Bachelor Party is a 1984 American comedy film directed by Neal Israel, written by Israel and Pat Proft, and starring Tom Hanks, Adrian Zmed, William Tepper and Tawny Kitaen. The film chronicles a bachelor party being thrown by a group of friends for their friend Rick Gassko (Hanks) on the eve of his wedding and whether or not he can resist the temptation of being unfaithful to his fiancée Debbie (Kitaen).
Plot
Party-animal Rick Gassko (Tom Hanks), who makes his living as a Catholic school bus driver, decides to finally settle down and marry his girlfriend Debbie Thompson (Tawny Kitaen). After gathering his buddies to give them the news, his shocked friends (led by Adrian Zmed) decide to throw him the bachelor party to end all bachelor parties. The bride's wealthy, conservative parents are not at all happy with her decision and her father decides to enlist the help of Debbie's ex-boyfriend Cole Whittier (Robert Prescott) to break them up and win her back.
While Debbie worries and goes off to her bridal shower thrown by her friends, Rick heads off to the bachelor party and promises to remain faithful. Both parties start off on the wrong foot thanks to a little sabotage by Cole. As the bachelor party starts to heat up, Debbie and the girls decide to get even with Rick and his friends by having a party of their own. Both parties eventually collide leading to Debbie accusing Rick of infidelity.
Both parties end up becoming one big drunken orgy and the bachelors' hotel room ends up getting trashed much to the chagrin of the hotel's ever-frustrated manager (Kenneth Kimmins). Adding to the confusion is Rick's friend, Brad who has become despondent over his wife breaking up with him. At various points during the movie, he riotously botches every suicide he attempts. He even tries slitting his wrists with an electric razor to which Rick says, "Well.....at least your wrists will be smooth and kissable."
Rick convinces Debbie of his love and faithfulness just as the party is raided by the police. In the ensuing melee, Rick and Debbie become separated and Cole kidnaps Debbie leaving Rick and his friends to chase after them culminating in a showdown between Rick and Cole, which includes a chase through a 36-screen movie theater. Rick and Cole have a humorous fist fight just below the movie screen which is showing a 3D movie. The fight is in direct synchronization to the on-screen fist fight. A female audience member gets punched in the face but attributes it to a 3D movie effect. Rick wins and he and Debbie embrace. After the wedding, Rick and Debbie are driven to the airport for their honeymoon in Rick's school bus driven by a laughing Brad.
Cast
Production
The origins of the film came from an actual bachelor party thrown by producer Ron Moler and a group of friends for fellow producer Bob Israel. In fact, several members of the cast and crew involved with the production of the movie were at that party when the idea began to take shape.
The film was made in the wake of the success of Police Academy.
Music
The soundtrack album from Bachelor Party was released in 1984.
- Side one
- "American Beat '84" â€" The Fleshtones (3:28)
- "Something Isn't Right" â€" Oingo Boingo (3:42)
- "Crazy Over You" â€" Jools Holland (2:59)
- "Little Demon" â€" Adrian Zmed (3:21)
- "Wind Out" â€" R.E.M. (1:58)
- Side two
- "Bachelor Party Theme" â€" Oingo Boingo (3:49)
- "What Kind of Hell" â€" The Alarm (2:43)
- "Alley Oop" â€" Darlene Love (3:57)
- "Why Do Good Girls Like Bad Boys?" â€" Angel and the Reruns (2:10)
- "Dream of the West" â€" Yip Yip Coyote (3:07)
The film also features songs:
- "Dance Hall Days" â€" Wang Chung
- "Rehumanize Yourself" â€" The Police
- "Nature Took Over" â€" Angel and the Reruns
- "Gotta Give a Little Love" â€" Timmy Thomas
- "Prepare to Energize" â€" Torch Song
- "Who Do You Want to Be" â€" Oingo Boingo
- "Hall of Fame" â€" The Fleshtones
Reception
Reviews for Bachelor Party were mixed, holding a rating of 52% on Rotten Tomatoes based on 25 reviews. While some critics appreciated the humor, others found it to be vulgar and gratuitous. Both film critics Roger Ebert and Janet Maslin recommended the film, but had reservations about certain aspects, calling it "sophomoric" and "not a great film".
Sequel
Twenty-four years after Bachelor Party was released, 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment produced a straight-to-DVD sequel-in-name-only called Bachelor Party 2: The Last Temptation.
TV show
On October 21, 2014, it was reported that American Broadcasting Company will be developing a TV show inspired by the film.
References
External links
- Bachelor Party at the Internet Movie Database
- Bachelor Party at AllMovie
- Bachelor Party at the TCM Movie Database
- Bachelor Party at the American Film Institute Catalog
- Bachelor Party at Rotten Tomatoes
- Bachelor Party at Box Office Mojo