In Tom Cruise's first starring film role, 3 teen friends decide to motor from their LA homes to Tijuana, just across the border in Mexico, to have a parent-free blast and, most importantly, to 'lose it'. Lose what? Their virginity, of course, presumably with some sweet-faced senorita or, perhaps less desirably, a well-practiced whore.
Sex-crazed Dave keeps a big pair of socks inside the front of his briefs, to make his ah.....look much bigger, presumably to impress the ladies. Near film's end, border patrol discovers this when the guys are stripped for rumored contraband. Alone among the guys, he's super enthusiastic about obtaining some legendary 'Spanish Fly' to help him seduce the senoritas. He wastes time and money tracking down a supply of dubious quality, then doesn't get to use it.
One of the many things I love about this movie is that often it feels like I'm watching 3 or 4 movies simultaneously as, after a while, the guys have often split up, each having their own adventures. The camera keeps switching back and forth, updating the happenings for each.
Besides the 3 late teens, in their car they have ''Wimpy' : Dave's 14 yo brother, who wants to buy some fireworks cheap and sell them expensive back in LA. Initially, he's tolerated as a member of the team because, for some? Reason, he's been entrusted with most of the group's money. As things turned out, he becomes very important in saving brother Dave's life from a car full of hostile Mexicans. Still later, his fireworks are instrumental in saving the fleeing gang from several sets of hostile pursuers, as they race for the border. He's no longer wimpy!
Beautiful Shelly Long, as Kathy, soon becomes the 5th member of the 'gang'. She's a sudden wannabe runaway wife, who hops in their car as the quickest way to Tijuana for a quicky divorce, after a spat with her coworker husband. She disappears and reappears several times. She develops a special liking for the shy, but, handsome, Woody(Tom Cruise), and spends most of the remainder of the film in his company. Eventually, sparks fly, and Woody briefly becomes her 'boy toy', as they spend a night in a motel. Finally, presumably, he 'lost it' with this very pretty near-divorced older woman(33yo). This, after Woody's embarrassing decision to wave off the prostitute he paid for. Actually, my only major gripe with this film is that this encounter between Woody and Kathy was cut off way too soon, with only preliminary undressing shown. Was this the actress's demand? As this is the only presumably successful sexual encounter we bear witness to in the film, I suspect the film would have been much more popular if substantially more of this encounter had been shown....... Near the end, Kathy happens to see her estranged husband's van in the car line, at the border crossing. She's had a change of heart toward her still-husband, runs to him and kisses him. Then, she runs back to Woody, and engages in a passionate kiss and hug, before she runs back to her her husband, kisses him again, and gets in his van.
Although Cruise is the official lead male, he often seems rather hesitant and wooden, compared to the older Jack Haley(Dave), who often comes across as the more dominant. After all, it's his Chevy that the gang is riding in. He almost has to part with his beloved Chevy to pay for the exorbitant fine that Spider is saddled with for starting a fight in an establishment, that spread to become a destructive melee. But, brother Wimpy helps him get out of this mess by tossing some lit fireworks into the police car, distracting the police and delaying his chase. Alone among the group, Dave always wears a cool-looking hat. When they return to LA, he throws it in the trash, symbolically ending their adventure.
Although Cruise's second lead role, in the following year's "Risky Business", garnered a much more positive response by audiences of the time, I, for one, have no doubt that the present film is the more entertaining of the two. While I also enjoyed this later film, I give the present film a higher rating and a much higher rating than the mean rating given at this IMDB site. I caution potential viewers that the occasional pair of bare breasts are shown. To me, this is a minor consideration. Probably, to most potential viewers, it is a plus!
Incidentally, the California-Mexico border town of Calexico served as Tijuana's substitute, in the film making.
