thewubbelupagus This is a movie I saw for the first time many years ago and have always thought had a unique quality to it. The actors are great, even the kid who plays the younger brother is truly funny. Some of the comedic moments are classic, and the slightly bizarre fantasy elements bring something fresh to an otherwise fairly straightforward story. I hadn't seen it in many years, but just re-watched it and found it every bit as amusing and fun to watch as I did a decade ago. The cars, music, radio broadcasts, fashions, doting mother, and faceless father all evoke a 50's nostalgia on a par with A Christmas Story.If you want some light entertainment, give this movie a shot. It's got great moments, a cute story, and wonderful atmosphere.

reviewerinoimdbino I hadn't seen this movie in years, and I was so lucky to see it by chance on Comedy Central this morning. This movie is a charmer.Set in 1955, it covers some of the same nostalgic territory as "A Christmas Story," but it does so beautifully, with very accurate and attractive art direction.Chris Young, Keith Coogan, Danny Nucci, and John Cameron Mitchell are all at their most attractive and charming youthful best here. The fact that the film has all of them doing good work, as well as a lot of other talented character actors, is an indication of the craftsmanship that went into this picture.It's a portrait, a slice-of-life of our hero's last year of so of high school.The very last minute of the picture, seeing Michael McKeen as the hero grown up, just doesn't mesh with what came before, but don't let that keep you from seeing and appreciating this film. It's a delight.This is a pretty darn clean and wholesome picture. There may be some understandable sexual, hormonal aspects and humor here, but pretty much anyone age 14 (or 12) on up will be mature enough to enjoy this film.It's just too bad there aren't more recent credits for Chris Young. He's sweet, charming, and sensitive here. Surely there's a place for that among roles for character actors in their 30s.

Pepper Anne The Book of Love is yet another addition to the cinematic tradition of the desperate teen virgin, a genre prevalent throughout most 80s teen comedies. However, this was only a mildly funny film that exaggerates the desperate attempt of four 1950s suburban teen friends to lose their virginity, complete with the typical wild imagination of the boys who still have to fill in the gaps of the largely unexplored territory of females, complete with parallels to comic book superheroes and buff movie stars, but it serves better as a nostalgia trip for those obscure films with your favorite 80s teen stars (most notably Chris Young, Keith Coogan, and Danny Nucci). It promises a few laughs but, unless you are one of the few that have immortalized it as a cult classic, you'll probably only wind up watching it once.

the_other_kinsey_institute The movie has a simple goal, and that's to make you like the under-appreciated, overlooked geek known as Jack Twiller--to sympathize with his coming of age: the awkwardness, embarrassing moments, bullies, and, yes, even pimple cream. There is no great intellectual message, no uplifting moral to the movie. Quite honestly, it doesn't take itself that seriously, which is the entire point. This isn't an art house film, folks. It's a "kick back in your flannel jammies with some ice cream after a rotten day" kind of movie. It's a fun movie made simply to make us laugh. Stop analyzing and digging for profundity. Just laugh.