Satisfaction

So this is not one of the best movies from the '80s, but it made a big impact on me because of Julia Roberts. I thought she was so cool, and I copied a lot of my fashion styles after her character in the movie (big hair and all). Being a child of the '80s I've been slowly collecting many of the classic comedies, and this one has been on my list for a while. So when I discovered last month that it was finally coming out on DVD and at a great price, I pre-ordered my copy. It has some really good moments and good one-liners, like when Julia Roberts' character, Daryle is told by one of the preppy guys she's seeing "You're different from the other girls", she responds "I can work really hard to be the same", or when Daryle is explaining to Billy that getting married is a natural thing, Billy responds "Dying is natural too, but you don't see people rushing to do that". So if you want to take a trip back to the '80s or if you're a Julia Roberts fan, this movie is for you.

Satisfaction is a movie about five teenagers who have a band called Mystery.Justine Bateman plays the leading singer of the band called Jennie Lee.Justine is best known as Mallory from Family Ties.Satisfaction from 1988 doesn't make any movie history, it's just an enjoyable movie.And there's a great opportunity to see what Liam Neeson did before Schindler's List and what Julia Roberts did before Pretty Woman.

Not a good film by any stretch of the imagination. The storyline is a shocker and the acting is, at times, quite bad. However, seeing Julia Roberts and Liam Neeson in early roles before they were big stars makes it worthwhile. The one redeeming feature about this mess is the dog! He is so cute! But Justine Bateman is just awful, can't sing, can't act and can't talk properly. It's no wonder her big stardom has been confined to Family Ties.

If you've always suspected that combining elements from "Times Square" (1980), "Josie and the Pussycats" (2001), and "Summer of '42" (1971) would be an extremely bad idea, look no further than "Satisfaction" for confirmation. Although "Times Square" fans (the film from which "Satisfaction" steals the most) will frequently cringe during the viewing experience, the fusion of these three films is not a totally bad idea.

It did give Trini Alvarado, eight years later, a chance to play the tough girl Nicky Marotta part, the character she played against in "Times Square". Although she plays her less like Robin Johnson did and more like Tara Reid's Cybil in "Girl" (1998). An underrated actress, Alvarado carries too much baggage (nice girl type-casting and too sweet a face) into this role to even begin to sell it. A much better idea that might have saved the film would have been for her and co-star Justin Bateman to switch parts. Bateman is capable of looking mean and is really too limited as an actress for a part with the degree of dimensionality of Jennie Lee.

I've never quite grasped the popularity of Julia Roberts but for her mega-fans "Satisfaction" is a must see. The script doesn't give her much to work with but it is an opportunity to see her when she was this young. Of course there is some retrospective perverse amusement to be had at the idea of Roberts and Liam Neeson playing second banana's to the talent challenged Bateman,

Britta Phillips' career rocketed forward from this film with 65 episodes as the voice of the title character in "Jem and the Holograms". Nice voice, excellent casting choice, and a cute performance; she and Chris Nash at least manage to give a fair amount of authenticity to the production.

Director Joan Freeman of Streetwalkin' (1985) fame has never done another feature; after these casting decisions it is not hard to figure out why. Maybe she is just another innocent victim of an Aaron Spelling production, she clearly was not a budding Allan Moyle. Likewise Screenwriter Charles Purpura; although his script is no worse than a lot of stuff currently getting feature treatment and the outdated slang no doubt sounded less lame in 1988.

Although full of terrible music (covers of classic rock tunes performed slightly worse than when arranged for your high school band's halftime show) the film did connect with its primary target audience, discontented teenage girls who were not so disillusioned that they could not still get off on an identification jag with a group of squeaky clean girl rockers. Those looking for a more real "growing up is painful " experience should stick with "Times Square" and the more recent "Pretty Persuasion".

Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child.

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Satisfaction

The difference between male and female rock-stars is that women form meaningful relationships with their groupies.

However, the songstress in this drama has developed feelings for a nightclub owner.

The minute high school is over Jennie (Justine Bateman) and her band The Mystery (Julia Roberts, Britta Phillips, Trini Alvarado) head to Florida in a stolen van to audition for Martin Falcon (Liam Neeson), a bar owner in need of performers for the summer.

While they get the position, over the summer the band starts to drift apart as some members fall in love with locals and others overdose on drugs.

Everything calumniates when the owners of the stole van show up.

Produced by Aaron Spelling, Satisfaction has all of the earmarks of the successful television show creator but for some reason those elements do not elevate this mediocre musical misadventure.

Interestingly enough, all-girl house bands boast the lowest bar tabs.

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