Funny
story. I have this movie on VHS, but to save me the hassle of ripping
it myself, I downloaded it from some guy in America on Demonoid.com. I
finally got around to capping it yesterday in preparation of writing
this review when I found something odd about the file I had. It was
taped off TV, but not just any channel. The movie was taped off The
Magical World of Disney which aired in the 80's on Channel 7, in
Sydney, Australia - where I live. There it was, the channel seven logo,
and on top of that, an ad for Sydney's only theme park which was sadly
closed down four years ago, Australia's Wonderland! Not that this has
anything to do with the movie at all, but it was just such a bizarre
co-incidence that I had to share it with everyone.
 Neil
Barton and Carol Whitcombe are complete nobodies. Life seems to just
shuffle on around them without anyone even noticing they are there.
Being straight A students certainly hasn't helped their cause, and to
be honest, neither does the way they dress. After going unnoticed at a
popular after school hangout while waiting for a table, Carol tells
Neil that she is sick of no one knowing who she is. She wants to be
popular, and hang out with people like Rod - a popular jock, and her
secret crush. Neil has a secret crush of his own. Cheerleader, Dorrie
Ryder. But like everyone else, she doesn't even know he exists.
Carol
is secretary for the foreign exchange program at the school, and when
the two exchange students who are meant to be coming to the school are
sent to another school at the last minute, she comes up with a plan for
her and Neil to replace them. No one would notice that they were
missing, and she could use her position of secretary to fake all the
documentation they would need. Neil doesn't seem too enthusastic about
the idea, but when an attempt to profess his love for Dorrie results in
mistaking him for one of the "special needs" students he decides he has
nothing to lose and they decide to go ahead with Carol's plan.
 After
a disastrous attempt at "Europeanising" their look with Carol's cousin,
the pair opt to visit a real stylist, buy some new outfits and get Neil
a tan. The transformation is complete and the two of them sneak into
the airport and emerge as Simone Suarre and Adriano Paprizzi just in
time for Vice Principal Durfner to pick them up and take them to their
respective homes.
It''s instant popularity for Simone and Adriano, as their farce works
better than they could have possibly imagined. Nobody knows as much
about France as Carol, and lucky for Neil that no one knows the first
thing about Italy, so he is able to wing his way through any hairy
questions that get thrown his way. People are finally noticing them.
Dorrie has taken a real liking to Adriano, while Rod is completely
enamoured with Simone - much to his girlfriend Kathy's annoyance. This
leads to Kathy constantly keeping an eye on Simone, and it isn't long
before she starts to suspect that she isn't what she seems.
 On
top of that, their penchant for getting into trouble has landed them in
hot water with the Vice principal, who keeps trying to contact their
host families (aka, their parents!) and Carol's bratty sister discovers
everything and threatens to tell everyone unless Carol does whatever
she says. Neil also has to deal with the fact that he can't play soccer
to save his life but is expected to play on the school team. But the
worst blow of all comes when the tanning salon he has been frequenting
to maintain his olive skin closes for three weeks. Carol comes up with
a plan to use UV lamps in the school lab, but when a fire breaks out it
lands them in yet more trouble with the vice principal, who threatens
to send them back to their respective countries.
Kathy's attempts to sabotage Simone are pushed up a notch when she
snatches the lead role of the school's production of Sweet Charity out
from under Kathy's nose. She confronts Simone in the dressing room and
catches her with one blue contact lense out. She then begins to notice
that her accent slips so she contacts the exchange agency in France to
ask them to fax a photo of Simone. When the photo arrives, she does
some more digging and finds out Simone and Adriano's real identiies -
Carol and Neil.
 On
the night of the show, the pair are outed as frauds and told they have
lost their respective Harvard and Yale placements, just as Carol is
about to go on stage. Kathy feels rather smug about her detective work,
but it has done very little to impress Rod, who along with Carol's
father, maintains that he doesn't care who she is. He still wants to
hear her sing. The show goes on, and is a big success.
But all is not done yet. At a party celebrating Carol's success in the
musical, the pair are delivered letters from their respective colleges
letting them know that their placements have been re-instated due to
their excellent grades and the standout nature of their student
exchange farce. Rod has taken Kathy back, despite the fact that she is
a huge manipulative bitch, and while Neil finds Dorrie pretty, he isn't
sure they are on the same wavelength. Which of course leads him to turn
his attentions to Carol and bring us home for the uber happy fluffy
Disney ending!
This movie epitomises the feel of those awesome 80's Disney TV movies
that seem to be disappearing into obscurity with the death of the VHS
tape. It's definitely one of my favourites, and whenever I watch it, I
feel like a kid again. It's cheesy, but really fun and an easy watch.
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Year: 1987
