Loverboy (1989 Film)
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''Loverboy '' is a 1989 American
comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...
starring
Patrick Dempsey Patrick Galen Dempsey (born January 13, 1966) is an American actor and race car driver. He is best known for his role as neurosurgeon Derek "McDreamy" Shepherd in ''Grey's Anatomy''. He had early success as an actor, starring in a number of fil ...
,
Kirstie Alley Kirstie Louise Alley (January 12, 1951 – December 5, 2022) was an American actress. Her breakout role was as Rebecca Howe in the NBC sitcom ''Cheers'' (1987–1993), for which she received an Emmy Award and a Golden Globe in 1991. From 1997 ...
,
Carrie Fisher Carrie Frances Fisher (October 21, 1956 – December 27, 2016) was an American actress and writer. She played Princess Leia in the ''Star Wars'' films (1977–1983). She reprised the role in'' Star Wars: The Force Awakens'' (2015), ''The Last ...
,
Kate Jackson Lucy Kate Jackson (born October 29, 1948) is an American actress and television producer, known for her television roles as Sabrina Duncan in the series '' Charlie's Angels'' (1976–1979) and Amanda King in the series ''Scarecrow and Mrs. Kin ...
, and
Barbara Carrera Barbara Carrera (born Barbara Kingsbury) is an American actress, model and artist. She starred in the films '' The Master Gunfighter'' (1975), '' Embryo'' (1976), '' The Island of Dr. Moreau'' (1977), ''Condorman'' (1981), ''I, the Jury'' (1982) ...
.


Plot

Randy Bodek is a rebellious college
slacker A slacker is someone who habitually avoids work or lacks work ethic. Origin According to different sources, the term ''slacker'' dates back to about 1790 or 1898. "Slacker" gained some recognition during the British Gezira Scheme in the early t ...
, living with his girlfriend Jenny Gordon. His father, furious over Randy's lack of direction or work ethic, forces Randy to come back home and get a job. Randy eventually finds work as a
pizza delivery Pizza delivery is a service in which a pizzeria or pizza chain delivers a pizza to a customer. An order is typically made either by telephone, or over the internet, in which the customer can request pizza type and size, and other items to be ...
driver at Señor Pizza, but his pitiful earnings will not allow him to fund college on his own and he despairs of being able to return to Jenny next semester. In his capacity as delivery driver, he soon makes the acquaintance of a middle-aged, wealthy Italian woman, Alex Barnett, who pampers and seduces him. She and Randy enjoy a quiet, brief, passionate affair. During the affair, Randy's increasingly stylish appearance, unusually chipper demeanor and gifts being delivered by Randy's handsome Italian co-worker, Tony (signed "Love, Alex"), inspires Randy's father to believe his son is
gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...
. Eventually, Alex must return to Italy. Randy is disappointed; he has enjoyed his relationship with Alex, both for the lavish gifts of money and expensive clothing, and for the experience at pleasing women he can bring to his relationship with Jenny upon returning to college. Alex tells him on their last night together that the next time Señor Pizza receives a delivery order for pizza with extra
anchovies An anchovy is a small, common forage fish of the family Engraulidae. Most species are found in marine waters, but several will enter brackish water, and some in South America are restricted to fresh water. More than 140 species are placed in 1 ...
, it will be her summoning him again. However, the next order for extra anchovies comes from an unhappily married Asian woman, Kyoko Bruckner. Further orders come from Dr. Joyce Palmer, director of a women's health practice, and isolated aspiring photographer Monica Delancy. Randy's relationships with these women lead him to better understand women's wants and needs. Through Kyoko and Monica's acquaintances, and the women Joyce recommends to Randy among her patients, Randy soon has a thriving escort business based around the "extra anchovies" order, which he manages to conceal from Señor Pizza's management. Eventually, the three women's husbands become suspicious. In an attempt to pin down who is having sex with their wives, the three husbands go through their wives' financial statements and credit card bills, leading them to Señor Pizza to confront the delivery boy who is apparently having sexual relations with all three of their wives. Meanwhile, Jenny has come to town to surprise Randy, and has learned from Jory Talbot, a rival of Randy's, that Randy is seeing other women without her knowledge. Randy is not there, having received an order for extra anchovies—from his mother. He escapes the situation before she sees him, and passes the pizza off to Tony, with instructions that they are out of anchovies. Randy then learns from his other co-worker Sal about Jenny's visit and Jory having told her about the other women. Randy and Jory go out back of Señor Pizza to fight, but the husbands arrive, intent on assaulting Randy. They grab Randy and are about to rough him up when Harry (Kyoko's husband) realizes that Randy is Joe Bodek's son, as he and Joe are co-workers; Joe had told Harry during a semi-drunken conversation that he believes Randy to be gay, and Harry dismisses him as a suspect on those grounds. The husbands then assault an unsuspecting Jory. Randy confesses to Jenny about the reasons he agreed to become a paid escort. Jenny is hurt and uncertain she wants to continue their relationship, but agrees to accompany him to his parents' anniversary party. The husbands follow Jory to the party, where the party dissolves into melee, resulting in their arrest for assault. Jory is humiliated when he discovers that his own mother was one of Randy's customers. Joe forgives Randy and agrees to fund college again and Randy finally introduces Jenny to his parents.


Cast


Reception

''Loverboy'' received mixed reviews from critics, as it holds a 50% rating on
Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
from 10 reviews.


References


External links

* * * * {{Joan Micklin Silver 1989 films 1980s sex comedy films Adultery in films American sex comedy films 1980s English-language films Films about male prostitution in the United States Films directed by Joan Micklin Silver Films scored by Michel Colombier Films shot in Los Angeles Films with screenplays by Leslie Dixon TriStar Pictures films Teen sex comedy films 1989 comedy films 1980s American films