Plain Clothes (1988)

Touches You

A Masterpiece!

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

"Plain clothes" is an overlooked 80s flick. Nick Dunbar (Arles Howard (who reminds me of Allen Covert)) is a young 24 year old cop who's partner is Seymour Castle in a funny role himself. Nick constantly is given undercover assigments working around kids. "I hate kids!" Nick complains to his captain. "It is g****mn unAmerican to hate kids!" his captain yells back. "But kids and I never got along!" Dunbar replies. Captain yells back "I don't care! Deal with it!" That's exactly what Nick does. More than he'll ever know. Then, Nick finds out how his brother Matt Dunbar is accused of stabbing and killing one of his teachers, Mr. Bradwood. Nick knows his brother is innocent but he doesn't have enough proof. His next assignment: to go undercover to highschool posing as a highschool student. This idea has definitely been done before, such as 80s highschool film "Hiding Out", and late 90s film " Never been kissed" with Drew Barrymore. Nick goes to school posing as a student to look for more clues to try and prove his brother's innocence. Seymour poses as his dad. When in school, he encounters the usual highschool cliques. Since he can't go with his last name Dunbar, or people will know he's Matt Dundar's brother. He goes under the name Nick Springstien. "Any relations dude?" kids ask him. "Distant" Nick replies coyly. The bully Kyle Kerns is just another typical 80s highschool movie bully, just like in "Karate kid", " Just one of the guys", "Teen wolf", " The heavenly kid", " Like father, like son", etc. The hot girl Dawn Marie is another typical 80s highschool movie hot girl such as, well every movie I just listed pretty much has one. Nick must talk to these kids to try and find out what he can about exactly what happened the day Mr. Bradwood was killed. But getting straight answers from these highschool kids isn't easy because they just wanna act like, well highschool kids. And Nick cannot ask anything too directly so no one finds out he's a cop. Nick encounters several teachers too. Diane Ladd as the impatient front desk secretary. Suzy Amis as the young attractive English teacher, who kinda likes Nick's mature persona (such as Nick's metaphor in class) little knowing it's real. Robert Stack as the principal, who we see in a humorous "visit to the principal's office" scene after Nick accidentally chucks him in the chin thinking he was one of Kyle's bully friends coming up behind him during a confrontation with Kyle. I didn't know principals were still using the paddle in the late 80s. Then there's Abe Vigoda who's an old teacher who's constantly walking down the hallway with notes (such as 'party naked') on his back, and is impressed with Nick being polite since none of the other kids are. Then there's George Wendt as the shop teacher/school counsler who needs Nick to help finish his sentences while talking to Nick. And at least one of these people has some darker secrets about them, but I won't say who just in case anyone reading this review has not seen the movie yet. Oh, and listen to some of the funny comments made during the principal's constant ramblings over the school intercom.

Not a bad movie but not a good one either. It's one of those 80's movies you have to a least see once in your lifetime.Arliss Howard as Nick Dunbar: The 34yr old playing a 24yr undercover cop playing an 18yr. OK. While Howard was somewhat young enough to somewhat get away with it, I still felt he was miscast somewhat. In some scenes he kinda fit in but in others, you could tell his age and it was more embarrassing than funny. But still, he did an earnest performance.Suzy Amis as Robin Torrence: Now she I believed did a great job and was quite believable as the young teacher smitten by the Nick Dunbar character. She really looked quite nice in this type of role.George Wendt as Chet Butler: Poor Wendt, he at 1st came on quite nicely as a somewhat loony teacher but by the end it was quite ridiculous for me to accept him as a invincible, crazy killer who even shoots dogs! Not funny at all. I quite expected him to just have a heart-attack with all that running around after Howard's Dunbar. Complete miscast here.Diane Ladd as Jane Melway: Now she was quite believable in her role. (At 1st I thought she was Dee Wallace!) Ladd did a great job in her little role.Seymour Cassel as Ed Malmburg: Was OK at best. Playing Dunbar's partner and role-playing as the dad was OK. I wish Collidge would have had a little more interplay with Cassel and Howard doing the "father & son" thing. There could have been some more potential comedy there.Abe Vigoda as Mr. Wiseman: Was a complete miscast. What a shame to have the late Vigoda in a thankless role in which all he had to do was walk around oblivious to the fact fact that everyday some student was putting a different note pinned to his back and he of course would not notice and walk around all day like a idiot. Why would Vigoda take such a thankless role is beyond me.Robert Stack as Mr. Gardner: Stack as the principle was OK at best but still a misfire and not funny at all. While it;s always great to see the late great Stack in a role out of the Untouchable mold, he just is too intense for a comedy and to me was just miscast in a throwaway role like Vigoda.Alexandra Powers as Dawn-Marie Zeffer: The beautiful Powers was very well cast as the cheerleader type. Her little scene where she is trying to seduce Howard's Dunbar was really good. I could see Howard having a hard time resisting this sexy little charmer but he had to have it under control for a lot of reasons. She's 17, he's 24 playing an 18yr old. I like at the end when she realizes he's a cop and she is still like saying in a devilish sexy way, "So, how old are you anyways?" What a shame this very cute actress gave up acting. She hasn't done anything since 2001! I wonder what she is doing now...Peter Dobson as Kyle Kerns: Great casting here. Dobson as a bully on Dunbar's case was right on. Very believable and a good job done by Dobson.Harry Shearer as Simon Feck: Complete miscast here for the great Shearer. Just like Vigoda, a throw-away role that any extra could have done. Don't understand why these greats would take such meaningless bit role role that are just basically cameos.Reginald VelJohnson as Captain Graff: Another meaningless cameo bit in which VelJohnson was just wasted. A thankless throwaway role also.Max Perlich as Carter: Great casting here. A very believable Perlich as a fellow student who befriends Dunbar. Good job by Perlich.All in all, Coolidge has done better (Valley Girl) but OK in some respect. Great ending song, "YOU CAN COUNT ON ME",written and performed by Billy Sherwood.

The first time I saw Plain Clothes was a coincidence. Changing channels on a Saturday night and finding (and sticking with) this movie. It is an eighties high school comedy with a funny little cross over to thriller.Watching B-movies is fun and I do it lots. I have no high expectations and I don't pay a fee to go to the movies and end up wanting my money back. In the nineties there is a growing tendency of B-movies being etremely violent, groce and "bloody". Film makers are trying to be noticed among the hundreds of B-movies made every year by going over the top making their movie "special". My point? Well, not every movie will win an oscar or go into history as a classic, a box-office success or a cult-movie. My point is that this is fine! But people don't seem to understand that one can make a nice movie without having the greatest script or actors of all time, or the money to do Star Wars-like gimmicks. To me Plain Clothes is a perfect B-movie. A nice, simple story, nice actors, funny here and there and quite entertaining. I have watched it now a couple of times and it is still fun! With the cop entering the school as a "thug" (as his little brother calls him). His change into the cool guy. His methaphore-poetry. His romance with the teacher. George ("NORM!!!") Wendt as the insane teacher/bad guy. A good climax. I love the Godfather saga, One flew over the Cuckoo's Nest. the Shawshank Redemption, Schindler's List, etc., but that doesn't mean that a movie that isn't in this category flunks. Plain Clothes is, plain and simple, a nice, ok movie. Average, may be, but fun average and that is more than I can say of zillions of movies (starring "stars" like Pamela Anderson or Arnold Schwarzenegger).

I wouldn't give this movie an overall good mark, but I think in its niche it well deserves its average. To be an eighties movie it contains enough for the younger viewer to enjoy. I quite liked the small poetry incorporated. One thumb up!