moonspinner55 Review of Troop Beverly Hills

Troop Beverly Hills (1989)

"My therapist would say you are definitely blocking reality!"

[3/10 · 23 September 2017]

The wealthy wife of a Beverly Hills business owner, accused by her soon-to-be-ex spouse of never finishing anything she's ever started, applies to be the city-chapter's troop leader of the Wilderness Girls, a dwindling group of which her pre-teen daughter is a member. The pampered rich kids (daughters of various celebrities, an unemployed actor, and at least one dictator) are either in therapy or full of attitude...but with a dismissal order handed down by their outraged commander-in-chief, the troop must work together (in their own colorful way) to bring a good name to Beverly Hills. Unfunny family comedy, written by Pamela Norris and Margaret Grieco Oberman from a story by Ava Ostern Fries, has a fetish for designer labels and its own Theadora Van Runkle costumes. While the first-half of the picture (littered with unnecessary cameos, including Pee-wee Herman on the television) is an almost total washout, the movie does improve in its third act when the troops compete at an outdoor jamboree for trophies (sadly, there's no irony apparent here). Shelley Long dithers and cute-walks her way through the lead; Long was slowly losing her comedic niche about this time, having left her TV hit "Cheers" for the movies. Unable to find material that stretched her proved sitcom persona, Long plays right into that familiar harried-but-hopeful routine without hesitation--the sure sign of an actress desperate for approval (she gets it here on-screen whenever her suddenly-loyal teammates laugh at her 'wise' retorts). As Long's nemesis, Betty Thomas goes all-out with a one-note role--and, indeed, the drill sergeant bit is a wheeze--however, Thomas' brighter moments at least derive from characterization, not from shtick. Unsuccessful in theaters, the film picked up a fan-base from cable and home video. *1/2 from ****