drudolph8

There is nothing more painful than an unfunny comedy, and Skid Marks is a perfect example. Unlike a terrible horror or drama, where at least some enjoyment can be gotten out of unintentional humor, a god-awful comedy is just ....humorless. The acting here, aside from Dianna Agron, and maybe Tyler Poelle, is uniformly awful. If your main reason for watching it (as was mine) is to see San Diego locations, forget it, because in the 45 minutes I lasted before walking out, I saw none (and I never walk out of movies). I viewed a lot of bad movies during my time as a video store clerk, but this one may just be the worst (and at least those I hadn't paid for).

I was a little hesitant about watching this prequel to one of my favorite comedies of the 90s. A made-for-TV movie, starring neither of the original stars, and on the ABC Family Channel, not exactly a network known for great movies. But after looking it up on IMDb and finding that it had been written and directed by the original's author, I figured I'd give it a shot.

The opening scene, shot in a brown-tint, was not promising, but within a few minutes I knew I'd made the right choice. For starters, simple math explains why a casting change was a logical move (the story takes place 7 years prior to the original's setting, a movie which was released 8 years ago - how believable would Mira Sorvino and Lisa Kudrow have been as a couple of 20-year-olds?) And the prequel retains the original's clever wit and dead-on characterizations. Alex Breckenridge does a good job as Michele, but the real standout is Katherine Heigl, who shows an amazing gift for comedy. There are also a lot of great early-90s bits of nostalgia and music, and, just like the original, there is still something oddly touching and endearing about these two characters - maybe the portrayal of friendship; as dumb and vapid as they may be, their love for each other is genuine and unbreakable.