Sadly Over-hyped

Highly Overrated But Still Good

Simple and well acted, it has tension enough to knot the stomach.

It's complicated... I really like the directing, acting and writing but, there are issues with the way it's shot that I just can't deny. As much as I love the storytelling and the fantastic performance but, there are also certain scenes that didn't need to exist.

Just One Of The Guys is a film that had I seen it when it first came out I might have dismissed it as an innocuous teen sex comedy. Jane Hyser an aspiring journalism student whose teacher Kenneth Tigar can't quite take her seriously. No one with that much beauty could possibly have a brain in her head. So she goes undercover as a guy to prove her point. Not even her college boyfriend Leigh McCloskey knows, the only one who does know is her perpetually horny brother Billy Jayne. In the end things work pretty much as they do for characters in films like this.But if you've seen a film like Boys Don't Cry with the gut wrenching performance that got Hillary Swank her first Oscar as the transgender Brandon Teena her life was anything but amusing. What Jane Hyser does as an experiment was the life lived by Hillary Swank in her film. It wasn't bets, proms, and parties. When the climax comes in fact at a prom I don't think there would be that many laughs in real life.We guard our gender roles and prerogatives most jealously in this society. You can still get a few laughs from Just One Of The Guys. But I bet the amount of next month's rent that your perspective will change if you see this film and Boys Don't Cry.Take up my challenge.

May contain spoilersA feel good comedy about a girl named Terri who feels as though no one takes her seriously as a journalist because she's a woman and beautiful. It came out during a time of female empowerment when woman wanted to persuade high paying jobs instead of home economics. Does it feel dated? Some of the dialogue and costumes does feel like the eighties. But the theme is timeless, being explored in other mediums through the years, and it makes it special for being first.You can really emphasis with Terri As she walks in another's shoes and sees what being a teenage got is like.Her brother Buddy is a typical horny teen who helps his big sis not only with her transformation but get the boy of her dreams. This adds so much depth to an otherwise shallow character.This movie is great on so many levels that it would take a whole novel to explain its a appeal. Check out one of the guys.

The eighties were notorious for great and goof-ball movies! This being a funnier story than a lot of others that I had seen, it's in league with "The Secret of My Success" "Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure" a lesser talented "Tootsie" but still very much a fun and wacky teenage tale of ' investigative mischief '. This is an Arizona filmed 'gem' movie. There are many shot in California and other places but, since I have lived here it's great to see familiar territory. Arizona is a great place to shoot certain films anyway. This being one of them. I hadn't seen the lead female or Sherilyn Fenn before, much less Billy, and barely knew Clayton Rohner the love interest of our lead fem-reporter, 'Terry'. Despite any of this, who cares? They did a fairly wonderful job as teenage curious trouble makers and one aspiring for 'greatness' in reporting. This won't take home any awards but it will entertain most viewers. William Zabka was the only one that I truly was familiar with since "The Karate Kid " (1984) which of course hit big at the Box-Office!With so many new comers in this, it is kind of cool to be in the story because it seems more real to me. I think, due to the fact that they are not famous-famous, yet. This wasn't a huge story line or amazing plot with twits and turns, it was an uncomplicated story of high school interaction and of those that are just starting to figure out a life path and begin the coming of age process. This is fun and will be loved by some liked by others and not thought of still by some more. Any way you slice it though, it will come out amusing. The one little thing that I wish the director would have done is have the two 'alien' nerds from homeroom, standing on the curb as they all ride off (Teri and boyfriend & younger brother with biker-gal)and the mother ship 'arrives' and the two nerds look up, smile, a light shines down on them and both turn to glittering matter swirling upward to the ship and then head back into the cosmos.(**)

I first saw this in the summer of '86 when it premiered on HBO, and I couldn't remember a movie that made me laugh as hard. Since it's time, there have been numerous copy cats but none as cute and original as this. I adored this movie so much since then that I later went on to purchase the promo LP soundtrack and an original theater issued poster for 'Just One of the Guys'! It really is an endearing film and was not meant to be taken as anything but a light hearted comedy with a gender twist. The characters in JOOTG are exceptionally entertaining and definitely grow on you throughout the movie. Billy Jacoby, who plays Joyce Hyser's over-sexed younger brother, practically steals the film with his bawdy humor and knack for comedic timing. And who can forget William Zabka who (suprise) plays yet another seedy bully lurking within the school system. It works well and I prefer films like these as opposed to the Hughes teen comedies instead. What a breath of fresh air! I highly recommend this film. I am also pleased to see the release of JOOTG on DVD, though I wish some added features like an audio commentary would have been available for this movie.