''Don't Tell Her It's Me'' (alternately titled ''The Boyfriend School'') is a 1990

comedy film The comedy film is a film genre that emphasizes humor. These films are designed to amuse audiences and make them laugh. Films in this genre typically have a happy ending, with dark comedy being an exception to this rule. Comedy is one of the o ...

starring

Steve Guttenberg Steven Robert Guttenberg (born August 24, 1958) is an American actor, author, businessman, producer, and director. He is known for playing Carey Mahoney in the '' Police Academy'' films from 1984 to 1987. He also acted in '' Three Men and a Baby ...

, Shelley Long,

Jami Gertz Jami Beth Gertz ( ; born October 28, 1965) is an American actress. Gertz had roles in the films '' Crossroads'', '' Quicksilver'' (both 1986), '' Less than Zero'', '' The Lost Boys'' (both 1987), and the 1980s TV series '' Square Pegs'' and 1996 ...

and

Kyle MacLachlan Kyle Merritt MacLachlan ( ; ' McLachlan, February 22, 1959) is an American actor. He is best known for his Emmy-nominated and Golden Globe-winning role as Dale Cooper in ''Twin Peaks'' (1990–1991, 2017) and its film prequel '' Twin Peaks: Fire ...

. The film was directed by

Malcolm Mowbray Malcolm Mowbray (24 June 1949 – 23 June 2023) was a British screenwriter and director who worked in film and television. Background Mowbray was born in Knebworth, Hertfordshire. His father was a dentist. He attended Sherrardswood School, Rave ...

and written by Sarah Bird (adapted from her novel ''The Boyfriend School'').

Plot

Gus Kubicek (played by Guttenberg) is a depressed and overweight

cartoonist A cartoonist is a visual artist who specializes in both drawing and writing cartoons (individual images) or comics (sequential images). Cartoonists differ from comics writers or comics illustrators/artists in that they produce both the litera ...

who recently won a battle against

Hodgkin's disease Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) is a type of lymphoma in which cancer originates from a specific type of white blood cell called lymphocytes, where multinucleated Reed–Sternberg cells (RS cells) are present in the lymph nodes. The condition was named a ...

. His caring sister Lizzie Potts (Long), a nosy romance novelist, responds to his sadness by trying to set him up with a suitable woman. Yet to do so she must make him seem more dynamic and attractive. When Gus falls in love with Emily Pear (Gertz), he adopts the persona of Lobo Marunga, a leather-clad biker from

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

. Emily ends up falling for Lobo but Gus tries to tell Emily the truth as he ends up in bed with her. The next day Lobo tells Emily that he's Gus and she gets furious with him and tells him to get out. Gus, hurt, supposedly goes away to New York when in fact he is going to a friend's wedding. The movie ends with Emily tracking down Gus at the airport and they share a kiss as Lizzie watches through binoculars.

Cast

as Gus Kubicek * Shelley Long as Lizzie Potts *

as Emily Pear *

as Trout * Mädchen Amick as Mandy * Kevin Scannell as Mitchell Potts *

Beth Grant Beth Grant (born September 18, 1949) is an American character actor, character actress. Between 2012 and 2017, she was a series regular on the television comedy ''The Mindy Project'' in the role of Beverly Janoszewski. She is also known for her ...

as Babette * O'Neal Compton as Gas Station Attendant

References

External links

* * * 1990 films 1990 romantic comedy films 1990s English-language films Films based on American novels Films directed by Malcolm Mowbray Films shot in South Carolina American romantic comedy films 1990s American films English-language romantic comedy films {{1990s-US-comedy-film-stub