Welcome to an exciting year-long project here at The Nerdy. 1984 was an exciting year for movies, giving us many films that became beloved favorites and cult classics. Imagine a world where This is Spinal Tap and Repo Man hit theaters on the same day. That’s the world of 1984.

We’ll be selective about which films we watch, but currently the list is nearly three dozen.

Yes, we’re crazy, but 1984 was a great year for movies.

The articles appear on the same day that the films were released in 1984, their true 40th anniversary. All films are also rewatched for these reviews and not from memory.

This time it is August 24, 1984, and we will see Cal, Old enoughAnd Oxford Blues.

Cal

A film about the IRA and its complicated relationship with its countrymen, as well as the anger between Protestants and Catholics in Ireland, was a strange place for a love story, but that is exactly what Cal Is.

Cal (John Lynch) is aimless. He has trouble finding work and relies on his father Shamie (Donal McCann) for everything. What Shamie doesn’t know, however, is that his son is not only involved in the IRA, but even helped murder a policeman. A year later, he meets the policeman’s widow, Marcella (Helen Mirren), by chance and is fascinated by her.

From this point on, Cal’s life is a mixture of bliss and tragedy until the film comes to its rather strange conclusion, which I don’t want to spoil for anyone.

The acting is good, but the script leaves a lot to be desired in many ways. The final resolution of Shamie’s story happens completely off-screen and you almost feel like the actor left the set for some reason.

Then there’s the lighting in the film. I understand that you want to create a mood, but large parts of the night scenes look like they were lit with two drugstore flashlights that fell into the mud and nobody cleaned them up. It’s a mess of mud that’s incredibly difficult to follow at times.

Overall, it’s a good movie, but I can’t imagine ever giving it a second’s thought again.

Old enough

I didn’t know anything about the film beforehand and was fortunately pleasantly surprised.

Lonnie (Sarah Boyd) is the 11-year-old daughter of a wealthy New York City family who one summer meets and befriends 14-year-old Karen (Rainbow Harvest), the daughter of a family struggling to make ends meet. During the summer vacation, the two find different ways to broaden each other’s life experience while growing up. They have their ups and downs, but both emerge from the experience stronger.

Both girls give excellent, believable performances. They’re not perfect, but they’re fun to watch.

The only major problem I had with the story was the constant attempts by Karen’s older brother Johnny (Neill Barry) to sleep with Lonnie. Yes, that sort of thing happens, but it was still uncomfortable to watch.

It’s a fun little, unpretentious film that’s good if you want a glimpse into teenage life before technology.

Oxford Blues

I would like to tell you what Oxford Blues went, but I’m not sure if the people who made it knew it themselves.

Nick Di Angelo (Rob Lowe) wants to get into Oxford University, not because he’s an incredible rower, but because he wants to meet and court Lady Victoria Wingate (Amanda Pays). After a brief stint as a gigolo, he makes it there and has his eye on Victoria, while simultaneously befriending Rona (Ally Sheedy), developing a rivalry with Colin Gilchrist Fisher (Julian Sands), getting into trouble at school, learning the value of teamwork, and, I suspect, going to class.

The film uses so many college movie clichés that it is as if someone had put several films in a blender and Oxford Blues jumped out. At the very end of the film, after only the barest of examples of Rona and Nick having feelings for each other, they kiss. Nick looks at Rona and says, “Why didn’t we do this sooner?” Rona replies, “I don’t know.”

Don’t worry, fictional characters, the audience didn’t know either.

If you only have time for one 80’s college movie, watch this one, as it essentially serves as a cliff note to all the others.

1984 Movie Reviews returns on August 31st with Choose me, bolero, CHUDAnd Flash point!