Plain Clothes (1988)

A Major Disappointment

When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama

Not a bad movie but not a good one either. It's one of those 80's movies you have to a least see once in your lifetime.Arliss Howard as Nick Dunbar: The 34yr old playing a 24yr undercover cop playing an 18yr. OK. While Howard was somewhat young enough to somewhat get away with it, I still felt he was miscast somewhat. In some scenes he kinda fit in but in others, you could tell his age and it was more embarrassing than funny. But still, he did an earnest performance.Suzy Amis as Robin Torrence: Now she I believed did a great job and was quite believable as the young teacher smitten by the Nick Dunbar character. She really looked quite nice in this type of role.George Wendt as Chet Butler: Poor Wendt, he at 1st came on quite nicely as a somewhat loony teacher but by the end it was quite ridiculous for me to accept him as a invincible, crazy killer who even shoots dogs! Not funny at all. I quite expected him to just have a heart-attack with all that running around after Howard's Dunbar. Complete miscast here.Diane Ladd as Jane Melway: Now she was quite believable in her role. (At 1st I thought she was Dee Wallace!) Ladd did a great job in her little role.Seymour Cassel as Ed Malmburg: Was OK at best. Playing Dunbar's partner and role-playing as the dad was OK. I wish Collidge would have had a little more interplay with Cassel and Howard doing the "father & son" thing. There could have been some more potential comedy there.Abe Vigoda as Mr. Wiseman: Was a complete miscast. What a shame to have the late Vigoda in a thankless role in which all he had to do was walk around oblivious to the fact fact that everyday some student was putting a different note pinned to his back and he of course would not notice and walk around all day like a idiot. Why would Vigoda take such a thankless role is beyond me.Robert Stack as Mr. Gardner: Stack as the principle was OK at best but still a misfire and not funny at all. While it;s always great to see the late great Stack in a role out of the Untouchable mold, he just is too intense for a comedy and to me was just miscast in a throwaway role like Vigoda.Alexandra Powers as Dawn-Marie Zeffer: The beautiful Powers was very well cast as the cheerleader type. Her little scene where she is trying to seduce Howard's Dunbar was really good. I could see Howard having a hard time resisting this sexy little charmer but he had to have it under control for a lot of reasons. She's 17, he's 24 playing an 18yr old. I like at the end when she realizes he's a cop and she is still like saying in a devilish sexy way, "So, how old are you anyways?" What a shame this very cute actress gave up acting. She hasn't done anything since 2001! I wonder what she is doing now...Peter Dobson as Kyle Kerns: Great casting here. Dobson as a bully on Dunbar's case was right on. Very believable and a good job done by Dobson.Harry Shearer as Simon Feck: Complete miscast here for the great Shearer. Just like Vigoda, a throw-away role that any extra could have done. Don't understand why these greats would take such meaningless bit role role that are just basically cameos.Reginald VelJohnson as Captain Graff: Another meaningless cameo bit in which VelJohnson was just wasted. A thankless throwaway role also.Max Perlich as Carter: Great casting here. A very believable Perlich as a fellow student who befriends Dunbar. Good job by Perlich.All in all, Coolidge has done better (Valley Girl) but OK in some respect. Great ending song, "YOU CAN COUNT ON ME",written and performed by Billy Sherwood.

'Plain Clothes' is not great comedy, though it does, at least subtly, attempt stupid humor (such as the running gags with the school announcements and the Springsteen jokes). And, as a b-comedy with a relatively unknown cast leading with Arliss Howard and Seymour Cassell (who is great, but doesn't often act in the mainstream circuit), this may be one obscure 80s comedy that could only really be best enjoyed by us fans of obscure 80s movies. Familiar, name-escaping faces, a different story, high school in the 80s, it just might have what you're looking for.Plain Clothes is the story of a babyface young cop (Arliss Howard) who's younger brother is prime suspect in a teacher's unusual murder at his high school. Convinced that his brother is telling the truth when he claims to be innocent, the cop goes undercover as a high school student to investigate. Only, what he discovers is much more than just a murder. You have your typical 80s teen movie elements, since this does take place in a high school and our main character does pose as one of the more interesting students. Love triangles and social scuffles mixed with the suspense/action of the cop story angle. It does quite a bit of shifting and does, as another viewer commented, culminate in a rather confusing climax.For this bit of narrative game playing and mild comedy treatment, this movie is perfect for just a certain kind of audience (if you love obscure b-80s movies) and a certain kind of day (lazy weekend noons are probably best). By the way, Max Perlich fans should not miss him in his trademark leather jacket and buzz cut when he shows up (briefly) as Carter, one of the kids who befriends the undercover cop.

It has some very funny lines..and he isnt that bad too look at either...i think it was a 4 out of 10 ever all.. but i probable would watch it agin...I was just a little confused because i didnt watch it from the beginnign...so you really do have to watch the whole thing to underastand it...but it was good...no rotten apples here.!!!lol...ok..i have to have ten lines so...ill...talk...about ....somethin.....else....lol...... ok ill talk about nothin.. ok ok ok much love....steff

A sweet little film that's fun to watch. Arliss Howard's comedic talent is unappreciated and underestimated. He is assisted by fine veteran actors who look as if they are having a whale of a good time. The writing is surprisingly good for a low-budget flick.