Jimmy Reardon (River Phoenix) wants to lead an adventurous life. He has no intention of following in his father's footsteps by becoming a businessman. He dreams of running off to Hawaii where his wealthy girlfriend, Lisa (Meredith Salenger), will be attending school. On the night before Lisa leaves, Jimmy decides that even if he has to beg, borrow, or steal, he'll find enough money for his own plane ticket.
Uggg...where should I begin? This movie takes itself much too seriously. While this could have been a cute, fun movie, the writing attempts to make it "deep", and fails horribly. The character of Jimmy is a poetry-writing, cappuccino-drinking womanizer who rambles on about not wanting to be ordinary. One scene in particular is so pathetic that I just had to laugh. (It's pretty sad when it takes stupidity to make you laugh during a comedy.) Jimmy throws rocks at an L-train as it speeds by, and compares the commuters inside the train to drone bees, being transported to their hives. Alright, maybe he doesn't want to be a businessman, but why throw rocks? What had those "drones" ever done to him?
The fact that the character of Jimmy is shown as a Casanova actually ends up ruining the entire plot. How is the audience to believe that Jimmy wants to live happily ever after with Lisa when he's carrying on affairs with every other woman in town?
A word to the wise, when you're at the video store some Saturday night, and "A Night in Life of Jimmy Reardon" seems to be the only movie left on the shelf, keep walking. You'll have much more fun channel-surfing.
Stars: River Phoenix, Ann Magnuson, Meredith Salenger
Director: William Richert
MPAA Rating: R
Why You'll Know It's From the 80's:
"Friends" star, Matthew Perry, in his movie debutDog Appeal: Two dogs in movie. One rich, one poor.
Daisy's Rating:
