''Listen to Me'' is a 1989 American

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super ...

written and directed by Douglas Day Stewart. Released on May 5, 1989, it stars

Kirk Cameron Kirk Thomas Cameron (born October 12, 1970) is an American actor and evangelist. He first gained fame as a teen actor playing Mike Seaver on the ABC sitcom '' Growing Pains'' (1985–1992), a role for which he was nominated for two Golden G ...

, Jami Gertz, and

Roy Scheider Roy Richard Scheider (; November 10, 1932 – February 10, 2008) was an American actor and amateur boxer. Described by AllMovie as "one of the most unique and distinguished of all Hollywood actors", he gained fame for his leading and supportin ...

. The film was largely shot on location in

Malibu, California Malibu ( ; es, Malibú; Chumash: ) is a beach city in the Santa Monica Mountains region of Los Angeles County, California, situated about west of Downtown Los Angeles. It is known for its Mediterranean climate and its strip of the Mali ...

, including the campus of

Pepperdine University Pepperdine University () is a private research university affiliated with the Churches of Christ with its main campus in Los Angeles County, California. Pepperdine's main campus consists of 830 acres (340 ha) overlooking the Pacific Ocean and ...

Plot summary

''Listen to Me'' centers around a group of college students who are members of the debate team at fictional Kenmont College. The two main characters, Tucker Muldowney (

) and Monica Tomanski ( Jami Gertz), come from underprivileged backgrounds and have won scholarships to Kenmont for displaying exceptional talent for debating. Both students are taken under the wing of the debate-team coach, Charlie Nichols (Scheider), who was a star debater in his youth. The team eventually wins a chance to debate the issue of

abortion Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. An abortion that occurs without intervention is known as a miscarriage or "spontaneous abortion"; these occur in approximately 30% to 40% of pregn ...

against Harvard in front of the Supreme Court. Along the way, the students learn lessons about life, love, friendship, and politics. The film also includes the theme song "Listen to Me", which was written and produced by

David Foster David Walter Foster (born November 1, 1949) is a Canadian musician, composer, arranger, record producer and music executive who chaired Verve Records from 2012 to 2016. He has won 16 Grammy Awards from 47 nominations. His music career spans mor ...

and

Linda Thompson Linda Diane Thompson (born May 23, 1950) is an American songwriter, former actress and beauty pageant winner. Thompson began her acting career as a " Hee Haw Honey" on the American television variety show '' Hee Haw''. She was also a girlfrien ...

and recorded by

Celine Dion Céline Marie Claudette Dion ( ; born 30 March 1968) is a Canadian singer. Noted for her powerful and technically skilled vocals, Dion is the best-selling Canadian recording artist, and the best-selling French-language artist of all time. Her ...

and Warren Wiebe, sometime in 1988.

Cast

Main

Supporting

Cameo/Uncredited

Production

The film was originally called ''Mismatch'' and was meant to star

James Garner James Garner (born James Scott Bumgarner; April 7, 1928 – July 19, 2014) was an American actor. He played leading roles in more than 50 theatrical films, including '' The Great Escape'' (1963) with Steve McQueen; Paddy Chayefsky's ''The Ameri ...

but he had heart surgery and was replaced by Roy Scheider. Filming started in May 1988. The film was re-titled ''Talking Back'' when released on video in the US. "It's kind of the flipside of '' Less than Zero''," said associate producer Chuck Cooperman. "These people are our future leaders. They're just as bright, concerned and just as passionate as anyone." It was financed by the Weintraub Entertainment Group from

Jerry Weintraub Jerome Charles "Jerry" Weintraub (September 26, 1937 – July 6, 2015) was an American film producer, talent manager and actor whose television films won him three Emmys. He began his career as a talent agent, having managed relatively unknown ...

. Kirk Cameron said it "was easy for me to relate to" his character. "To begin with, it's a dramatic part. It's not a film about teenagers with half a brain running around drinking, dancing and partying. The characters are intelligent and responsible. They are genuinely concerned about the world we live in. It's much closer to reality than other teen pictures. It's time to show the other side of my generation, the deeper side."

Reception

The film's marketing was going to focus on Kirk Cameron, then at the height of his popularity. However Jerry Weintraub over-rode them and insisted on ads that emphasized the fact the film dealt with a debate about

, hoping to stir up controversy. The movie was a flop at the box office. "Fans were neither angered or disturbed, they simply stayed away," wrote the ''Wall Street Journal''. 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 Wan ...

, the film holds an approval rating of 20% based on 5 reviews, with an average rating of 3.5/10. Film historian

Leonard Maltin Leonard Michael Maltin (born December 18, 1950) is an American film critic and film historian, as well as an author of several mainstream books on cinema, focusing on nostalgic, celebratory narratives. He is perhaps best known for his book of f ...

gave the picture 1.5 (out of a possible 4) stars: "After 9 years, the star and screenwriter of '' The Blue Lagoon'' reunite for this slick travesty...set on the kind of party campus where

Dick Dale and the Del-Tones Richard Anthony Monsour (May 4, 1937 – March 16, 2019), known professionally as Dick Dale, was an American rock guitarist. He was a pioneer of surf music, drawing on Middle Eastern music scales and experimenting with reverb. Dale was known as ...

wouldn't be out of place. The climactic abortion debate is cheap and hokey in roughly equal measure; Kirk Cameron's shifty Oklahoma accent certainly doesn't help. See '' The Great Debaters'' instead."Maltin's TV, Movie, & Video Guide

Awards and nominations

References

External links

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Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television a ...

''Listen to Me''
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Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Listen To Me 1989 films American drama films 1989 drama films Debating Films directed by Douglas Day Stewart Films scored by David Foster Films with screenplays by Douglas Day Stewart Columbia Pictures films Weintraub Entertainment Group films 1980s English-language films Golden Raspberry Award winning films 1980s American films