All I Wanna Do!

According to David Kehr's review (which is posted on Letterboxd if you want to find it), he referred to this movie sort of literally as "homework" since, once it got wrested by the clutches of (sigh, fine, "alleged") rapist Harvey Weinstein and Miramax - and why they even greenlit this in the first place is sort of a mystery to me , producer Deutchman (a film professor at Columbia) posted notices all over the place for people to go see it... Well, anyway, if this is homework I wish I could do more of it!

This is a fun and peppy and completely up-with-women AND perhaps more importantly outside of Hillary Clinton (for what it's worth) is the most up-with-women-as-political-heroes comedy that isnt funny LOL like as it is amusing and consistently clever. I could see someone not liking it on the whole because of how broad and big some of the gags go for, but what this filmmaker was going for - having this teen sex comedy (here PG13 I believe) set in that same just-before-fall63-spring64 period when everything changed and can thus join the company of little films like National Lampoon's Animal House and American Graffiti but for girls - was a more than valid idea, and the movie has a lot to say about systemic patriarchal structures as far as economy and social placement in life go. Not to mention all of the major performances from Dunst, Redgrave, Matarazzo and especially Hoffmann who is really the protagonist amid the ensemble, are all having a great time.

... Oh, and try as he might, Vincent Karthiezer is still only giving his second most obvious character/performance here (this before of course Connor on Angel cemented #1 for him). If nothing else, it may be the ultimate sign of success that Weinstein's name is not Executive Producer on the film.

There's much more to this movie than such sitcom catchphrases as "Up your ziggy with a wa-wa brush," and "Masterly." As I said in my comment on "Can't Hardly Wait"(1998) this is the kind of movies that teenagers need, and I didn't just mean teenage boys. Unfortunately, this was in and out of the theaters much too quickly. The only reason I saw it was because it was on Encore as part of a block of movies that were introduced by Alison Sie, who I'd like to thank for letting us know about it. To make matters worse, in order to see the more suggestive and erotic aspects of this movie, you'd have to go to Canada. We Americans are being ripped off.

Our story begins in early 1963, where a Motor-City Maiden named Odette Sinclair(Gabby Hoffman) is determined to lose her virginity, until her mother catches her with a birth-control device and ships her and her horse off to Miss Goddard's School for Girls, an all-girls boarding school, supposedly in Connecticut which she think is "surrounded by high walls and lesbians." The high walls part is right, but the "lesbians,..." you'll find that out later.

While at first she and they want nothing to do with each other, eventually they warm up to her and decide to help her out, by getting her to join an organization called "the Daughters of the American Ravioli." Miss Godard's Girls aren't just "talented and organized," they're the wildest boarding school girls since The Belles of St. Trinian's, and believe it or not, kind of cute too. This is helpful, because they're not afraid of their sexuality and know how to use it to get what the want at a time when girls(especially upper crust ones) were expected to be "prim and proper." The Flat Critters are the geekiest greaser gang ever to grace a period piece movie from the 1950's or early-'60's. And they also become a suprising relief in the face of a potential merger with the St. Ambrose Boys' Academy. St. Ambrose Headmaster Armstrong(Michael J. Reynolds) sounds like the narrator on "Underdog"(1964), and if I had been a kid in that period, I would've sworn he did that on the side. Nevertheless, it's the arrival of the St. Ambrose school for a school dance/test merger that leads to a prank rivaling some of the teen movies of the late-1970's and early-1980's. And when that doesn't work, Odie leads them all on a major student strike!

In defense of us guys, I'd like to point out that when we lust for you women, it's not a conspiracy to drag you down to the bottom of the economic totem pole. It's just a conspiracy to get you into our beds, or get into yours. Perhaps over 20 years ago when I was a teenager I might not have understood the desire to keep such schools separate, but I can see the reasons now. Not that I'm endorsing sexual segregation, mind you. I'm just endorsing this movie.

The in-crowd at Miss Godard's,a highbrow New England girls boarding school,has waged an all-out war against the administration,which wants to merge with St.Ambrose, a nearby boys prep school.Although the St.Ambrose boys are the very same boys these young women want to be at social events,and event on occasion,lust after,they do not want them in the same classroom.Odette (Gaby Hoffmann),the clique's brainy ringleader ,takes Verena (Kirsten dunst),tinka (Monica keena) and tweety (Heather matarazzo)and Merrit weaver along on a bumpy-but often hilarious-road of misadventures as they attempt to keep their school boy-free while constantly fighting with Abby (Rachael leigh cook),Miss Godard's tattletale moniter.What it lacks in suspense (you know what's gonna happen the first 15 minutes)STRIKE!makes up for its CHARM!

Very, very good movie. I'm a big movie fan, but I'm picky about what I like and I like this. The characters, in my opinion, were well-chosen for the parts they played.

I, however, had a problem with Gaby Hoffman as Odette/Odius/Odie Sinclair who is a new arrival in this movie. It's like she's trying too hard to be cool among the girls, which rubbed me the wrong way, especially at the end when they fought back and she was the leader.

But the movie was a big success, in my point of view. I loved how Tinka fell in love with "Little Rascal"-esque Snake ("She's sucking his face off!") and how her St. Ambrose date was a little...premature but a major cutie, who grew up ALOT. All in all, it was a great hit of a movie and recommend it to anyone.

Strike is a great teen 'girl-power type' film with a cool cast including: Kirsten Dunst, Gaby Hoffmann, Monica Keena and Heather Matarazzo who are all brilliant in their roles. Might I just add that the film also includes some VERY cute guys. Anyway, if you like all the other teen films about, I'm sure you'll love Strike. I give the film a 10/10. Great!