 The First Time Seems Like the Worst Time, But It's The One Time You'll
Never Forget.
In Nelsonville, Ohio in 1956, Jonathan Bellah (Doug McKeon)
is your extremely average high school senior. He's in love
with his beautiful classmate Marilyn McCauley (Kelly Preston)
but terrified to make eye contact with her, let alone speak
to her. Things in Jonathan's world are about to undergo massive
changes when he gets new neighbors, including James Dean wannabe
Eugene Harbrough (Chris Nash).
Eugene
is fresh from Chicago, rides a motorcycle and brags to Jonathan
of being expelled from his previous school because the mother
of one of the girls he slept with had the principal kick him
out. Eugene takes Jonathan under his wing and promises to
get the virginal Jonathan not just laid, but laid by his beloved
Marilyn. This may seem like a difficult enough task in and
of itself, but things really become complicated when Eugene
sees the beautiful Bunny Miller (Catherine Mary Stewart).
As Hollywood tradition would have it, Bunny Miller is the
girlfriend of the town asshole, Kenny. Cue the drama.
It is from this situation that the film's key questions
spring: Will our hero be able to win Bunny from Kenny? Will
he be able to get poor Jonathan laid?
This movie is famous more for its lone nude scene featuring
a young Kelly Preston than it is anything else, which is a
shame because this really is a good film. The relationship
that develops between Eugene and Jonathan is funny to watch
as Eugene tries to show his pupil the finer arts of winning
the girl of his dreams. The characters are well played and
it's easy to like the characters you are supposed to. There
is also a really funny scene involving Jonathan, a pencil,
and Marilyn's panties. There is also an appearance by Jami
Gertz in the traditional ugly duckling to beautiful swan role.
The picture quality is pretty solid and what slight graininess
is there isn't very distracting. The colors are nice and rich
and don't seem faded or too dark. The audio is good enough,
though with this type of movie there really isn't anything
to stand out. This is a bare bones release from Anchor Bay
and no special features are included.
 This
is a movie that a lot of people have been waiting for, for
the obvious reason. I remembered seeing on HBO when I was
a kid and it still holds up pretty well. I'm a fan of this
type of movie and have quite a few of them in my collection,
including this one. This isn't recommended buying for everyone,
but it's definitely worth a rental if you've never seen it
or if it's just been a while since your last viewing. If you
are a fan of this movie you should definitely pick it up;
I think you'll be happy with it.
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