The Artist Formerly Known as the Jester has commissioned me to review movies that came out way back when he thought fingerbanging was what you did when you played cops & robbers. His first request is RAD!. And I agreed to review this movie for two reasons. 1) It came out in 1986. This is not only the year I was supposed to graduate from college, but it was also the veritable center of my cultural universe. 2) It stars Lori Laughlin. Oh how I loved her in the 80s. She was the poor man\’s Phoebe Cates, but would never got naked, to my knowledge. The apex of her cinematic career came one year before in the motion picture classic Secret Admirer.
Rad is your typical 80s teen comedy where the male protagonist must win some competition to win not just the big prize but also the girl (Lori Laughlin, Daphne Zuniga, Diane Franklin et. al.). The antagonist is played by a Van Patten or a Van Patten wannabe. It brings me great joy that a guy like John Cussak is a respected Golden Globe nominated actor while Vince Van Patten does poker play-by-play on deep cable. Even in reality the good guy wins. And, yes, I know I\’m probably getting my 80s movies and Van Pattens mixed up. That\’s what happens when you blog with a box of wine.
First off, how have I never seen this movie before??? I\’ve seen Secret Admirer, The Sure Thing, Better Off Dead, The Last American Virgin and Just One of the Guys at least a 1000 times each thanks to cable and a college career I never took seriously. Rad falls in their category, but I\’ve never seen it. Clearly I wasted my stay at A&M.
The very generically named Bill Allen (was 24 looked 30) plays Cru Jones who has the desire and intensity to win a BMX race called HellTrack. But that’s not what this movie is about. It’s about teen suburban angst, BMX racing montages with fake Kenny Loggins music and Lori Laughlin. And it delivers!!
So, what do we have?
- 0 Breasts
- 1 Lori Laughlin crotch grab
- Preteen cussing
- BMX-fu
It can be seen here. I couldn’t find it on Netflix.
C-
It\’s a terrible movie, but it has Lori Laughlin.
King Wally says check it out.
It hasn\’t been released on DVD, and isn\’t in being made in VHS anymore either. Only a select few (myself included) have copies.Oh, and how could you forget the dancing on bikes that lasts for 10 min.?Big Dave
Mea culpa. You\’re not the first to point out my not mentioning the bike dance.
RAD is considered a historical piece because of the footage of bike tricks at the beginning of the film. It\’s one of a few rare, professionally produced collections of the top riders of the time performing tricks.The More You Know…
I give this post an F for not being able to spell \”Cusack\”. Seriously, you\’re not going to make it as a blogger until you step up on your spell-checking.Also, Fuddruckers has 2 D\’s. When you decide to hire an editor, give me a call. I\’m sure you\’ll find my rates are reasonable. 😉