Midnight Madness is not a classic piece of cinema, in the classic sense of the word. (Yes, I meant to use 'classic' twice.) However, for anyone who had HBO during the 1980's, this very well could be a sentimental 'classic.' Personally, I watched the movie many, many times, especially during those years around 1985 when the big Michael J. Fox craze had begun.

This movie, Disney's 2nd PG-rated film (the first was The Black Hole), did very poorly in theaters. It's not very hard to see why. It's a silly piece of fluff that has no real substance and no moral lesson to be learned -- except maybe this: Remember your brother's birthday.

But that's what makes this movie so much fun. This is certainly not a deep film, or one that will inspire any deep thought. All the characters can be taken at face value because that's all they are; one dimensional stereotypical characters. Characters we know the second we see them; spoiled, rich Harold - pure evil; Good, sensitive Adam - pure goodness; ditto on Laura; Flynch, the smart, shy geek who gets the girl(s) in the end.

This isn't to say that there aren't facets to these characters. Even Adam has some flaws. But, he remains our hero throughout the film and even when he decides to let his brother run off into the dangerous city alone, you still like him because you just KNOW he's gonna turn around and say, "Hey, let's go find my brother."

If you can tolerate lowbrow humor, you could never say that this movie is boring. It keeps right on moving, going from one clue in the scavenger hunt to the next. Sometimes there are pauses during the clue-hunting, but that's not boring either. I personally find the "Heart and Soul" arrangement at the piano museum to be one of the best I've ever heard. And nothing could be funnier than watching a beer-crazed football jock being dragged away from a vat of beer. (Unless you think too much and start wondering if the poor guy is an alcoholic. But really, this kind of movie shouldn't inspire too many mental processes.)

As far as performances go, Michael J. Fox is obviously one of the better actors in the film, especially with his portrayal of emotion without words. Although his 'emotional acting' is good, his lines seem kind of stiff and forced. However, one must take into consideration that his lines weren't all that great to begin with.

As I pointed out before, stereotypes abound in this movie from the nerdy smart guys, to the dumb jocks. However, there are broken stereotypes. Lavitas is a jock, but he isn't dumb. He can even read and play music. The Red team are all women, but none of them are dumb at all. One of the women is very butch, which is a stereotype created to break another stereotype. Peggy and Lulu are difficult to figure out. They're eating machines, like Harold, but aren't concerned about it. They're obviously very happy (note the constant giggling) and very secure. In addition, they're pretty good dancers.

A nice twist is thrown in for Adam. He's the go-getter hero of the film who's still a little insecure about his feelings for women, which adds to his likability. The twist is in his relationship with his brother, Scott. Adam isn't quite so perfect, finding Scott as nothing but a nuisance. A bit of irony is that the counselor can't figure out what the real problem is with his own brother.

Laura is the perfect heroine-too perfect. She's sweet, kind, forgiving and pretty. Not a darn thing wrong with her except for the fact that she has no flaws. Marvin, the mechanical wiz and token black character, didn't have much of a part, but the actor made the most out of it, especially when bragging about or weeping over his jeep.

Then we come to Barf. Barf is very interesting. He's obviously the dumbest character in the entire film-so why does he always get stuck with trying to figure out the clues? And of course, who could ever forget, "Fagabeefe?"

Speaking of embarrassing stereotypes, someone should be whipped over the (again, token) hispanic character, Blade. The poor guy didn't have one single line of dialogue and his shining moment was when he refused to go through a metal detector at the Airport.

Lucile: AAAAA!!! The complete opposite of Laura in every way except that she is also pretty.

You'd think Melio's hatred for Harold would make him a bit likable, but it makes him even more despicable. When Harold smacks him around, you're right there with him going, "Do it again!"

That leaves us with Harold. If Stephen Furst hadn't played it so well I wouldn't like this movie half as much as I do. Harold's male and he's fat, and this is a movie, so of course he's a loser. Dad's obvious disapproval doesn't help poor Harold out much.

Personally, I think the best acting in this film is done by Stephen Furst. If you enjoyed his performance as Harold, or even if you didn't, I highly recommend that you check him out in the television series "St. Elsewhere", as Dr. Axelrod, and "Babylon 5" as Vir Cotto. His performance in "Babylon 5" is especially good, as the character progresses from a whining 'moon-faced assassin of joy' to the future emperor of a mighty planet.

Why to Watch This Movie: Historical reason: It's Michael J. Fox's film premiere. This film is great fun when you're in the proper mindset.

When to Watch This Movie: When you're in the mood for some mindless fun and silly old-fashioned Hollywood stereotypes that aren't too disturbing.

--Brandi M. Mills

All original text © Copyright by Brandi M. Mills, 2006