Tomboy

Another selection from the Mill Creek 200 drive in cult classics box set.

What can I say about this one. If you like lame comedy weak plot, cheesy soundtracks and ample amount of nudity you will love this.

Tommy is a misunderstood gal. She loves fixing cars being tough and racing. No one respects her for being herself they all want her to be more girly and get laid already.

These movies were a dime a dizen back in the 80's. To friends just having fun and getting in to trouble. There is a race and montages but really not much to say.

Great movie kept my interest and was never boring. Some really good stuff here. If you haven't seen it I would give it a watch.

Definitely a highlight in this box set so far.

You know the drive-in experience... Trying to find a good parking space... The queue at the intermission for snacks... And of course, the *ahem* entertainment you can have in the backseat if the movie sucks...

Which it invariably will.

Tomboy is one such 'delight' of a bygone era. You may think, looking at the packaging and tagline, it's an attempt to tackle the very serious subject of a young female trying to make it in the man's world of mechanics and motor sports.

Heck no.

This is instead, a rather cunning subterfuge for it's REAL agenda... Which is of course, to display as much female flesh as humanly possible. It does a pretty good job of it, I suppose. Not a moment goes by where our director concocts a situation that he can exploit to load the back and foreground with soft core naughtiness.

Naked Swimming. Stripping. Shower scenes. Hot dancing. Wet T shirts. And of course, the predictable moment when the music turns soppy, and everything is shot in soft lighting... Yep, the Obligatory Sex Scene (TM). This particular one is filmed in a gym, and features our heroine literally having her top TORN off, by the aptly named Randy.

I hope she got reimbursed for her damaged clothing post-coital. The film never specifies if this is the case. Talk about your plot holes...

Betsy Russell tries her best, she really does. An actual film promoting her struggle in a male-dominated industry might have been interesting. Alas, all we have is this collection of cheesy montages and Carry On-esque humour, so I guess you'll have to make do with it...

Actually, no. You don't. 4/10

Please. don't you just get sick of all those films that are just made as an excuse to put as much female flesh on display as possible? This one is probably worst than most though: not only do you have to put up with the usual bimbos and hunks with perfect teeth but no visible trace of any acting ability, you also have to endure some painfully cliched love scenes (complete with drippy mid 80's soundtrack of course) and an end race between the female lead character and her professional race-driver boyfriend that could have been lifted straight out of Grease (I won't bother telling you the outcome, if you hadn't guessed by now you've obviously never seen one of these underdog movies before, and good luck to you). Still we do learn a couple of interesting things from this film, one is that if you're a man (or a woman) who wants to get into the opposite sexes changing rooms, all you have to do is walk round the wall of your own changing rooms and you'll find it! Oh yeah, and all you need to turn a old rustbucket of a car into a gleaming new 150mph dream machine is 500 dollars and half a dozen spare parts from your local trashheap! So enjoy this flick, but most of all be prepared to have a blooming good laugh...

I had a lot of fun with this movie. Betsy Russell is charming as 'Tommy' and the film is pure teen 80s sexploitation cheesiness. Don't get me wrong, the movie would be considered trash by most standards and there is probably an excess of skin (is that even possible?), but there is also an honest innocence and a lot of nostalgic charm.

Betsy Russell, the 80's B-film queen who provided two of the only three reasons that Private School is worth seeing (Michael Zorek is the other) is miscast as Tomasina "Tommy" Boyd, a young woman who works as a mechanic and dreams of being a stock car driver and meeting her idol Randy Starr. She is also the tomboy of the film, who acts like a jock with her love of athletics than the usual girl things, unlike her friends.

Once again, this is an 80's film, so get ready for the requisites of the best decade of the 20th century. You'll see an aerobic style dancing display, shower scenes, a party, feathered hair, horrible fashions, music in the background almost half the time, etc. At least it's easier to take than the cheeziness you'll see in teen-pop videos, but it's cheddar all the way.

Betsy Russell, even with the Joel Polnochek hairstyle, just can't play a realistic tomboy. She's a gorgeous looking woman. Granted, I may be stereotyping here, but she's not the type who conveys it properly. I'd say that Drew, Lucy, and Cameron of "Charlie's Angels" fame are more "tomboyish".

While nothing more than poor, there are a few good scenes, such as the silly donut commercial that Tommy's friend Seville does, a scene where Tommy eyes her Randy Starr poster and the camera pans it down to a certain area. Also, if the makers of Gran Turismo are reading this, please put the cars featured in this movie in your next game, they rock. I'd love to drive one of those instead of a $2,000,000 F1. Otherwise, pass!