“OK,” my friend uttered as we walked out of the theater, “‘Grease 2’ is a hundred times better than this movie.”
I’ve been pleading with her for years to recognize “Grease 2” as a viable, entertaining theatrical experience that stands up to more than just its predecessor. Who knew all it would take for her to give “Grease 2” its props would be this crappy Lindsay Lohan train-wreck?
Boy, was this a bad movie. I’ve been a fan of Garry Marshall films since “Pretty Woman,” but the man certainly has some extreme misses (“Exit to Eden,” “Raising Helen”) among his many hits (“Beaches,” “Frankie and Johnny”). And this is definitely a miss — let’s just say it’s way worse than watching Rosie O’Donnell play a dominatrix for two hours in “Exit to Eden.”
Lohan, Felicity Huffman and Jane Fonda play three generations of family struggling to connect with each other. Huffman has never bonded with her regimented mother Fonda, and now Lohan is sparring with the overworked, never-sober Huffman. The solution? Send her to Grandma’s house in a remote city in Idaho for the summer to learn her. Lohan’s over-sexed, spoiled-brat character (must have been quite a stretch) wreaks havoc on the teenagers and fathers in this friendly community. Even Grandma Fonda can’t keep a leash on this child, who will do just about anything for attention, including fingering (sorry) her step-father on molestation charges.
Was she molested or wasn’t she? We waver back and forth so many times, that by the time the truth comes out, we don’t really care anymore. The story is dark, depressing and so structurally flawed that even the stoic Jane Fonda can’t save it.
And that, my friends, makes “Grease 2” a far superior film.
