The Big 60s Reunion
As a movie "My Boyfriend's Back", a fictitious tale of a 60s girl group getting back together for an 80s TV special, failed to really do it for me but as a concept I thought it was great. In fact if Tom Hanks ever thinks of doing a sequel to "That Thing You Do!" I recommend he watch "My Boyfriend's Back" to gain some inspiration. Now as to why it didn't really do it for me, I suppose part of it comes down to the fact it now looks very dated and whilst you try to take into account things such as big 80s hair it does make it a bit, well sort of cheesy. And whilst I loved the concept and the fact that each of the women unsurprisingly have a few personal issues to deal with the actual writing is not as strong as it could have been. But having said all that, whilst "My Boyfriend's Back" failed to blow me away it was still entertaining and the 60s music with some of the original singers appearing makes it pleasant enough.
TV exec Harry Simon (John Sanderford) tracks down Vickie Vine (Judith Light) of 60s girl group The Bouffants as he wants to reunite her with Debbie (Jill Eikenberry - Arthur) and Chris (Sandy Duncan) to appear in a 60s TV special he is putting together built around their big hit "My Boyfriend's Back". With Vickie still performing, all but in a bowling alley bar and Chris now a repressed housewife both keen for the union Debbie is less so having carved out a career as a business woman. But with a little persuasion they reform although not with out a few problems along the way as old and new issues put things it jeopardy.
So "My Boyfriend's Back" is a tale of a fictitious band The Bouffants getting together for a 60s reunion and that is the style of movie, a reunion movie. As such whilst the initial build up is slightly humorous from Vickie singing in a bowling alley and being interrupted by the PA to Debbie embarrassed by her past the crux of the movie are the issues. And in typical reunion movie style we have a mix of the old and the new, there is Vickie's jealousy of Debbie who was always the leader and then there is Chris who is tired of being walked all over not just by Vickie and Debbie but also her husband. Of course this means we have a rocky road to whether or not the will perform together.
Now my problem is that the actual writing of this isn't as strong as it could be and it seems a case of have an issue, have a row and they hug and make up. I know we are talking an 80s TV movie here but that lack of depth and grittiness makes it all quite shallow despite the actual issues themselves being believable. And as already mentioned with this being an 80s movie we are talking 80s fashion, well big 80s hair and big sparkly earrings and no matter how much you try to take it into account it does now look quite cheesy.
Thankfully the actual performances of are trio of stars Sandy Duncan, Jill Eikenberry and Judith Light are quite enjoyable, there is some nice banter between them and they each play distinct if a little cliche characters. What is also good is the music and the various 60s songs are a joy to listen to especially when we get to seem some original 60s stars singing their famous songs. In many ways it is the soundtrack which keeps "My Boyfriend's Back" at average because if the songs hadn't been so recognizable it would have been a struggle.
What this all boils down to is that "My Boyfriend's Back" is an okay movie which has good idea but doesn't have the strong writing to make it really work. But with some enjoyable performances and great 60s songs it is okay.
