Ah, the Coreys: Haim and Feldman at the height of their popularity. This is a deliciously 80s movie complete with "witty dialogue," suspense, action, and hot girls riding around passed out in the trunk of a car.
Haim stars as Les Anderson, an adorable 16 year old who's anxious to get his license and impress THE MOST POPULAR GIRL IN SCHOOL, appropriately named "Mercedes." But when Les goes to take his driver's test at the California DMV, bad judgment and worse luck cause him to fail the test.
Rather than disappointing his parents and friends, losing the opportunity to drive Mercedes wild, and facing much embarassment at school, he lies! He tells everyone he's passed the exam, takes Mercedes out for the night and has a wacky adventure-filled evening. By movie's end he's wrecked the car, had several close encounters with the police, parents, and death, and driven backwards to the hospital with his pregnant mother in the backseat Lamaze-ing away.
I loved this movie as a kid; it was funny, a healthy PG-13, and very coming-of-age. It even ends with a brand new car and the happy couple speeding off to Billy Ocean singing, "Get out of my dreams, get into my car..." Brat pack, eat your heart out.
An interesting tidbit I remember from Tiger Beat: since neither of the Coreys were 16, they only had learning permits. An adult from the filming crew had to hide in the backseat of the car for every scene they shot.
The Cast:
Les Anderson Corey Haim
Dean (his friend) Corey Feldman
Mercedes (his love interest) Heather Graham
Mr. Anderson (his dad) Richard Masur
Mrs. Anderson (his mom) Carol Kane