My Boyfriend's Back

My girlfriend and I had a movie night recently in which we watched the critically (and audience)acclaimed Black Swan, Jackass 3 and this. I bought it mostly because I heard it had some A listers in early rolls and I enjoy trying to point out future stars before my girlfriend can recognize them.

I'm sure I would be mercilessly attacked for saying this on a Black Swan board -or even a Jackass board for that matter- but we both chose My Boyfriend's Back as easily our favourite of the three. Sure it was stupid, but after the dark, serious feel of Black Swan, it's silly, goofy tone was all the more appealing. Andrew Lowery is quite likable in the lead, and Traci Lind is lovely in a roll that was likely quite difficult to play. Her character was required to show some very serious emotions in a very unserious movie, and she seemed to walk the line between them admirably.

The supporting cast was a joy, without fail they understood the script's oddball, offbeat humour and really ran with it. The scene stealing Mary Beth Hurt was a stand out as Lowery's too understanding mother, and Cloris Leachman was excellent in a small, rather thankless cameo. Celebrity watchers will find plenty to keep them busy here as well. A young Matthew Fox (future star of Lost)makes his film debut; Oscar winner Phillip Seymour Hoffman plays his loathsome sidekick;as well as Edward Herrmann and Austin Pendelton(from HBO's Oz, not to mention countless other films and TV shows); character actor Paul Dooley; JFK's Jay O' Sanders; and even Matthew McConaughey makes his film debut as Guy in Movie Theatre.

Perhaps this means I don't have any future as a film critic, but I was really surprised that both of us enjoyed a low budget flick with a rating under 5 and less than two thousand votes hands down over a 13 million dollar movie with 100,000+ votes and a rating over 8.

I guess my point in all this is that you really can't judge a movie based on the general consensus about it. Had I dismissed this movie because of it's low approval among both critics and IMDb user's (as I normally would have), we really would have missed out on a sweet, irreverent little hidden gem. When selecting a movie, don't just check the star rating or critic approval percentage, but scan the fan reviews as well and see if any really speak to you. You just might end up turning a rather uninspired date night into an unexpected last minute success.

This is one of my favourite films from the 1990's it's funny, bizarre and yet sweet at the same time, My Boyfriend's Back is different than most of the teen comedies of today. Mary Beth Hurt & Edward Herrman played the part of the parents to perfection, they supported their son and didn't seem frightened by his return from the grave.

Supporting cast members Traci Lind, Matthew Fox, Austin Pendleton, Paul Dooley & Phillip Seymour Hoffman all delivered great performances in this demented comedy.

Johnny Dingle (Lowery) has been in love with the prettiest girl in school Missy McCloud (Lind) for 12 years now with the senior prom coming up he's finally gonna get up the nerve to ask her to be his date. However her jock boyfriend Buck Van Patten (Fox) squashes his chances of that happening in an attempt to get her to go with him Johnny comes up with the craziest idea ever.

This film seemed bizarre, weird and yet romantic at the same time the main character played by Andrew Lowery showed the depth of his love for his girl by returning from the dead to have the dance he's been waiting for.

for anyone who loves the strange and the undead I recommend this delightful and demented comedy.

This really is special: a zombie movie about acceptance and love. Our zombie's parents accept him with barely any question, because he's their son, and our zombie's girlfriend accepts him because the depth of his love is what has enabled him to return from death and make it to the prom, even if that means his devouring a couple of classmates. Charming and sweet, and I mean that sincerely,

'My Boyfriend's Back' is both great as a political analogy (dealing with generic prejudice and social mistrust) as well as a hard mockery of standard teen fare. The story is that of a teen who is dying to go to the prom with the school beauty. Unfortunately, a plan to get her attention backfires and he dies. But, he rises as the walking dead in order to keep the date. But, even though no one seems to mind much that the dead kid pretty much resumed his normal life, he is quickly decaying. And, it requires that he eats living things in order to slow the process until a doctor (played fantastically by character actor, Austin Pendleton) can figure out how to chemically reverse the process. Of course, his cannibalism does not blow over well with the towns folk, who soon begin to ostracize the boy (and violently, at that).

It is a witty little black comedy that does sometimes strive too hard to impose its humor on the audience (though, maintaining some witty subtle humor at the same time). The generic supporting characters such as the oblivious father (played by Edward Hermann), the exceedingly prim mother, and, of course, the doctor (Austin Pendleton) are great. Its seems like a more scaled down, cheaper version of something that Tim Burton could put together (and sort of did, with Frankenweenie). Also, look for Cloris Leachman, Paul Dooley, and a then-unknown Matthew Fox and Phyllip Seymour Hoffman in supporting roles.

If you enjoy this movie, check out 'My Best Friend is a Vampire,' 'The Applegates,' 'I Was a Teenage Zombie,' 'Terror Vision,' or the disturbing black comedy 'Parents.' This is one of those oddball varieties.

You want to see a zombie movie, but your girlfriend wants to watch a romantic comedy. What do you do??? Compromise!!! This movie bombed at the box

office, if I recall, and didn't do too well on video either. As such, its hard to find out there (I had to visit 15 video stores personally), literally making this a hidden gem! While the narrative is a little off, the one liners alone make this Romantic Black Comedy about a zombie truly entertaining! And while most of the actors in it have fallen off the face of the earth (except Edward Herrmann and a very young Phillip Seymour Hoffman), they help make this film what it is. Definitely worth hunting out if you want something a little different than your average run of the mill comedy.