The Boyfriend School

Absolutely charming, an old school romance that would never see the light of day in the noughties.

Full of genuinely funny moments, particularly from Shelley Long chastising her infant on the dangers of sticking fingers in sockets or eating oil covered bolts in a non-chalont manner. Leads look great and have the timing for comedy. Jamie Gertz never fails to charm.

Funny, romantic, inspiring and beautiful, says this soppy old romantic.

Not being a native speaker it is sometimes hard for me to understand what is the meaning of some words because we don't have an equivalent in my language. One of such words is cute, neither beautiful nor attractive. I was explained it's like somehow good or beautiful but not enough. This movie is just like that. Unless you are totally romantic you gonna hate this film. I mean predictable story, lots of overused moments and twists, classical ending... I loved it! The thing is the film is good at it's main purpose, it is romantically charming. And that means a lot, at least to me. It's a good-natured film about good-natured people for the good-natured viewers.

An overweight cartoonist (Steve Guttenberg) who has just finished with chemotherapy after almost dying of cancer quickly falls in love with Jami Gertz. Gertz is dating super-jerk Kyle MacLachlan though and honestly she has no attraction to Guttenberg. Guttenberg is the best person you can find though and unfortunately his inward beauty is not matched by his physical appearance. Older sister/novelist Shelley Long looks to change that though by turning Guttenberg literally into someone else physically and proving that Gertz is as superficial as she appears. This will of course give inspiration for a new book, but what happens when Gertz falls for Guttenberg? And does she fall for him because of his outward appearance, his inner-beauty or both? For the genre not bad at all, but still unremarkable all the same. The performers are all basically more at home with slapstick comedy or television sitcoms. Though kind of dumb and never too intelligent, the movie still has an admirable heart. Fair little date night movie, but once again nothing overwhelming. 2.5 out of 5 stars.

The Boyfriend School? This movie was originally titled Don't Tell Her It's Me. It was a better title and for the movie better, I don't know why they changed it.

The Boyfriend School has to be my favorite comic novel of all time, followed closely by Kotzwinkle's Midnight Examiner. I was disappointed that the screenplay told the story from Gus's point of view, which removed the element of surprise that made the novel so wonderful. Gretchen got turned into an "Emily," when one of her self-esteem issues had to do with her name.

And what happened to Juanita? I loved Juanita! I can't bear to talk about what was done to the character of Trout. However, the casting of the main characters, Lizzie, Gus, and the newly christened "Emily," was excellent. I'm waiting for a remake from the point of view of Gretchen. The novel is still at the top of my list and lying in permanent repose on my nightstand, with a "loaner" copy available for my friends.