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Class - Vom Klassenzimmer zur Klassefrau (1983) watch online HD

Original title:Class
Category:Movie / Comedy / Drama / Romance
Released:1983
Director:Lewis John Carlino
Actors:Jacqueline Bisset,Rob Lowe,Andrew McCarthy
Writer:Jim Kouf,David Greenwalt
Duration:1h 38min
Video type:Movie

Rating 5.9: Votes 624

1983 Jacqueline Bisset Rob Lowe Andrew McCarthy Lewis John Carlino

Short summary

Jonathan, a naive country boy, gets a scholarship to a classy prep school, where he rooms with suave, rich and handsome Skip. Skip decides it is his duty to see that Jonathan loses his virginity, so he sends Jonathan to Chicago, where Jonathan meets Ellen, a beautiful older woman, and they be- gin an affair which ends abruptly when Ellen discovers Jonathan is 17. During Christmas break, Jonathan visits Skip's house and discovers that Ellen is Skip's mother. Ellen tells Jonathan to leave when he rejects her advances, but then begins calling him and begging to see him. Finally, Jonathan agrees to meet her and plans to end the affair, but Ellen seduces him--and that's when Skip, who followed Jonathan, discovers them.

The movie featured three members of the Cusack family in acting roles: father Dick Cusack, daughter Joan Cusack and son John Cusack.

According to the '80s Rewind' website, apparently, "at one point during filming, [actor] Rob Lowe allegedly threatened to quit the movie unless he was allowed to appear in a scene totally naked in a bathtub full of baked beans. The director [Lewis John Carlino] refused, but did manage to finally lure Lowe back to the set".

After the film's release, actress Jacqueline Bisset publicly expressed her dissatisfaction with its editing as being deleterious to her character's "subtext".

The actual full real name of "Skip" (Rob Lowe) was Squire Franklin Burroughs IV. Lowe's character is billed in the credits though by the "Skip" nickname.

Part of an earlier to mini early to mid 1980s cycle of movies where a young guy has an affair with an older woman. The films include Class (1983), My Tutor (1983), Private Lessons (1981) and They're Playing with Fire (1984).

Debut in a filmed production for actors Andrew McCarthy, John Cusack, and Virginia Madsen. For actors Alan Ruck and Rob Lowe, this 1983 movie was the second feature film audiences saw them in, both their first films having also being released earlier in the same 1983 year. And the picture was the debut cinema movie of actress Lolita Davidovich who had previously appeared on television. The DVD sleeve notes incorrectly state that the film was Rob Lowe's debut, Lowe having previously been seen in Francis Ford Coppola's The Outsiders (1983).

Second consecutive back-to-back movie where actress Jacqueline Bisset has romantic liaisons with a younger man. The earlier movie was George Cukor's Rich and Famous (1981), where Bisset actually had passionate encounters with two younger men.

Emilio Estevez and Rob Lowe auditioned for the role of Jonathan Ogner. Lowe was eventually cast in the role of Skip Burroughs instead.

The September Farm, home of the Burroughs, is in real life the Duchossois Estate, in Barrington Hills, IL.

Showbusiness trade paper 'Variety' said that the movie "...seems something like an unofficial remake of one of [actress Jacqueline] Bisset's first Hollywood efforts, the 1969 The First Time (1969)".

In the scene where Skip Burroughs (Rob Lowe) is being questioned by Balaban, Balaban asks him if he's related to the same Burroughs that's on the board of AT&T. Skip confirms that his father (played by veteran actor Cliff Robertson) is indeed on AT&T's board...which coincidentally has a real-life connection...Cliff Robertson was an AT&T pitch-man for several years in their 1980s television commercials and was known as "Mr. AT&T" at the time.

The birth date of Jonathan (Andrew McCarthy) on his student card states 29th November 1964. The day and month, November 29, is McCarthy's actual birthday in real life. Only the years are different, Jonathan is born in 1964 whereas McCarthy was born in 1962.

The picture has often been compared with and likened to The Graduate (1967). Of Class (1983), the following commented in relation to The Graduate (1967): 'Rating the Movies' said that the movie was a "take-off of The Graduate (1967); 'Halliwells' said the film was a "travesty of The Graduate (1967)"; film critic 'Roger Ebert said that the picture was a "prep-school retread of The Graduate (1967)"; whilst trade paper 'Variety' said the film "throw[s] in aspects of The Graduate (1967)"; and 'Movie '83' magazine (Australia) said that the movie was an "80s version of The Graduate (1967)".

The place where the famous elevator love scene took place was at Water Tower Place in Chicago, Illinois.

Rob Lowe, Andrew McCarthy and Anna Maria Horsford also starred together in St. Elmo's Fire 2 years later (1985).

The picture was markedly different to director Lewis John Carlino two previous films which were both dramas, The Great Santini (1979) and The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea (1976).

Third and final film directed by Academy Award nominated screenwriter Lewis John Carlino, who subsequently returned to screenwriting.

The name of the prep school the boys went to was the "Vernon Academy". The name of the prep school the girls went to was the "Foxfield School for Girls".

The picture was first released in the USA only about eight months after the similarly titled Class Reunion (1982).

The movie's very prominent tagline mentioned the name of Jonathan, Andrew McCarthy's character, by stating, "The good news is, Jonathan's having his first affair. The bad news is, she's his roommate's mother." McCarthy would again play a character called Jonathan in 1987's Mannequin (1987) and in the 1995 tele-movie The Courtyard (1995).

User reviews

Author: Samardenob

This movie - one of many early 1980's movies used as vehicles for the likes of Rob Lowe, Andrew McCarthy, Judd Nelson and Matt Dillon - conveys many distinct qualities, which countless teen films of late seemingly lack.

What is immediately evident, is the way in which the director skillfully juxtapses the moody atmosphere with the hilarious antics of the Ivy League school boys. Regarding this movie from the point of view of intertextuality, a number of other texts immediately spring to mind: 'The Graduate', 'Animal House' and J.D. Salinger's 'Catcher in the Rye'. Lowe (The Outsiders, Youngblood, Oxford Blues), and McCarthy (St. Elmo's Fire, Mannequin, Catholic Boys) turn out meritable performances: one being the typically egotistical teenager(Lowe), and the other(McCarthy)conveyed as the naive, withdrawn 'new boy'. Jacqueline Bisset is, as always, aptly cast as the sultry seductress who, with an overbearing husband (Cliff Robertson) and a subsequent case of neurosis, seeks contentment in the shape of a teenage boy. Other striking performances come from - at the time, unknown actors - John Cusack and Alan Ruck.

'Class' is dark and moody at times, and the direction and setting conveys this aspect of the film aptly: the fight between Skip(Lowe) and Jonathan(McCarthy) takes place in the woods outside the school on a cold, grey afternoon during the fall. In contrast to this, there is the bright lights and bustle of New York City, where Jonathan embarks on a mission to apparently gain his manhood and 'save face' with the other students(here, there is that connection with the students in 'Catcher in the Rye' taking weekend trips to New York and the character 'Ackley' who is always boastful of his conquests with women). The film further depicts the antics of the school boys; for example, the incident at the neighboring girls' school and Jonathan's initiation on his first day. 'Class', like 'Oxford Blues', 'Youngblood', 'The Breakfast Club', 'Catholic Boys' and 'St. Elmo's Fire', to name but a few, is the quintessential movie for teenagers; it has depth and feeling, as well as displaying good comical dialogue.

This film is simply 'Class'.

Author: Browelali

Class is the story of a shy, clumsy, but very intelligent young man played by Andrew MaCarthy who transfers to an exclusive prep school for his senior year of high school. He comes from a working-class background and has more than a little trouble getting comfortable in his new surroundings. It doesn't help matters that he has to share a room with an obnoxious rich kid played by Rob Lowe. Throughout the film we see McCarthy learn lessons about love, academics, and friendship.

This is a very uneven film; often switching from comedy to heavy-handed mature themes almost on a dime. The comedy for the most part hits the mark. The dramatic elements are just not believable.

I have never seen a film go to so much trouble to humiliate its main character. Some of the things that happen to McCarthy are pretty funny, but others almost make you feel sorry for the poor kid. McCarthy is barely on campus for five minutes before Lowe convinces him to put on women's underwear and parade around in the commons area. McCarthy thinks it is some type of senior ritual that is done every year, but he soon finds out that only he is participating in it. Lowe then locks him out of their dorm and he is forced to climb in through a second story window with hundreds of other students taunting him. Now that is the type of thing that can scar for life! There are a few other scenes where McCarthy's humiliation continues. He journeys to a trendy bar in Chicago and is made a fool of twice in front of the whole place. In a show of sympathy, a rich older woman feels sorry for him and takes him to a motel and nails him. In what has to be one of the biggest contrivances in movie history, that woman turns out to be Lowe's unbalanced alcoholic mother! They screw around for a few weekends before she finds out he goes to her son's school and then promptly runs out on him. (That would be a hell of a thing to learn!) The film's biggest laugh comes from the scene directly after that one. In it, McCarthy is sitting in the rain at a bus stop waiting for Lowe to show up and give him a lift back to school. He couldn't be any more depressed until Lowe comes screeching up to the stop; sending a tidal wave of rain water cascading over the dejected McCarthy! McCarthy is depressed for quite a while after being dumped, but he is still unaware that the woman of his dreams was his best friend's mother. In a truly uncomfortable scene at their home during the Xmas holiday, they meet again. The film gets way too serious from that point on.

The only laughs in the last half hour stem from the investigation of stolen SAT tests on the campus by a nerdy bureaucrat from the state attorney general's office. In one hilarious scene, the students think the officer is there to bust them for drugs. We see about a hundred young men scurrying to the bathroom to flush all of their joints, pills, and whatnot. One guy even tries to flush an entire pot plant that's about six feet high! Towards the end, things get really serious. Lowe finally finds out his mother and McCarthy are screwing around. He knows McCarthy illegally bought an SAT test. Will he turn him in? Will the boys get into Harvard? What will become of Lowe's parents? What will become of McCarthy's dog? If you care enough to find out, give this film a chance. If nothing else, it has some very early performances by some people who went on to greater things. It was McCarthy's debut. Alan Ruck, John Cusak, Virginia Madsen (nice boob shot, by the way!), and several other recognizable faces are present.

6 of 10 stars.

So sayeth the Hound.

Author: Abuseyourdna

Though this movie was clearly designed to have mass-market teen appeal, it has a serious side that makes it stand out from other movies of the same type. The premise, a teenage boy's first sexual encounter turns out to be with his roommate's mother, is contrived to arouse curiosity among adolescents. Combine this with unsophisticated humor and flaunting of authority and you have the formula for a popular teen romp. But it seems that there is a movie with some sensitivity and drama trapped within this rather restrictive framework. The boy is torn between his friendship with his roommate and his relationship with his friend's mother. The woman is repressed and intimidated by her husband and finds a sense of freedom in this forbidden relationship which she can't seem to let go. The result is a movie that tries to be both a high school date movie of the week and an adult drama, landing somewhat awkwardly somewhere in the middle. It does have some laughs though and some before-they-were-famous appearances that might make it worth while.

Author: Best West

What's with all the people calling this a modernized version of the Graduate? It does have similarities, but this also has its own mind as well. One thing that immediately caught my attention before deciding to watch this film was the amazing 80's cast. Many people in this movie had yet to experience their stardom at this juncture. Rob Lowe was just starting out, so was John Cusack, Alan Ruck, Andrew McCarthy, Virginia Madsen, among a couple others. It was neat to see them so young and inexperienced. I personally think this is a great film about the pressures of temptation, and the difficulty of high school. The two major story lines are Rob Lowe (Skip) and Andrew McCarthy's (Jonathan) friendship, and the love storyline between McCarthy & Jacqueline Bissett (Ellen) Yes. It does resemble Hoffman & Bancroft from the graduate a little bit, but I still thought it was pretty well done. The love scenes are fairly steamy, and McCarthy & Bissett were both professional, and didn't seem to be awkward as far as I'm concerned. Some of the pranks you'll see in this film are quite taboo at this day and age. Rob Lowe pulling a prank on Andrew McCarthy, involving Women's underwear comes to mind, as is a suicide gag that was done here in the beginning. It pushed the envelope a little bit, and honestly? I dug it quite a bit. Andrew McCarthy is solid for the most part. His character does some selfish things at times, and he's especially unsympathetic at the end with how he acts towards Rob Lowe. But he was likable 85% of the time. I've always felt McCarthy was a bit underrated. Rob Lowe is good as well. He can play a charismatic jock in his sleep, and he does it well again here. His character evolves slowly throughout the film and I ended up liking him a lot. Jacqueline Bissett is very sexy, and plays her role to perfection. I definitely felt for her at times. John Cusack shows off that dorkyish charm that he is well known for. The end fight sequence between Lowe & McCarthy is well staged, but a bit OTT. As I aforementioned previously, I was on Lowe's side, and McCarthy was a bit of a dick. Overall this is a very good coming of age film. I don't pay attention to picky critics. I focus on what I enjoy. It made me realize why I enjoy the 80's so much.

7.8/10

Author: THOMAS

The naive and clumsy Jonathan (Andrew McCarthy) joins the prep school Vernon Academy expecting to go to Harvard. He befriends his wealthy roommate Skip (Rob Lowe) and soon he sends Jonathan to Chicago to lose his virginity. Jonathan meets the thirty and something years old Ellen (Jacqueline Bisset) and they have a love affair. Jonathan lies to her about where he studies and he falls in love with her. When they decide to travel to New York, Ellen accidentally discovers that Jonathan studies at the Vernon Academy and she vanishes. In the Christmas break, Skip invites Jonathan to spend the holiday with his family, and Jonathan has a huge surprise finding who Ellen is.

"Class" is a pleasant movie that begins very funny, with Andrew McCarthy, Rob Lowe, John Cusack and Virginia Madsen very young. Jacqueline Bisset is extremely beautiful and fits perfectly to the role of Ellen. Unfortunately the story is lost between comedy and drama with a disappointing conclusion. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "Uma Questão de Classe" ("A Question of Class")

Author: Questanthr

Believe it or not, CLASS is the first feature film for the likes of Rob Lowe, Andrew McCarthy, John Cusack, and Alan Ruck, all of whom have gone on to do a lot of good (and in my opinion, largely underrated) acting in numerous films. The beautiful and similarly prolific Virginia Madsen even has a bit part here in her second film. I can't think of any picture that was such a breeding ground for so many stars. As a bonus, Jaqueline Bisset has a leading role at the peak of her sultriness (although the sex scenes are relatively chaste and unrevealing).

While the plot is nothing to write home about, the dialog is well done, and the direction is pretty good. View this film if you are a fan of any or all of these brat-packers.

Author: Weernis

Okay, I must admit, it is difficult for me to remain entirely rational about this film, because it evokes sentimental memories. But I love this film, I love it, what can I say. For me it has everything, the ivy league ambience, the lovable-I-own-the-place-swagger of Rob Lowe, the appropriate witticisms, at the appropriate times read by a cast to kill for.

The film begins and ends with the "kids" in complete control, theres no PC screwing around either, all of the students do drugs, with most of the action taking place at a prep boarding school there's poker games and smoking after lights out. I tried to re-enact the John Cussack 'tip truck' smoking trick for almost a decade, in fact it was the prime reason I took up smoking in the first place.

The New Renaissance has been indicated by many social historians as the years 1982 to 1987 with the peak beginning with the opening night of the movie ET, and the end coinciding with the closing ceremony of the 1984 LA olympics. This film, having been made in 1983, stands as a virtual document to the affirmations and values of Western Culture at its peak. The scene of the triumphal holiday return of Rob Lowes character to his ancestral home is resplendant with a punk version of 'the little drummer boy', as he tears through New England countryside in his Porshe charger......breathtaking.

Nothing since the death of communism comes close to replicating the self confidence that shimmers off this film with the possible exception of "The Chocolate War". This film is not to be taken as a trite story but should be viewed in the light that reflects what it is, an artistic vision of the height of teen existence at the height of human existence, not too big a call I'm sure you'd agree.

Author: Exellent

As many others have noted with the film, 'Class', is that it is quite uneven! It doesn't know if it's a comedy, romance, or even tense drama. It's a weird 80s teen film, but I don't even think I could call it that! And, even when it's all said and done and the credits start to roll, one is left wondering what this film was actually all about. I'm guessing crossing the lines of friendship, given the situation with Jonathan and Skip's Mom. And I'm guessing the film was about loyalty and friendship overall given the ending! Chuck in a few themes about "class" itself, and the film seems to make sense!

However, the film is still uneven overall, but the performances from a young Andrew McCarthy (Jonathan) and Rob Lowe (Skip) are worth watching- and there is some excellent scenes within the film! Like Skip's "F*** you!" moment after the inquisitor belittles his background and insinuates him of cheating! Some funny moments when Jonathan in the girl's campus causing chaos, and when he's trying to talk to a girl at the bar! I know I'll never roll a quarter for my aura on my face in a club or pub! Also, he transition of Skip being loud prank-loving fun to Jonathan's "morose" depressing personality being swapped over after Skip discovers Jonathan with his Mom was pretty interesting! Skip becomes colder and hard to approach by Jonathan, whereas Skip would overwhelm Jonathan and put him unwillingly in awkward situations! I didn't really like the closure between Jonathan and Ellen (Jacqueline Bisset), and I would have liked a scene with Skip addressing his mother in regard to Jonathan! Would a friendship between them really survive that? The film seems to suggest that it will survive due to Skip's alienation and contempt for his background and parents, and his affinity with Jonathan as they endeavor towards Harvard!

This is by no means a brilliant in the likes of other teen films of the same era. It's worth watching alone because it the feature debut of very young actors in Andrew McCarthy, John Cusack, Alan Ruck ('Ferris Bueller's Day Off'), Virginia Madsen ('Sideways'), Lolita Davidovich ('Intersection') and Casey Siemaszco ('Young Guns')! When you look at a 17 year old John Cusack in that film, you wouldn't think that he would become the most successful star out of the entire cast- though McCarthy did do very well in the 1980s too! Rob Lowe and Jacqueline Bisset and this debut cast all do very well in their performances. While 'Class' may leave you wondering a little, it is worth watching for an unusual representation of awkwardness, youth, romance and friendship!

***½ out of *****!

Author: Rare

Class might be one of the most uneven films ever made. It begins like a broad teen-comedy; enters a mid-section about the sexual awkwardness (and awakening) of adolescence; and for its final twenty minutes or so is a deadly serious drama about broken trust and rebuilding friendships.

Nerdy prep-school newcomer Jonathan (Andrew McCarthy) arrives at the Vernon Academy and is immediately the victim of a wild prank by his confident, fun-loving new room-mate Skip (Rob Lowe). Soon, Jonathan's gullibility and virginity are the joke of the campus. In a bid to get his room-mate comfortable and experienced around women, Skip sends him to Chicago on the strict understanding that Jonathan will not be allowed back into their room unless he returns with a woman's panties. After a few embarrassing set-backs, Jonathan finally reels in a stunning older woman named Ellen (Jacqueline Bisset), who gives him his first taste of sex in a glass elevator. However, Jonathan lies about his age and occupation in order to "impress" Ellen. It is only later - when their passionate fling has blossomed into love - that Ellen discovers the truth about her young lover. And it is a truth which leaves her reeling... for by the foulest of luck she is, in fact, Skip's mother!

The contrived and coincidence-heavy plot is rather unpersuasive, but that hardly matters. For its opening twenty minutes, this is a thoroughly enjoyable comedy, with laugh-out-loud scenes showing Jonathan's awkward and humiliating introduction to prep-school life. The mid-section, in which Jonathan and Ellen hook up, is quite poignant though some of the sex scenes are squirm-inducing.... Bisset, in particular, gives a very brave performance considering what the script asks of her, and McCarthy does well to give his role the right amount of sweet goofiness. The film's later stages are a bit too serious and full of phony soul-searching. What really hurts Class is the lack of fluency between each section. It goes through massive changes in tone, theme and style.... one moment we're in Porky's territory, before we know it it's more like The Graduate, and by the end the film almost seems to be approaching something akin to a sub-Shakespearean love-dilemma. Class is an OK movie, but it needed more focus and a better sense of its own intended audience if it were to be anything more.

Author: WUNDERKIND

This was like the first movie for stars like Rob Lowe, Andrew McCarthy, Alan Ruck, and John Cusack. The movie was kinda cheap, but the plot was cool, the lines made me laugh, and the actors were cute. This is just a fun movie to watch and you would wish that you could do the things that they did. 7.6 out of 10.

Author: Akinozuru

This is a good comedy for nostalgia purposes that somewhat borrows on similar previous comedies, with the most notable being The Graduate.

Andrew McCarthy is Jonathan, the new student at a prep school, who is the new roommate of confident stud, Skip (Rob Lowe). As it is against the rule in the 1980s to be a teenage boy and still be a virgin (there was, after all a whole 80s genre of comedy based on it), Skip decides they must travel to Chicago so Jonathan can finally "become a man." Ironically, and unknown to Skip, Jonathan lives to the ultimate boyhood fantasy--he scores with Skip's mom (although, neither know who the two are at first). One attempt after another for Jonathan and Skip's mom (Jacqueline Bisset) to sort things out briskly and as quietly as possible without Skip finding out lead to a total disaster, of course. And yada...yada...yada...the friendship is tested, there's a few misunderstandings and so forth.

The movie offers nothing new by way of the story, which had been done plenty (and is still exhaustively being done) in the two decades prior to its release (even though in the early 60s, it may've still been taboo to be so explicit). But, while it may be predictable, it still makes a good nostalgia trip, though, seeing an extremely young Andrew McCarthy, Rob Lowe, John Cusak (in brief appearances here and there), Casey Seizmasko, and others.

Author: Ubrise

Uneven film at best, but does offer a nostalgic look at some of the pre-famous actors of the 1980's. Not a great plot, but one that will hold your interest due to the likeable characters involved. The ending is rather abrupt and makes one wonder if the director ran out of time, money, or both. Anyway, Ms Bisset is stunning in this role and very appealing. Enjoy!

Author: Knights from Bernin

Class is another one of those 80's sex comedies you've seen already during that era. For the most part, they have more focus on the sex than the comedy, and this movie's no different. What saves it, though, is that they're putting more time and effort into the comedy scenes with slapstick writing that plays out like a domino effect. The execution in those scenes also benefits from the fresh performances of upcoming actors that went on to become key heartthrobs in the biggest teen movies from the 80's, such as Rob Lowe and Andrew McCarthy (St. Elmo's Fire), as well as Alan Ruck (Ferris Bueller's Day Off) and John Cusack (Say Anything). There are even some deep moments too, which touch on maturing into adulthood and building trust within male friendships, especially when McCarthy's character has a sexual relationship with Lowe's mom. Does Class have any class? Not a lot, but with a clever narrative and solid performances, it's worthy of consideration.

Author: Yozshugore

Failed cross-pollination of "The Graduate" with any number of frat-house romps does have one thing going for it: Rob Lowe (pre-"St. Elmo's Fire") gives a loose, frenetic performance as a prep-school student whose unstable mother has a secret affair with Lowe's roommate. As he got older, Lowe tended to lean heavily on his male-model good looks, resulting in some posturing performances. This vehicle for him and newcomer Andrew McCarthy is doomed, however. It wants to be a T&A comedy, a sensitive tale of friendship, and a slightly naughty love story between an older woman and a younger man. The romance is unpleasant from the outset, with Jacqueline Bisset TOO convincing as 40-ish trollop with mental problems. Bisset is definitely in the spirit of the thing, but it's a distressing role for the classy actress, who every once in a while stepped into the gutter. The kids are convincingly callow, but their slapstick antics go over-the-top. Director Lewis Carlino seems to think he's giving us something original. "Class" was lambasted at the time for an 11th-hour decision to edit out most of the seriousness in favor of the jokes, but heavy drama has no place in this story. What we're left with is the buddy-buddy stuff and the R-rated gags, but those don't work either. *1/2 out of ****

Author: Jieylau

I love the Brat Pack so any of the movies that they are in are a go for me, no matter how little ratings it got. I am drawn to it. There are so many favorites in this movie-Virginia Madsen, which I remember from Fire with Fire, another 80's flick, Alan Ruck, from Ferris Bueller, John Cusack, Andrew McCarthy, and Rob Lowe. All cool. I graduated 1988 so these are my kind of films!

I love the way McCarthy gets back at Lowe. God that is so funny!

Watch it if you get the chance!

Author: Jorius

A film that seems too unsure how to set things in motion, as one minute we have a bratty, low brow teen comedy (like something out of 'Porky's') with surprisingly amusing gags and fooling about, but then it heads into something serious and in-depth (well it tries) mature handling on the material of forbidden love (similar to that of 'The Graduate') and the value of friendship. The two never quite balances out, which leaves it like your watching two different movies unsuccessfully spliced together. It's hard to pin point what it really wants to be, as by the end it finishes pretty much the same way it began.

Jonathan the new senior student to a prep high school finds himself the butt-of-jokes with his dorm and room-mate Skip, but he gets his own back where respect is built. After being banned from a dance and the nearest girl's school, Skip gets Jonathan that night to go to a Chicago bar to hopefully pick-up and get laid. He meets the older Ellen and a steamy affair between them begins, but he keeps it secret about his true age. But she soon finds out about it, but the main twist of fate occurs when he realises who she really is.

What goes on to be the film's main curiosity drive however would be that of the sensational cast involved (minor parts too), as there's some fresh faces who make their debuts and good performances by all. Andrew McCarthy (in his first role) is sensitively engaging, and truly one performance that you feel every embarrassing and awkward encounter along with him. Rob Lowe constantly chimes with suave personality and charm as the rich-kid room-mate. An enticing Jacqueline Bisset courageously pulls off her role as the Ellen and Cliff Robertson is solid as Skip's father Mr. Burroughs. Along for the ride are the agreeable John Cusack (debut performance), Alan Ruck and Virginia Madsen in a short, but downright memorable turn. The outstanding rapport between everyone clicks.

Writers Jim Kouf and David Greenwalt do sketch out some effective moments (mainly the humour with some worthy pieces), among the not so. When it does go serious some situations are hard to grasp and take seriously even if it's done in the right temperament. What goes from quick-witted lines and crass visual gags then opens up to the awkward embarrassments' of sexuality for a novice. As what seems like a boy's wet dream (getting in on with an experienced lady to only brag about it) eventuates to more and feelings start to grow. However everything comes crashing down, after a disastrous chain of events that could see him lose a friend, destroy a dysfunctional family already on the rocks and be kicked out of school. But at the end we come to realise that these depressing occurrences have made those fragile people in the spotlight go onto examine their own lives. As the two boys come to blows, they go onto see the funny side to it all. Lewis John Carlino (his third and last directed film to date) has been comfortable penning the material over his career, does quite a resourceful job in the director's chair. He adequately keeps things moving and never gets to forceful in the execution of the material.

'Class' is a fair achievement that's brought together by a committed cast.

Author: Cala

this movie is worth to see Andrew McCarthy and Rob Lowe. i mean the movie is of course fun ,but yeah pretty uneven . well anyway i love Andrew and Rob in this movie looks pretty hot . and there also john Cusack and other which is cool enough . and Andrew did th scene with Jacqueline on elevator pretty fine , Jacqueline looks very nice in this movie too . and those star are doing very well in those dramatic scenes , funny scenes. the costume is okay not that old and perfectly for the movie . well this is worth for whom that loves brat pack star movie ( such as i am ) . especially the fans of Rob or Andrew shouldn't' t missed this 1 i recommend it !

Author: Faulkree

A romantic teen comedy dealing with love and sexual experiences. Andrew Mcarthy plays Johnathan a shy introverted high school student who attends a posh all boys private school, his roommate Skip Played very well by Rob love is the sexually charged playboy who gets the both of them into a lot of trouble. When one night Johnathan is pressured By Skip and fellow peers to go out on the town and have a sexual encounter. After making a fool of himself at seedy bar Johnathan meets an older, vivacious woman by the name of Ellen and the two embark on a passionate night of lovemaking.

This film was, in many ways, one of the brat pack films, and starred many actors from that era who were just getting started in the industry. Not only are the... love scenes between Andrew and Jacqueline convincing, they are beautiful and moving. The rest of the film is also enjoyable to watch. If you enjoyed the era of the 1980's and older, beautiful, and sophisticated women characters, then you'll enjoy this hilarious, if not moving film.

Overall rating: 7 out of 10.

Author: Benn

I don't know who's calling this film uneven; it's effing brilliant black comedy.

jonathan (mccarthy) is a seemingly shy, sensitive, but quite bright young man with a hidden impish side who thru the most cinematic of all contrivances finds himself porking his room mate (lowe) & best friend's mom (bisset). i'm like sitting here watching them all have dinner together in lowe's house over Christmas break and laughing my head off; this tops "better off dead" for epic, teen film weirdness; were it not for the many, and very hot young men i might have imagined that I was in a seinfeld episode.

the director must have been a great admirer of sam Peckinpah because, although "class" is devoid of his signature shootouts, it has all the misogyny and misanthropy of a "straw dogs". i found it a bit depressing that he's decided the rather cruel schoolyard bullying and backroom machinations are matter of course in this world where apparently people are essentially selfish and the experienced & devious get their way; i thought the prep school kids i knew were bloody horrible but it seems we generally have a better and kinder world now; the prep school girls whom he so callously demeans have had their way? I haven't quite finished yet but have to disagree with the other reviewers that the film lacked for inability to choose its genre; there's a definite thematic cohesion throughout.

also the sex scenes are incredibly hot, and, rumor is, even real? say what you will about his acting ability, but mccarthy was clearly a Really Good Lay. why oh why didn't **he** leak a sex tape?

Author: Llallayue

Jonathan (Andrew McCarthy) comes from a working class family. He gets a scholarship to a prep school rooming with the rich Skip (Rob Lowe). Skip immediately plays a prank on Jonathan which he returns in spectacular fashion. They become fast friends. Coincentantal events would conspire for Jonathan to have an affair with Skip's mother Ellen (Jacqueline Bisset). They would realize their connection when Jonathan joins Skip back home for Christmas break.

The movie starts off as a pretty funny sex romp with some memorable pranks. The meeting between Jonathan and Skip's mother is beyond low probability, but it's not a big deal. I think the problem is that Jacqueline Bisset never fully committed or the writing never allowed her to. She's a rich housewife who has an affair. She could have been funnier as a raunchy cougar. When the affair was found out, the drama gets drained out of the movie. It's as if the writers couldn't figure out how to ramp up the drama. It fizzled out rather than exploded.

Watch out for John Cusack, and Alan Ruck as two of the school friends. Also Virginia Madsen appears in her first movie and promptly shows her boob. It was a bit of misdirection because this isn't really a sex romp as much as advertised.

Author: Zeleence

Three contrived "products" foisted on an unsuspected and ultimately unwilling American public. Some Hollywood exec in the 80s snorted so much cocaine he actually believed that McCarthy, a sniveling, rodent-faced nonentity, had star potential so they stuck the cipher in a series of unfunny sex comedies throughout the decade. In "Class," no-talent pretty boy Rob Lowe teams up with no-talent ugly boy McCarthy to embarrass poor Jacqueline Bisset. Ms Bisset, as Lowe's mother and the only interesting character in the entire film, looks as ravishing as ever, even as she strains under the effort of pretending Andrew McCarthy is sexy.

The plot, such as it is, reflects the 80s fascination with inherited wealth: middle-class McCarthy winds up at a prep school full of studdly preppies like Lowe, who are actually poor little rich boys (see? There's no point in envying the wealthy because money isn't everything!). A series of plot machinations throw McCarthy into a glass elevator with Bisset, where they have sex. (Warning: there are multiple shots of an unclothed McCarthy in this film. Not recommended for the faint of heart.) The movie's real dead point is the leaden sequence when Lowe brings little Andrew home with him, where our hero discovers that he's been . . . big fat shocker . . . bonking his roommate's mother! The bigger shock is that Bisset is a drunken (and apparently nearsighted) nymphomaniac who deserves more sympathetic treatment and better co-stars than she gets from this movie. The one semi-saving grace of this movie is that it's blessedly free from drawn-out confrontations. Perhaps they filmmakers realized their young stars had absolutely no capacity for dialogue (or they couldn't hire enough cue-card holders) so they kept the major plot changes brief: during a morning horseback ride, McCarthy asks Bisset: "how are you?" "Get out of my house," she sneers. Lowe is unhappy at home, so instead of spouting some monologue about his pain and alienation that would exhaust his meager abilities, he just sort of takes McCarthy onto a lake in a rowboat and puts on his poutiest face. "Class" managed to destroy Jacqueline Bisset's career, but unfortunately we were stuck with five more years of McCarthy until "Less Than Zero" finally killed him off. (Like a cockroach, Lowe survives.)

Author: Kit

Jonathan played by Andrew McCarthy, a simple country boy, wins a scholarship to a classy pre-school where he shares a dorm room with Skip, played by Rob Lowe. Skip decides it is his duty to see that Jonathan loses his virginity by introduing him to Ellen, in Chiago. But the affair is ended. Poor Skip can't get rid of her, and she seduces him. What a riot when Jonathan finds out that Ellen is Skip's mother. It's really a riot, and the two boys have a terrific fight and end up reconciled to eachother. 6/10

Author: Quemal

How can you make a movie that tries to be half-comedy, half-romance, half-moral issues and half-teen exploitation?

That's four halves, I know. But none of them add up to a whole picture.

In "Class", the movie forgets what it's doing in some parts then just ventures off into another venue where it spends a few minutes before tiring and trying something else: it's fidgety.

The cast is good (take note - Rob Lowe and Andrew McCarthy actually turn in performances!) and there are a few effective moments (mostly comedy, weighed in at the beginning of the film), but once the business of the affair with Bissett begins, it gropes and falters its way to a pretty flimsy wrap-up-all-the-loose-ends conclusion.

I don't get it: if you're gonna make a comedy, fine. This is the kind of plot that cries out for someone like maybe Russ Meyer (imagine the possibilities!) or even the ZAZ (Zucker, Abrahams, Zucker) boys to tackle. But no: such points as cheating on college exams and infidelity and mental illness are shoe-horned into a movie that is supposed to be a comedy...and played straight, to boot!

Guys, you wimped out. Next time, do a movie like this with, say, Bluto Blutarsky in the McCarthy part...THEN you'll have a movie!

Two stars, mostly for the gags. The rest is likely to make you gag.

Author: Blackstalker

Naive, shy Jonathan Ogner (Andrew McCarthy in his film debut) goes to prep school and rooms with "Skip" (Rob Lowe) a fun-loving guy. Skip encourages Jon to go out and have sex. Jon ends up accidentally picking up Skip's mother (Jacqueline Bisset) and starting an affair with her! This is one strange movie. It starts off with very crude humor--poor McCarthy is humiliated again and again. Then it switches to sex with McCarthy and Bisset (nothing is shown in the bedroom scenes) and THEN to drama when Jon discovers who she is and vice versa. Some of the humor is funny but it mixes uneasily with the drama and the movie is constantly switching gears. It's not a terrible movie--just wildly uneven.

It is worth catching for quite a few now well-known people in their film debuts (McCarthy, Virginia Madesen and John Cusack are a few) and some good moments here and there. The acting is actually pretty good too. Bisset gives a much better performance than this material deserves; McCarthy is a bit too somber (but this WAS his first movie) and Lowe is actually lots of fun and he's so young! Cliff Robertson pops up in a few scenes and also isn't bad.

So not a great movie by any means but worth catching just for the cast.

Author: cyrexoff

Class is a decent one time watch especially for fans of the brat pack bunch as this is one of their very first(if not the first, unsure) appearance- Rob Lowe, John Cusack, Andrew Mccarthy-they're all here. Although I cannot recollect much except that there are in some sort of boarding school and the story is decent. I guess if I'd seen it in my early teens I would be more impressed. If you are a fan of those actors I guess you can give this one a shot.

Cast overview, first billed only:
	Jacqueline Bisset	-	Ellen
	Rob Lowe	-	Skip
	Andrew McCarthy	-	Jonathan
	Cliff Robertson	-	Mr. Burroughs
	Stuart Margolin	-	Balaban
	John Cusack	-	Roscoe
	Alan Ruck	-	Roger
	Rodney Pearson	-	Allen
	Remak Ramsay	-	Kennedy
	Virginia Madsen	-	Lisa
	Deborah Thalberg	-	Susan
	Fern Persons	-	Headmistress DeBreul
	Casey Siemaszko	-	Doug
	Aaron Douglas	-	Barry
	Anna Maria Horsford	-	Maggie

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