Tender-but-tough divorcée, the struggling owner of an outdoor demolition derby arena in small town Illinois, is faced with a $10,000 upgrade from the county; one of the commissioners is trying to get her property cheap so he can build a country club on the spot, but is unaware his teenage son has a crush on the older woman, who is also being courted by her star-driver. Surprisingly complicated character-driven film from director Randal Kleiser, he of the hits "Grease" and "The Blue Lagoon". Working from Ken Hixon's mercurial script, Kleiser hands a wonderful role to top-billed Jamie Lee Curtis, who finally gets to show off an appealing range (it's one of her tightest performances). As her underage paramour, C. Thomas Howell is still doing his puppy dog bit (soulful eyes and trembling bottom lip), however Patrick Swayze is terrific as the macho star involved in an all-out war with his cheating wife (Jennifer Jason Leigh, convincing as an unrepentant tramp). Just as good as the younger players is Ramon Bieri as Howell's father; the under-appreciated actor stews in realistic exasperation with his kids, and Kleiser is careful not to mock him (the father's actions aren't fully considered, but we are able to perceive the man's character in Bieri's weary eyes and seasoned face). What doesn't work are the dream sequences/music videos which appear to be included to appeal to the teen market. This isn't another horny boy-meets-older woman hick-comedy, though it was advertised as such. The film has more on its mind than cheap thrills, and the actors seem to relish in their opportunities. **1/2 from ****
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bkoganbing22 December 2020Grandview, USA is the film where Jamie Lee Curtis joins the Brat Pack. She plays the owner of a Demolition Derby Track in a small town named Grandview..
Depending on how you look at it small towns are the backbone of the USA or a stifling place one can't wait to leave.. C. Thomas Howell wants to leave and badly, but his dad Ramon Bieri has plans for him and plans for Grandview..
Those plans include taking over Jamie lee's track and building some homes and a golf course. Curtis feels an obligation to keep the track she inherite from her dad. She's also involved with Patrick Swayze who is married but wife Jennifer Jason Leigh doesn't take it all that seriously.
All the applecarts are upset when Howell moves in on Curtis. That sets off a chain events and and everyone starts to move toward their proper destinies.
It's a good brat pack film and a nice slice of life in small town USA that takes neither a positive or a negative position on it.. -
vertigo_1418 December 2004In first watching Grandview, USA, you might be puzzled by the scattered storytelling. Simply put, the movie concerns a few small town Illinois residents, but each with their own assorted, and somewhat separate, small town struggles. C Thomas Howell, at least in the trailers, is made to look like the main character of the story, the teenager just aching to break free of the provincial setting. But in fact, his story is neither anything important, nor anything dominant. Jamie Lee Curtis is Mike Cody, a speedway owner who is fighting to hold on to her property. Since her father, the man who built the speedway died, the city commissioner had been dying to get their hands on it. And, Patrick Swayze plays "Slam the Ram," a rather cumbersome character who plays a speedway driver on Cody's lot who is dealing with his sleazy wife (Jennifer Jason Leigh) cheating on him. No story is really fully developed. No situation really seeks to grab the audiences' attention. Everything just seems to be a subplot. The entire story is, as said before, simply scattered and without focus.
Jamie Lee Curis and Patrick Swayze, however, are no less entertaining despite this. If only they had developed their characters and story enough, you might have had quite an enjoyable little film. For me, it was still an entertaining film, so long as you don't mind obscure movies and you're in the mood for something different. C Thomas Howell's teenage angst can be kind of annoying at points, especially the music video daydream sequence with the 'Steele Man of Action' bit. But, 80s fans might be lured by the cast. Look for John Philbin (as one of the speedway employees), John Cusack and Joan Cusack (as C Thomas Howell's friends) in minor parts. It wasn't great, but still worth a viewing if you can find it. -
orangecakemix13 September 2002There have been more bad critical reviews and comments about THIS movie than good. I don't see how it's THAT bad to most viewers. It is one of my top favorites. It contains an excellent blend of comedy and drama about life in a rural American location (no mention of state or town but Texas is a good possibility). Great character acting. They just don't make them like this anymore.
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chinaskee11 June 2001Set in a small town in the mid-west,"Grandview USA" is neither the best nor the worst of the films to come along in the wake of "American Graffiti".Nothing much really happens,but C. Thomas Howell's recurrent music video fantasies are entertaining,and the snippets of small-town America during the opening credits are fun.The little kid who's sharing her ice-cream cone with her dog was my favorite.A pleasant,unoffensive,little film.
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leplatypus20 November 2017This is a strange movie and another spicy relationship from Kleiser coming back from Santorin. Usually, Smalltown, USA is almost paradise and this one says the opposite : it's a pit, faraway of modern life and hard for professional life or romances as every one knows every body ! That was indeed my feeling in my own hometown before leaving for the big city The movie takes a long time to get settled (while it's only 100 minutes), but it's worth staying because this coming of age story (a theme that has always resonates in me) is about a grad teen having a crush for Jamie Lee ! Sure her occupation is crazy (manager of stunt cars) but in her cowboy clothes or in the teen fantasies as a rock star, she is totally stunning and thus i was really connected with what's happening between them. Swayze was solid as a poor hick unable to save his weeding while Jenny was a big disappointment : she thus plays her unfaithful wife but like the future Tralala from Red Hook, she is too much into teasing and nothing else As this small town is near Chicago, we have also as bonus, the locals siblings from the area, maybe in their 1st appearance as both sister and brother are still young !
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DJBlackSwan1 December 2005This is the first 1 I've ever given a movie at the IMDb. There are some true dogs in the wide world of cinema, and this one is king of the scrap heap.
Unmoving setting, snore-worthy climax, angry married people sleeping around, choreographer Patrick Swayze sporting his usual Labrador retriever look; a sad-eyed Jamie Lee Curtis (believably, must say) reprises another unconventional woman with father issues; a couple of a-romantic love affairs with a heavy scene of pseudo BDSM, and people doing it in moving (!?) cars; and a ceaseless string of unfunny clichés about post-adolescence in the mid-80s, complete with silly spoofs on MTV (back when MTV actually played music videos.)
Avoid. But if you do indulge, look for the bad cameos of Michael Winslow as Spencer, Grandview's most visible Black man. Let's just say, Winslow made his mark as the um, "vocal talent", in the Police Academy series, wildly popular in the mid-late 80s.
1 deep regret out of 10, but don't take my word for it; Jamie Lee reportedly said so, herself. A screening will leave you with no doubts as to why. -
DeuceWild_7728 November 2017Lighthearted teen drama, directed by Randal Kleiser, fresh from "Grease" and "Blue Lagoon" box office hits, which like "Footloose" it was set in rural America, in this case a Midwestern small-town called Grandview, features a cast of the 80's 'usual suspects' in this particular genre such as Jamie Lee Curtis, C.Thomas Howell, Patrick Swayze, John & Joan Cusack, John Philbin and Jennifer Jason Leigh, among others.
The movie surely looks good and perfectly fits in the 80's visuals and the general tone, with that appealing 'small town vibe'; a bit cheesy in parts with over-the-top characters and campy acting & dialogue delivering, pumped with an emblematic 80's rock /pop soundtrack, performed by Air Supply, Jack Mack and the Heart Attack, Eddie & the Tide or The Pointer Sisters and even with some staged musical numbers MTV style in Howell's dream sequences, choreographed by the star Patrick Swayze and his wife Lisa Niemi, on the other hand the weak part is the way the story was written and presented to the screen, which seriously lacks focus with a myriad of sub-plots among the characters which turned the main plot, whatever it was, into a sub-plot itself.
18 years old's high school graduate, Tim Pearson (Howell) lives in Grandview and wants to leave the small town to go to Florida to be an oceanographer, against his father's will; 27 years old's and divorced tomboy, Michelle 'Mike' Cody (Jamie Lee Curtis), which owns a Speedrome after her father died of a heart attack, fights to retain it open against Tim's dad, Roger Pearson (Ramon Bieri), who wants to buy the land to built a golf course & a wealthy resort and Ernie 'Slam' Webster (Patrick Swayze), a speed racer in Cody's circuit, a frustrated husband of the shameless and unfaithful, Candy Webster (Jennifer Jason Leigh), who's having an affair with the way older & sleazy salesman, Donny Vinton (Troy Donahue). "Slam" and "Mike" always had a crush on each other, although they have never dated, but when "Slam" finally leaves Candy, after a physical confront with her wife's lover and tries to pursuit his happiness alongside "Mike", it may be too late, because his former crush is starting to feel the hots for the much younger Tim...
If the plot's summary sounds like a 'teen soap opera", it's because is close to being it, but after all it's a Randal Kleiser flick and his own style of being cheerful, dreamy, mawkishly sentimental and corny, it's once again, very patent here.
Jamie Lee Curtis, in all of her sexiness, leads "Grandview U.S.A." in her second adult role, following the success in the previous year of "Trading Places", trying to distance herself from being typecast in another horror / slasher film as the iconic "Scream Queen" in service; C. Thomas Howell, still a bit green in his acting and Patrick Swayze, in a thankless role, both still fresh from their work as the brothers Curtis in Francis Ford Coppola's "The Outsiders", reunite here in the same year that they also performed together in the John Milius' cult-movie, "Red Dawn".
The supporting cast is full of familiar faces: from the 50's heartthrob, Troy Donahue, which performed his sleazy role so 'hammy' that almost looks like a parody, to the "Police Academy" Sgt. Jones', Michael Winslow and the Cusack brothers (even if you blink, you will miss Joan's tiny part on screen); John Philbin, who surprisingly delivers a good performance as the mentally retarded "Cowboy", and the character actors Ramon Bieri, M. Emmet Walsh & the always great, William Windom.
The sex / nude scenes between Jamie Lee and C. Thomas Howell look a bit awkward and odd, not only because the age difference is noticeable (Howell looks like a callow kid next to a matured Jamie), but also that he was underage during principal photography, i don't know how it passed through the censors, maybe it was one the mysteries from that decade, whatever it happened during the 80's, it stayed in the 80's...
In short, "Grandview U.S.A." is a movie aimed to the devoted fans of 80's teen movies, which love this genre and can truly appreciate it, even when they aren't that good like in this particular case, for the general viewers, it's better skip this one and go rent / buy something else. -
Tito-821 April 1999Even with a nice midwestern setting and a truly honest effort to make a film that most people could relate to on some level, this movie just comes up way short. I just stopped caring about these characters about halfway in, and I spent the remainder of the film waiting for the predictable ending to take place. It's not that this is a bad film, but I would call it generic, and it has a basic storyline that would be familiar to most movie-goers. I'm quite certain that you can easily find a better film than this next time you're looking to kill some time with a movie.
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udar5528 April 2022High school senior Tim Pearson (C. Thomas Howell) isn't sure what he wants to do with his life. The night of his prom he meets Michelle "Mike" Cody (Jamie Lee Curtis), the owner of a demolition derby, and becomes smitten with her. This complicates his life as Tim's father (Ramon Bieri) is a city commissioner intent on shutting the track down for his own benefit.
Not sure how this comedy-drama escaped me for so many years. It checks off all the "coming of age" and "life struggles" tropes, but I was still quite entertained by it even if it switches in tone quite a bit. There are several emotional moments and director Randal Kleiser handles them well. Unfortunately, there are also two out of place musical numbers (daydreams for Howell's character) that instantly date the movie. Filmed in Pontiac, Illinois, it is the kind of film that they don't seem to make anymore (or at least big studios don't make anymore) about blue collar struggles. If it was made today, the only thing for certain is there would be one million think pieces about the relationship between the Howell and Curtis characters. There is a stellar supporting cast including Patrick Swayze as demolition driver and Cody's other love interest, Jennifer Jason Leigh as his cheating wife, Troy Donahue as her lover, William Windom as Cody's uncle, and John Philbin as a mentally slow track hand. Also look for small roles by John Cusack, Joan Cusack, M. Emmett Walsh, and Michael Winslow as the track MC doing his thing. -
Luvfilms-212 July 1999This movie will be known for being the worst film made by many of these popular actors & actresses. It's not that their performances reek; it is simply uninspired in every possible way. The script, the character portrayals, the camerawork, etc. etc.
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jeffman5200123 December 2004This movie is really great about life in a mid western town, a great cast in this movie. A young soon to be high school grad,Tim Pearson,played by C. Thomas Howell(The Outsiders, Red Dawn, and Soul Man)has his dreams. He has his moments in life,especially after the prom. Tim makes out with his girlfriend, Bonnie, played by Elizabeth Gorcey(Footloose), in his dad's brand new Cadillac. Tim goes to Cody's Speed Way where they have demolition derbies there, he meets Michelle"Mike"Cody, played by Jamie Lee Curtis(Halloween, True Lies, and Freaky Friday). Patrick Swayze(The Outsiders, Red Dawn, and Point Break) as Ernie"Slam"Webster, is awesome. Ernie is a former boyfriend of Mike Cody, Ernie is married to Candy, played by Jennifer Jason-Leigh(Fast Times At Ridgemont High, Single White Female, and Rush), who is cheating on Ernie with a guy named Donny Vinton, played by 1950's heart throb Troy Donahue. A love triangle goes on between Tim,Mike,and Slam. Mike has her troubles too cause the county want to shut down the Speed Way, they feel her pace is unsafe, but the real estate man, Roger Pearson, played by Ramon Bieri, Tim's dad has plans for the site the Speed Way. Tim has a romantic night with Mike Cody,they start to be more close. Slam has problems with his marriage and wants to get close to Mike. Things get crazier when Slam gets even with his wife and her lover by using a bulldozer to tear down the house. Tim and his dad have some differences, but Roger realizes that he should have done things different. Tim tells his father that he wants to follow his dream. The Speed Way gets burned down cause of Mike's little brother, nicknamed Cowboy, who like gum very much. Cowboy was upset cause Mike sold the cars that he thought were his. Things do get better for all. Mike and Slam start over together, Tim Pearson goes to Florida cause of Mike and Slam giving him his car.
I think this movie is underrated and should have been giving a lot more credit.
Grandview U.S.A. has a good supporting cast like Michael Winslow(The Police Academy movies, Spaceballs)as the announcer at the Speed Way.
M. Emmet Walsh(Blade Runner, Back To School, and Missing In Action)as Bonnie's father.
John Cusack(Better Off Dead, One Crazy Summer, and The Grifters)as Tim Pearson's friend,Johnny. Joan Cusack as Johnny's sister.
Carole Cook as Mike Cody's mother, Betty Welles.
John Philbin(Children Of The Corn and Point Break)as Cowboy.
I give this movie a 2 thumbs up and 10/10, I had the honor to see it filmed, I was staying with my aunt in Pontiac, Illinois, where the movie was filmed. -
barteredlantern7 June 2004... this might just be The Bad 80s Movie. The cast is all the Usual Suspects: Patrick Swayze, Jamie Lee Curtis, Jennifer Jason Leigh, etc. The plot is the basic "Don't destroy my dream!" stuff (see Fame, Flashdance, Footloose, to name just a few of the Fs). The fashions -- well, I won't go there, except to say that looks that might occasionally have been found in trendy NY or LA clubs were generally absent, or at least muted, in the hinterlands of rural America. OK, so some movies don't age as well as others, but I mean, come on! MTV choreographed dream sequences?
This was on cable one night and my wife and I just couldn't tear ourselves away. Upon JLC's appearance, my first thought was that this must have been a 'rent' movie, early in her career. On the contrary! She'd already had success with Halloween, Halloween II, and Trading Places!
Viewing this film today, 20 years on, is more an exercise in humility than nostalgia. -
wsutton10 November 2004OK I must say that this movie isn't the greatest, but hey it was the 80s. This movie is special to me because it was filmed in my home town of Pontiac,IL. I was a little kid when they were filming it and I got to meet Jamie Lee. it was awesome. In Pontiac,IL not much goes on, so you can only imagine how fun it was to have a movie with real stars being made there! The place where they had the race track, was where I played Pony League. They used my high school, and many other parts of the town that I have been to. It's fun to watch this and look out for stuff that's there, not there and see some of my friends in little pieces of the film. So if you are from or have ever been to Pontiac,IL I suggest you watch this film!!
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adrianswingler29 December 2015During field tests with a local corn seed supplier I had to work on site and the work was based out of Pontiac, IL. People didn't revel in their small town status. They hated it and left as soon as they could, if they could. It was horrible. Everything. Try getting a decent meal out when the locals are actually afraid of spices. Not, "I prefer blander food" or such, but true horror at the thought that they might accidentally get slipped something cooked with the appropriate spices. I don't mean hot, I mean anything other than salt and pepper. And pepper's considered pretty darn exotic.
Jamie Lee used to show up at the bar I used to frequent after work, during the shoot. That didn't even make it interesting. In fact, she was a bloody nuisance. Real attention seeker. First time I saw her I'd been in there about 10 minutes and a roadie walked in and she flashed her breasts at him and said, "How do you like these sets?"
I suppose the movie does capture the grinding nothingness of it all. I found the plot insipid and the acting pretty bad. Patrick Swayze was just irritating. Surely you have something better to do than to watch this movie. I guess those that rated it highly are engaging in a kind of rationalization. Trapped in someplace like Fairbury, IL they convince themselves that they love small town Americana. Maybe they're afraid to leave. I mean, if spices scare you, the world might seem pretty terrifying. I guarantee it won't intrude on you in central Illinois! -
RodrigAndrisan20 August 2018I wanted to see this because of the presence of Jennifer Jason Leigh in the cast. But, she has a very small role. Anyway, she's the best of the whole movie. The others are not bad, but not extraordinary either: Jamie Lee Curtis, C. Thomas Howell, Patrick Swayze.
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Buckaroo was bad enough we walked out in under 10 mins when at played at Bramalea City Center in 84, we were 17 and had an 8 yr old with us when we slipped into the next theater and just randomly sat in on this one. I couldn't remember who was in this movie until looking it up under guy saves demolition derby track movie from the 80s lol. Oh well, it probably wasn't that bad if it had Swayze and Curtis in it, she was good looking back then and he was getting more famous with The Outsiders long out and Red Dawn around the same time. I would watch it again if it came up on the movie channels one lazy Sunday, but wouldn't look for it or buy it.
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This is a troubling movie to review. It's neither not good. More good pass the time movie fare in the world of ordinary, although you do get caught up in the characters and their hardships, problems, aspirations, mistakes, etc. It's well acted by all, and if you're a C Thomas Howell fan, like me, it's a plus, although like Soul Man, here, I didn't buy that Oceanography was his passion, a similar study to what the late Paul Walker did, him choosing marine biology. Anyhow, he gets caught up in an affair with an older woman, the always capable and talented Jamie Lee Curtis. Her best friend and ex lover (the late Swayze) a car derby driver who revels in his profession, is now going out with a trashy, but delicious looking sort (Jennifer Jason Leigh, in one of the film's standout and memorable performances) who's doing others, besides him. It is fun watching Swayze, get angry and go ballistic, and just watch what happens, when provoked. The film has an average script, and less so plot, but one feels the movie is not built around that. It only has video appeal. It'd bomb at the cinema. If you disregard that, and just live through the characters here, you'll come off okay, while a plus, is being a Christopher Howell fan. Another asset is two dream sequences, one featuring Howell in a choreographed dancing number in front of a locomotive, surrounding by an entourage of beauties and studs, where the prize inside the carriage is Jamie Lee Curtis who I myself, has never found this horror icon, attractive. Also an intimate lovemaking scene, on the derby ground, between the more mature Curtis and younger gent, Howell, in a brake locked car, which executes a perfect donut. An enjoyable time passer with memorable moments, and characters, but don't look higher than that. Here too, before Soul Man, Howell takes one in the gulliver.
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pmtelefon11 October 2020I haven't seen "Grandview, U.S.A." is many moons. After watching it last night my crush on Jamie Lee Curtis is back in full swing. She's so cool and very dreamy in this movie. The rest of the cast is also very good with the standouts being Ramon Bieri and Patrick Swayze. Bieri plays his tricky character just right and Swayze has never been better. This is also a great looking movie with terrific locations. "Grandview, U.S.A." is a very satisfying watch.
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frog4good23 January 2005I lived near Pontiac IL for 12 years and after seeing the movie and recognizing places I went when I was growing up it was special.One question though if anyone knows Was the main house in the movie the funeral home in town? My brothers and I have wondered that for a long time. If anyone has an answer to that email me at frog4good@hotmail.com, also does anyone know if any scenes were done in Saunemin IL. thats where I lived and went to school thru 7th grade, my parents worked in Pontiac at the chair factory, then my mom worked at the hospital and my dad worked at the prison.We always thought that the track was near Fairbury but I guess not is there any place where this movie can be rented I have check Block Buster and they don't have it i think its one of those hard to find movies. thanks a bunch Dolores Ogden
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ingbri9-63-2095706 August 2021Americana-style comedy-drama about a county commissioner who tries to run the local demolition derby out of business so he and his investors can build a country club on its property. The commissioner's son falls in love with the woman owner of the derby, thereby creating an obvious rift with his dad. The feature has gotten mixed reviews over the years, though it does have its entertaining moments.