" They'll park your car where the sun never shines!" I'm well aware that Dirk Benedict is old enough to be my grandfather, but I'll be damned if he wasn't a fine lookin piece of ass back in the Battlestar-A-Team days. Which led me to IMDB, which in turn led me to Underground Aces. Much the same way that I was led to Sssssss, but fortunately for me, Underground Aces wasn't nearly as painful. Not quite in the Police Academy/Flying High vein that it claims on the box, but still not too terrible.The story centers around a bunch of parking lot attendants who do all sorts of insane and illegal things in an underground Beverly Hills carpark. But they're a lovable bunch of larrikins - and no one gets in trouble in these kinds of movies where the bad guy is obviously the guy in charge. This movie is no exception. I'm not exactly sure who the main character of this movie is. If I had to pick, I'd say that it's equally Huff (Dirk Benedict) and his trials and tribulations surrounding being the new guy, and trying to get into Melanie Griffiths pants (and I really don't doubt for a second that he actually did..You da man Dirk!!), Tico (Robert Hegyes) - the serial womaniser who has finally fallen in love, and The Sheik (Kario Salem) who needs a little help to convince the woman he loves to not marry another man. I wasn't overly fussed by this movie. Don't get me wrong, I didn't hate it. But Underground Aces claimed to be far more than it actually was. The story was cute, but it just seemed like it was lacking structure, and seemed to jump all over the place all the time - and relied heavily on scenes of mass chaos. Too much of that makes my head hurt. Much like the random anarchy scenes, there's just far too much going on to fit into one ninety minute movie. Huff is the new guy and has to prove himself worthy of a date to Lucy (Griffiths), all while copping crap from Lucy's on again off again boyfriend Joe, who also happens to be his boss. Of course the only way to win Lucy's love is to wow her with his driving skills and beat Joe at a game of automobile soccer, with two cars and a giant inflatable ball - all without getting busted by the hotel security officer, the completely coincidentally named Fred Kruger. Meanwhile, after banging one of the maids in the back of a car, Tico has wandered upstairs and fallen head over heels in love with Madeline - who is staying at the hotel for her friend Annie's wedding. Sensing Annie's cold feet about the impending marriage, and the lingering looks passing between her and a travelling Sheik, Tico hatches a plan to get Annie and the Sheik together, thus leaving Madeline free to spend time with him. This of course involves swapping one of the parking lot attendants with the sheik to allow him to move freely - his servants are not allowed to look on him as a matter of custom, making the job a little easier. Mayhem, lots of smashed cars and much hijinks ensue. Underground Aces is a fun movie if you're willing to give it a go, and would probably get better with a repeated viewing. Michael Winslow has a pre-police academy sound effects realated role, and TK carter (Regina from He's My Girl, and apparently Punky Brewster also has a small part. Plus, Dirk makes old man hats undeniably stylish.
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Year:
1981
