Review of Shout

Shout (1991)
8/10
Poor Man's Dirty Dancing
12 January 2006
When my friend and I stumbled across this video and watched it we were shocked we'd never heard of it before. I later read it was a complete FLOP when it was released (despite some big name actors).

Not only is this film interesting to me as a "spot them before they were stars" exercise (Gwyneth Paltrow, Heather Graham) but a "catch them during their brief period of fame" (Jamie Walters, Becky's boyfriend from Darlene, Jeremy Jackson). I still really don't understand why it was so unsuccessful as it contains all the same clichéd ingredients as most successful 80s teen flicks.

It's got the classic set up of good looking, broody male "outsiders" rebelling against the establishment via rock'n'roll and romance. It's set in the late fifties and has plenty of fun, sexy and dramatic montages set to dark rock'n'roll songs.

It's not a great film but it's certainly just as bad as Footloose and Dirty Dancing. If you enjoyed either of those I recommend you check this out (particularly if you're female and aged between 12-16). It's tap your foot to the songs, totally enjoyable fluff.
10 out of 12 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink

Recently Viewed