kiss her through the window. Just as his lips are about to meet hers, the cab pulls away. The look on his face is pitiful but then you see her beautiful smile. A magical scene if ever there was one!

Oh yeah, Ione Skye DOES take her clothes off repeatedly in this movie, so guys who don't go for this sort of thing might give it a chance and be pleasantly surprised. I was.

My first taste of 80s movies came with the Breakfast Club and most recently I saw Donnie Darko, okay not an 80s film but a film with a plot set in 1988. The love btw the characters in Donnie Darko is nothing compared to the Rachel Papers, in fact the Rachel Papers offers a deeper sense of love, literally. Now Darko fans please don't kill me I am not comparing the films, but the love between the characters.

I was led to this film after wandering the aisles at my local video store. After seeing the video cover, which featured the pair smiley on a vespa I decided to read the back of this video. The plot seemed fun and interesting, movies with nerds trying to win the girl always please me as its comical to watch them achieve their goal. I bought the video and enjoyed it, the film had it all. Laughter, shock in the initial watching, suspense if Charles would ever get the girl, and of course a sexy main lead by way of a young Dexter Fletcher. The film is excellent and it surprises me that the movie never caught on back then. A movie like that in 1989, released now in the world we live in 2004 would probably be a hit among teenagers now with the internet and everyone trying to get it on. Ah the Rachel Papers make me reminisce of love back in my early College years, it will probably make you reminisce of lost love. This film is not one to miss.