Cry Baby vs. Kuffs: Two nostalgic movies, but how did they age?

This is a response to Perspicacious Girl's review of "Cry Baby," and her attack on "Kuffs."

Y'know, Cry Baby wasn't half as bad as I thought it would be. Let's get that out of the way. It's hammy, but it's meant to be that way, and for the most part, it was entertaining, and even funny at times. ("Your honor, can we take our daughter the fuck home?") I don't go super ga ga over Johnny Depp like Perspicacious Girl, because, well, I'm a heterosexual dude, so no points there...

Perspicacious Girl was just the right age when this movie came out, and I was the exact right age for Kuffs (about 11).

Kuffs is rife with stupid adolescent gags and fart jokes, not to mention car chases, gun battles, and gratuitious T & A (Milla Jovovich, anyone?). I loved this movie when it came out. It was PG-13, so I could watch it all I wanted to (They didn't really card kids back then to my recollection), and it had a nice blend of humor and action.

Does it stand up today? In a word... No. I think anyone would be hard pressed to say that this is a great movie, let alone a "good" one, but I must admit that it is still a guilty pleasure for me. Some of it is unbearable. For instance, when Kuffs is tied to a chair next to a ticking time bomb, his dog comes to the rescue. Through his taped mouth he tries to say "Bark! Bark!,". The dog then proceeds to fart to which Kuffs replies "No. Not Fart! Bark!" Yeah, that's pretty bad. Let's not forget the "Beverly Hills-esque" theme that follows our hero around. It's the exact same synthesizer sound, and is only different by two notes or so. Who did they have write that theme, Vanilla Ice?

There are some redeeming qualities, however. Not many, but there are some. Christian Slater actually does a pretty good job throughout the movie, cheesy as it is, and this movie at times is genuinely funny. A young Milla Jovovich dancing around in her underwear isn't too bad to look at either.

All in all, I admit to Kuffs being a pretty bad movie, but I'll have to add it to my guilty pleasures list because of the nostalgia this movie holds for me. To steal an idea from Pulp Fiction, you could say that Cry Baby aged like wine, and Kuffs, well, aged like vinegar.

Blind Lemon Ford

p.s. My sincerest appologies to Perspicacious Girl for making her watch this movie with me

p.p.s. My most sincere appology to anybody who actually watches this movie as a result of this blog...