Mischief ★★½
THE other night, just for the hell of it, I decided to watch the first free film that popped up on YouTube.
Mischief, released in 1985, turned out to be a slightly raunchy and mildly amusing version of the Happy Days television series.
Overall, however, it fell through the cracks; too adult to be a family comedy but not adult enough to rival similarly-themed films like Porkys from 1981 or the later American Pie series.
The film is set in 1956 in a small town called Nelsonville in Ohio. Jonathan, played by Doug McKeon, is the ‘Richie Cunningham’ equivalent, a typical, awkward teenager desperate to lose his virginity, preferably to the most popular girl in the school, Marilyn, played by Kelly Preston.
Roaring into Jonathan’s life one day comes Gene, ‘The Fonz’ character, who moves in next door with his father and causes an immediate commotion by riding his motorbike around the neighbourhood.
Gene (Chris Nash) is rebellious, good-looking and, unlike Jonathan, has the gift of the gab especially when it comes to charming the girls.
Despite their differences, Gene takes a shine to Jonathan and decides to make it his mission to help him get closer to Marilyn.
Unfortunately for Jonathan, Marilyn is more interested in Gene but, fortunately for Jonathan, Gene is more interested in another girl Bunny (Catherine Mary Stewart) who is knocking around with a bully who treats her as if she’s his personal property.
Everything goes the way you would expect, but along the way there are a few decent laughs and the occasional profanity and nudity.
The acting is reasonable and the sets, make-up and costuming are good enough to give you a feel for the period.
It’s efficiently directed by Mel Damski, a predominantly television-based journeyman whose credits include more than 50 made-for-TV movies as well as episodes of 46 different series.