For Better or for Worse

"Honeymoon Academy" has a plot that could have worked and should have been much better. But pedestrian writing and acting sink this one and make it no better than a second-rate time passer.

Sean (Robert Hayes) and Christ (Kim Cattrall) meet in a way that obviously seems to indicate she's either a criminal or spy. Oddly, instead of asking her about her actions and the large guy with VERY suspicious looking glasses, he marries Chris.

As for Chris, she is a spy and supposedly has retired. But when some master counterfeiter (Christopher Lee) manages to produce perfact copies of American dollars, she's forced to return to duty...even though it's her honeymoon. As for Sean, he knows SOMETHING is up...but what? After all, total strangers start coming up to him as they think he, too, is a spy.

How could this have missed so badly?! It had all the makings of a cute little comedy...but the film instead often is a bit dumb instead of being funny or thrilling. Overall, you could find a much better movie without even looking very hard or for very long.

My review was written in May 1990 after a screening in Chelsea in Manhattan.

Dumped unceremoniously into the marketplace by Sony's Triumph label, "Honeymoon Academy" is an old-fashioned comedy that wastes the talents of Kim Cattrall in her first top billed role.

Depressing box office prospects are reflected in zero paying customers showing up for a 9:30 p.m. Opening night performance at the Manhattan thetare where it was reviewed, following no press screenings.

Pic's inappropriate title is an afterthought based on the success of executive producer Paul Maslansky's "Police Academy" films. Lensed in spring 1988 as "For Better or for Worse", pic ha no school for newlyweds.

Cattrall, styled as a thin blonde, is a State Department secret agent thrown together with Robert Hays in a library. It's love at first sight, and they marry and go off to Madrid for a honeymoon, a gift from her boss Leigh Taylor-Young.

Taylor-Young sends agent Charles Rocket to force Cattrall to work during the holiday as a courier of payoff money for counterfeiter Christopher Lee. Endless slapstick and an unsuccessful detour into "Romancing the Stone" territory pad out pointless footage.

Cattrall projects the appeal of Laraine Day but deserves better pics. Hays is a capable physical comedian, playing straight in the manner of his "Airplane" persona in a role originally cast for Paul Reiser. Supporting cast, notably Rocket, is hammy. Lee brightens up the film very briefly.

Technical credits are acceptable, except for poorly synched dialog set in a forest with waterfalls interfering with direct sound recording.

This is an enjoyable family film with the 'retired spy' plot line. Much like true lies in reverse the husband finds out he has married a 'retired' spy. Shockingly, to her and her husband, she is on another case when she intended to be honeymooning. Fun for the whole family, a timeless piece.

The original title for the movie was for better or for worse I really don't know why they changed it to honeymoon academy the original was more fitting with the movie

"Honeymoon Academy" was one of my first storyboarding jobs. I remember being in the office when the producer received a call from Spain announcing that Paul Reiser (the original lead) had wrecked his leg. I believe he fell on the steps of the church during the wedding sequence. Instant chaos...the movie had a slim budget and a very short shooting schedule. They couldn't wait for Reiser to heal...they had to dig up a new leading man, fly him to Spain, and shoot everything from the beginning. Somehow they made it.

I no longer remember the original title of the movie, but it wasn't "Honeymoon Academy." After its release we all wondered where the title came from. It had nothing to do with the story.