This
movie (along with Better off Dead) was the reason I fell in love with
the awkward goofiness that was John Cusack in the 80's. Nowadays he
comes off an somewhat elitist, while still doing mostly romantic
comedies. Sadly, the cute dork with a big heart that was Lane Meyer and
Hoops McCann grew into a cynical, American Hugh Grant. But enough about
why I no longer love John Cusack. Let's talk about why I used to love
him. I present to you Exhibit A: One Crazy Summer.
 According
to IMDB, this movie is sometimes described as "Better off
Dead Goes to the Beach" (although I've never heard anyone call it
that). Both this movie and Better off Dead were directed by Savage
Steve Holland, They both star John Cusack, Curtis Armstrong, Laura
Waterbury and Taylor Negron. They're both about a young guy who is an
aspiring cartoonist with a less than stellar life, beating the odds and
getting the girl. Not the popular girl mind you, but the girl who is a
better choice. Celebration ensues when he wins the race at the end of
the movie. Holy crap they are almost identical. I should just get my
Better off Dead review, change some names and be done with it. Oh
alright then, I'll write a new one.
Hoops McCann is a man without a plan. He's graduating high school and
still hasn't been accepted into college. His mother thinks he is headed
for a lucrative career in the sanitation industry, but despite her lack
of faith in him, Hoops wants to go to art school and be a cartoonist.
He's got until the end of the summer to submit a work about love for
his application, but the problem is Hoops has never been in love. He
doesn't know the first thing about it. His best friend George suggests
that he go to Nantucket with him for the summer. Not only will he be
able to forget about his problems for a while, but he might even find
out what love is about. Hoops reluctantly agrees.
 After
a brief stopover at the local elementary school to pick up George's
little sister Squid and her odd looking dog, the trio are on their way.
Hoops runs into some unexpected trouble at a nearby gas station, when
he helps Cassandra, a pretty girl also on her way to Nantucket, escape
a gang of thugs who are trying to steal her money. Cassandra joins them
in the car as they make a death defying leap to try and make the boat
to Nantucket. George never doubted his driving skills for a second, but
the rest of the passengers are less than enthusiastic.
Hoops is terrified of boats, so Cassandra sits with him and tells him
about her life on Nantucket. She is headed there to stay with her
grandfather, who owns a sprawling property and allows all his friends
to stay with him for free. Cassandra's grandfather is a good man, and
has been trying to keep the perpetually greedy Beckersteadswho want to build a housing estate
away from his land for years. Unfortunately for Cassandra, when her
grandfather passes, she faces an uphill battle to keep the land when
the bank decides to foreclose on payments owed. The Beckersteads have
the money to buy the property from the bank, but Cassandra doesn't have
a dime.
 When
the boat lands on Nantucket, Hoops finds out just how terrible the
Beckersteads really are when he gets on the wrong side of Teddy
Beckerstead for touching his car. Teddy is a jerk and constantly picks
on George's cousins the Stork Twins - Egg and Clay who work at the
local mechanic. Teddy also has a beautiful, yet not so faithful
girlfriend named Cookie who takes a liking to Hoops, despite the fact
that Teddy already wants to kill him. George and his friends tell Hoops
to go for it, Cookie may just be the love he is looking for.
Before his date with Cookie, Hoops runs into Cassandra again, where she
tells him about her grandfather and what the Beckersteads plan to do
with her land. She asks Hoops if he will come and watch her sing at the
Dew Drop Inn later that night, and he promises her he will be there.
When Hoops draws a picture for her, she exclaims that if he is so good
at drawing, then she would love to see him play basketball, having a
name like Hoops and all. Unbeknownst to her, Hoops has that name
because he is actually quite terrible at basketball. Embarassingly so.
 Hoops
goes on his date with Cookie, but it is cut short when Teddy finds out
where Cookie is and who she is with. Hoops makes a break for it and
heads for the Dew Drop Inn, but is too late to see Cassandra. Teddy
catches up with him and threatens to kick his ass, but Cassandra
appears and bets Teddy that Hoops can beat him at basketball, which he
of course can't. Cassandra is upset with Hoops for lying to her, and he
feels terrible. To make it up to her, Hoops and his buddies start doing
everything they can to advertise Cassandra's next gig at the Dew Drop
Inn, which is a screaming success.
When Cassandra takes her money to the bank however, she finds out that
Beckerstead has already bought her house from the bank, even though she
had the money for them in time. The group are defeated, but George's
friend Acky explains to the rest of them that if they can win the
regatta, which Teddy wins every year, his grandfather won't put a dime
into the new development. They have an old boat, and no sailing
experience, but with a little teamwork and hard labour, The Boat is
ready to set sail. Hoops still has his fear of boats, but Cassandra
helps him overcome it with a "new" boating experience if you will. The
boys also have a secret weapon up their sleeves guaranteed to blow
Teddy out of the water.
I love this movie, and I highly suggest watching it with the commentary
on. It's the second funniest commentary I have ever listened to, only
beaten by the drunken fun of Cannibal the Musical. It is really
upsetting to hear that John Cusack hates this movie (and Better off
Dead) and refers to Savage Steve as "That Director". Way to come off as
a snobby prick, John. If you can't see fun and artistic merit in both
this movie and Better off Dead, then maybe you need more fun in your
life.
I'd also like to mention that Diane Franklin filmed a scene for this
movie where Hoops went to College and met her there, but it ended
up on the cutting room floor. Such a shame. Oh, and Kimberly Foster is
HOT.
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Year: 1986
