directed by:
Matthew Lupis written by: Matthew Lupis genre: Drama |
I had a great laugh over the commercials we see at the start of this movie, all of which would be deemed entirely unacceptable today. "All Is Fine In '89" immediately flexes a sense of humour right from the get-go, and an effective one at that. I'm trying to decide if this would only appeal to those of us who were actually around in the 80s or if there's an even more widespread audience for this. With the whole retro-craze never seeming to go away, I'd think that "All Is Fine In '89" should stand a decent chance of getting some eyeballs to watch it, right? It certainly is true to the era and to the style we've all come to know throughout the years. From the jocks to the nerds, to the teachers and students fantasizing about each other, to the bullies and weenies that roam through the halls of high school, cheerleaders and football players – the cast of characters you'd expect to find is certainly present and accounted for, decked out in plenty of denim as you'd assume.
For the nostalgia factor alone, you've gotta admire how Writer/Director Matthew Lupis went about this. He's made sure to get all the kinds of crucial characters you'd wanna see in a movie like this in there somewhere along the way, from Linda Johnson (Dani Romero), who's more than likely pregnant, to the ruthlessly mean jock and feared menace of Cole Sullivan (Tom Keat), to their extraordinarily beautiful teacher Mrs. Applewood (Shelby Handley) – if you've ever seen a movie from the actual era that "All Is Fine In '89" is from, you've seen these people in some way, shape, or form before. I like that Lupis made a clear decision to not pull punches with the language being used because it really adds authenticity to what we're watching. Surely that element isn't likely to please everyone, due to the fact that there are at least a few themes and terms that we've somewhat grown out of & left behind in our quote-unquote "polite society," but when you hear someone say "it was a different time" – this is essentially what they mean and what they were getting at. We weren't polite – we were crude. We weren't repressed – we were over-stimulated and equally over-sexualized. We weren't restrained – we were free and liberated in just about everything we did, twenty-four hours a day, regardless of how anyone else felt about it. In that sense, it was really neat to revisit this timeline & remember what the world was like back then. I'm not the guy that's gonna tell you things were better in those days – to be crystal clear, that's not how I feel – but…I was there for the tail-end of this era, being born in 1980, so I do remember a lot of what I see, and it's truly kinda fun to view this all from afar rather than have to try to live through it every day. So…fundamentally, this is the whole coming-of-age type of film, and it's as widespread as the students of the school itself, Romano High. It's practically impossible to figure out where we're really supposed to direct our attention at first, given that the cast is so massive, but by the same token, it's again very true to the era and how these films were originally made. Is it Debbie (Francesca Fotia) & Mark (Adam Lupis) and their blossoming relationship that we should be paying the most attention to? Or is it the growing tension surrounding the super-hot badass Dean Marino (Dylan Hawco) and his teacher, Mr. Parker (Damien Guide), who is still undeniably desperate to be one of the cool kids? And what about that gun we see in his glove compartment? Surely that's gonna become an issue at some point, ain't it? Or maybe it's Linda's impending adulthood coming on - way before its time that we should be following? The point is clear – there's so much going on that you'll hardly know which way to turn your head as you start watching "All Is Fine In '89," but you'll eventually discover all these storylines intersect with each other in some way, much the same as a stranger in the hallways could end up sitting beside you in class. It's funny... because you'd think that spreading things out so far to the edges could very much work against a film, and in many instances, it does. This is where I've been objectively trying to figure out if this has as much appeal to a younger audience because, to me, we don't need to worry so much about how many characters there are because we've literally met every single one of them in our own lives – but I'm old. Will others feel the same way? Honestly, I think the jury is still a little bit out on that one. Personally, each character we meet in "All Is Fine In '89" resembles someone that I went to school with or had at least seen in movies with The Brat Pack while I was growing up. I think what is an understated element of making films in this style is that you actually get a lot of character and story from each person you see onscreen, relayed to you in a relatively short amount of time. It's the only way that something like this would work, given how many people are a part of its cast, because we still need to get to know them and we still need to find a way to care about them – quickly – so credit where credit is due, I felt like Lupis did an excellent job of tapping into the way these films work at their core. We do end up invested in each character's own separate storyline from the students to the faculty, and that is entirely due to Lupis staying highly focused on both his writing and direction at all times. You see the humanity in every character we've met and how they all struggle in their own way, whether it is problems at home, trying to keep up with the image they present at school, or just finding their way to become the person that they genuinely want to be – whether you want to admit it or not, you either know these people, or you've been one of them yourself. Bonus points for one of the most fantastic uses of "I Know This Much Is True" by Spandau Ballet… there's umm…a LOT to take in and a lot less left to the imagination, but it's likely to be one of the more talked about scenes found in "All Is Fine In '89."
All the while in the background, the Berlin Wall is officially coming down at long last. I'd love to say that this is a huge plot point along the way, but it's not really. It's there to provide context & further support the timeline this movie is on, but it doesn't really factor in much more than that. The way that families are viewed makes more of an impact and political statement in this film at the end of the day, and it all provides the necessary context to understand why the kids were so eager to redefine themselves and their future ahead. The youthful spirit might never be repressed – but its parents sure as hell were! Across the board, I was pretty happy with this. The casting was really well balanced, and each character brought their own element to this story along the way. I'm not going to go so far as to say that Lupis has recreated the wheel here - because he's very much following a blueprint that is tried, tested, and true. Like I was saying from the start, the real question is whether or not this same recipe works today, and I suspect that viewers will come to their own individual conclusions on that, with the more positive ones likely tied directly to an older age in the audience. Where I'll give Lupis a whole lot of credit is how he continues to dive into the details & takes this into darker terrain than most watchers would ever expect. In general, you'll find Lupis saves the majority of the most potent fireworks for the final twenty minutes or so - but ends up using it all to great effect. All these stories…all these characters…they all cross paths in their own ways in the finale, and the impact can't be denied. It's a stellar example of how to change a good movie into a great one, in my opinion. I originally felt like "All Is Fine In '89" could very well be a forgettable film at first, but by the end, with its multiple twists and turns, Lupis found the right way to go about making this memorable through its conclusion. It packs a lot in, but it doesn't leave anything out – so I'm going with a strong four stars out of five…Lupis had a vision for this film & executed it brilliantly. |
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