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16 MONTROSE VOICE/APRIL 17, 1987
'Campus Man' Goes Beneath the Flesh
Todd (John Dye/ enlists the aid of some photogenic college athletes for his
student calendar in "Campus Man"
Houston Screens
by Bill O'Rourke
Montrose Voice
"Preaching to be saved." How often
have we heard that phrase? People with
a message try to get it heard by winding
up feeling that the only people listening
to them agree already.
The producers of Campus Man seem
to have gone a long way to avoid that
situation.
From their advertising, I was led to,
expect a cute, brainless little exploitation comedy featuring not a lot of plot
but lots of hot male bodies.
And for the first 20 minutes or so, we
get just that. Our heroines, Kim Delaney and Kathleen Wilhoite, are sitting
around the pool watching breathtaking
men, especially Steve Lyon, do very aesthetically pleasing high dives (Though
Lyon has a double do his actual dives,
there is no way to tell it from the film.).
Stretched out around them, for variety,
are willowly blond boys.
This gives Lyon's roommate, John
Dye, ideas. He will produce an all-male
pin-up calendar for the ladies—a salute
to sports. With that, we get some very
tasty shots of photo sessions with lots of
flexing muscles.
Then, after they've got us caught, the
filmmakers pull the old switcheroo. We
get to the meat of the movie, the real
thought-provoking comedy that was
hiding under that sheep's clothing. This
is actually a show about the consequences of exploitation.
So, you see, director Ron Casden and
friends have enticed into the theater the
very people they want to talk to. Not
only that, they've given them an opening that will get them to forgive nearly
anything. And if they ever feel they're
starting to lose us, they can always
have Lyon, who has been an Ail-
American linebacker and a GQ cover
model, take his shirt off.
Or tease us with Miles O'Keefe.
Remember Bo Derek's Tarzan? He's
here as the older, slightly sinister bad
man to spice up this steady diet of young
innocents. But he never does take his
shirt off. I guess that's to prove that
Casden isn't giving us exactly the kind
of entertainment he looks upon critically.
Now, for those of you who don't like
beefcake, this movie is good comedy-
drama.
Although this is an entirely fictitious
story, it was inspired by Todd Headlee,
an Arizona State University student
who created the first male pin-up
calendar. In honor of him, and because
it's an interesting location, the movie
was made at A.S.U.
Headlee produced the calendar five
years ago. It takes a willing suspension
of disbelief to accept that, in the movie,
this savvy marketing student has his
independent brainstorm just last year.
Then, to further stretch our credulity,
although Dye is having a lot of trouble
selling the calendars in Tempe, one of
them just happens to show up on the
desk at a magazine in New York.
Morgan Fairchild, the editor, decides
that she must have Lyon as her "Man of
the '80s." It means a very lucrative yearlong contract.
V'i;'£"_J. lf-fr
Mark Hammon, in his first motion
picture starring role, plays a gym
coach pressured into taking charge of
a remedial English class during
summer session in "Summer School"
Dye is very proud of what he's done
for his friend, but Lyon doesn't want it.
Years ago as kids Dye introduced him to
diving. Now he's a top-notch college
diver with a chance at the Olympics.
How can Dye take back the dream he
gave him? For this will jeopardize his
amateur tanding. And their friendship,
too.
The women are there for the romance
and to help instruct the men's consciences. By the way, keep an eye on Delaney.
I got confused and wasn't always sure
she was the same woman.
This movie is really about friendship.
It's also the closest we're likely to get
to a sports movie about diving. There
are some beautiful dives, lovingly photographed.
□ Film Clips
There will be a one-night festival ofthe
works of explorer, filmmaker and underwater cinematographer Jack McKen-
ney at the Adams Mark Hotel next
Friday. He will take time out from shooting Jaws IVto fly up from the Bahamas
and attend a 6:30 cocktail party before
the screenings. Info & tickets: 661-6080.
week and letting the Houston International Film Festival take its deserved
spotlight stage center. Everything is
going to be so fresh at the festival that
as I prepared this column, they were not
sure what's happening when. They will
by this weekend. Calendars will be
available at participating theaters like
the Greenway III or the Museum of Fine
Arts.
On the commercial scene, the only
thing I'm sure is coming out this week is
Project X. It stars Matthew Broderick
and concerns a chimpanzee who has
learned how to speak in sign language.
A few things are happening on the art
Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello, their days as "The Big Kahuna"
and "The Queen of the Sand" a fading memory, contemplate a return to
the fun and sun in "Back to the Beach"
Paramount Pictures is celebrating its
75th anniversary this summer with,
among other things, reruns (Beverly
Hills Cop II), retellings (The Untouchables) and returns. Yes, Annette Funicello and Frankie Avalon go Back to the
Beach.
There's a brand new Carl Reiner
comedy starring Mark Hammon in his
show circuit:
Liquid Sky (River Oaks, 17 & 18)
Menage (River Oaks, 22 & 23)—
French black comedy
Charulata (The Lonely Wife) (Rice
Media Center, 23)—film by Indian director Satyajit Ray
A Home for Ladies (Goethe Institute,
23)—Eberhard Fechner interviews 16
Jimmy Garrett (Mathew Broderick), a young Air Force pilot assigned to a
top secret military training program, becomes involved in a suspenseful
adventure with a highly intelligent chimpanzee named Virgil, who has
been taught to communicate in sign language in "Project X"
first starring role in a movie, Summer
School.
□ Curtain Up
Everybody's sort of sitting back this
retired Catholic noblewomen about the
history of Germany since Kaiser.
In Montrose, Nearly
Everyone Reads the Voice
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