Revenge of the Nerds (1984) – Two high school buddies (Robert Carradine and Anthony Edwards) hope to leave their lives as high school nerds behind at college. Together with a band of misfits hey end up in a battle with the jock fraternity for control of the Greek Council and their own sense of identity.
This movie is what it is. It’s low brow humor, stereotypes of nerds, jocks and Greek organizations. There’s also a little nudity (mostly female). If you’re not into that then you should just walk away on this one.
Why I Like It: Like Robert Carradine’s character’s laugh, this movie is more than a little ridiculous. There’s nothing subtle about it. But then it’s not trying for subtle. If you want the subtle, deep version of this story look to the movie that inspired it, “Animal House”. What it does have is a goofy innocent charm. The nerd characters are playing “above their weight class” at the beginning and try to catch up with the grace of a running puppy. With a fine cast (Carradine and Edwards are joined by Timothy Busfield, John Goodman, Bernie Casey,Ted McGinley and James Cromwell in a small role as Carradine’s father. Then add in some outstanding support actors like Curtis Armstrong, Larry B. Scoot and Michelle Meyrink) the movie just puts it’s head down and decides to enjoy the ride. There are a few times during the movie when I wince at the humor but the good moments outweigh the bad.
Why You Will Like It: If you like your comedy like the stereotypical cheerleader, good looks and not much brains, you’ll have fun. The cast looks like it’s having a blast doing this (post production interviews confirm that). This is a classic David vs. Goliath story. The “rock” that brings down the giant here are the nerds brains and basic decency. You get a classic bad guy (Ogre from the jock fraternity) and his iconic line “NEEEERRRRDDDDSSSSSSS!!!!!!”. And at the end you’ll feel good about who comes out on top.
There’s a little nerd in all of us.
Rated – R
Rating – *** Worth A Look
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