Ahh,
Tony Danza. To me, he's like a much older Scott Baio. The perpetual
nerd that grew into the overbearing father/brown-noser/do-gooder. I
know, I know. Scott Baio really isn't a do-gooder, but every movie or
tv role I have seen both him or Tony Danza in is exactly the same.
Scott Baio was never the cool guy, or even the bad guy. And neither was
Tony Danza. But Ami Dolenz? She is definitely cool. And so is this
movie. No thanks to Tony Danza.
 Doug
Simpson (Tiny Dancer), is a single father with two daughters. Bonnie,
and Katie - who is just about to turn fifteen. Doug has been raising
the girls alone since the death of their mother, and he thinks he's
doing a pretty good job of it. His only flaw is that he doesn't realise
that his daughters are growing up. His girlfriend Janet helps out with
the girls where possible, but when Doug goes away on a business trip
shortly after Katie's 15th birthday he gets a little more help from
Janet than he could have ever possibly wanted.
Katie, tired of being dorky
and unnoticed, goes to Janet for help. Janet takes her to get contact
lenses, a new haircut and some new clothes as well as getting her
braces removed. The end result is nothing short of stunning. Katie goes
from looking like an awkward pre-teen to being the girl every guy in
the neighbourhood wants to date. She breaks up with her boyfriend
Richard (the boy next door) and all of a sudden she has boys lining up
around the block to take her out. When Doug comes home, he's completely
confused by the constant ringing phones, boys at the door and not to
mention floored when his "little girl" comes down the stairs to head
out on a date. Needless to say, he's quite annoyed at Janet, and
becomes completely obsessed with Katie's every move. Even to the point
of paying Bonnie to keep tabs on where she is and who she is with. He
also insists on meeting every one of Katie's dates before she leaves
with them.
 On
top of that, Doug starts seeing Dr Fishbinder, who has written a book
on how to raise teenage girls. Doug has no idea what he is doing and is
desperate for advice, so he believe's every line of garbage that the
psychiatrist feeds him. Doug becomes neurotic and untrusting of Katie
and starts to unknowingly push her away. Katie now has a new boyfriend,
who drives a big pick up truck, and Doug has absolutely no idea who he
is.
Doug organises a family trip
to the beach, but when time rolls around for lunch, he realises that
Katie is nowhere to be found. He soon spots her frolicking in the water
with her new boyfriend. Furious, Doug calls Katie over to eat with the
family. But as she heads out of the water, Doug can't help but notice
every pair of male eyes on the beach watching his young daughter. He
realises he isn't coping very well at all, and heads back to Dr
Fishbinder for more "advice".
 Dr
Fishbinder tells Doug that in order to get back into his daughters life
he has to play the "cool dad" card, and when he comes home from work
early to find Katie, her boyfriend Joey and a bunch of their friends
looking through his old LP's he takes the time to explain the music and
tell the kids stories about the sixties. Joey eventually opens up to
Doug, and he is surprised to find that he is a pretty good kid. A drag
race involving Dougs car ends rather badly, but he doesn't lose his
cool with Joey as he would prefer to keep him close enough to keep an
eye on him. But as can be expected, Katie soon loses interest in Joey.
There's a new man on the scene - Timothy. He's polite, courteous, smart
and well dressed. But as Doug remembers from Dr Fishbinder's book -
there is such a thing as too perfect, and his presumption about Timothy
is bang on the money.
Doug quickly discovers that
Timothy is cheating on his daughter and isn't the nice guy that he is
prentending to be, but nothing he says to Katie will make her change
her mind. Dr Fishbinder feeds Dougs neurosis by telling him that a very
large percentage of teenage girls lose their virginity on prom night,
and Katie is going to the prom with Timothy. Doug organises to have
dinner with Janet's visiting parents at the same hotel that Katie's
prom is at so that he can keep an eye on her and his nervous and
erratic behaviour does little to impress Janet's parents or Janet for
that matter. Not to be deterred he follows Katie to the prom after
party. Inside, Timothy is putting a whole lot of pressure on a very
unwilling Katie and even though his actions were completely misguided,
Doug is there to break down the door when Timothy won't take no for an
answer. Katie runs away refusing to talk to her father and Doug
realises what a jerk he has been in not trusting his completely
trustworthy daughter. Angry at the misguided advice he has been given,
he goes to see Dr Fishbinder one last time who informs him that he
doesn't have any children at all, let alone a teenage daughter. Doug
loses it and ends up putting both himself and Dr Fishbinder through a
window at the radio station where he works, leaving him in a rather
attractive neck brace.
 Katie
leaves the following day for a school trip to Europe, and Doug rushes
to the airport to let her know how sorry he is before she leaves. Doug
tells her that he trusts her. Katie forgives him and heads off on her
trip, but not before she lets Richards (the boy next door) that she is
quite pleased he is going on the trip too. Whaddya know? Back at home,
Doug is surprised to find another male caller on his doorstep. He
informs the kid that Katie is overseas for the summer, but his jaw hits
the floor when the boy says he's there to pick up Bonnie, not Katie.
It's starting all over again!
I like
this movie, it's a very easy watch and the ending is cute. It's a well
written story and *I guess* Tony Danza is well cast. It's well worth
the price of a DVD to see Ami Dolenz run up the beach in a swimsuit
though, phwoar. And I must give a special mention to Dana Ashbrook as
Joey, who was pure awesome. Where are you man!? All up, not a complete
waste of ninety minutes. It's nice to see that Doug finally realises
that it was him who was out of control, and not Katie at all.
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Year: 1989
