Making the Grade (1984) Cannon Group/MGM

Written by Gene Quintano and Charles Gale, Directed by Dorian Walker, Produced by Menahem Golan and Yuri Globus.

Starring: Judd Nelson, Donna Lee, Scott McGinnis, Gordon Jump, Walter Olkewitz, Ronald Lacey, Andrew "Dice" Clay, Karey Scott, Dana Olsen

The bad boys of teensploitation films are back with an effort which is actually pretty decent. Judd is a poor, smart guy from the streets, running from his bookie Andrew. He literally runs into spoiled rich boy Scott, and together they come up with a plan to solve both their problems: Judd will be paid to attend the last private academy which will have Scott: the poor boy will get money and the rich boy will get the good grades.

Judd agrees, and attends with the guidance of Scott`s best friend, who advises him on how to behave as if he really had a monied background. Everything goes smoothly until our boy meets the Dean`s daughter, then all heck breaks loose!

Alas, when our poor pretender falls in love with this rich girl who has true class, he meets his ultimate challenge-he can create the illusion of charisma, but character is a stranger to him and his rich guide, so he is left to his own basic instincts for further guidance.

Hijinx ensue as the real rich guy comes for a visit to campus, followed by the bookie Diceman, who has finally bought a clue. In the end, at the elaborate graduation ceremony, our boy suddenly announces his fraud, and his open honesty impresses everyone, especially the girl of his dreams. Judd, who could never have pretended to have character and class before, has certainly demonstrated these highly desirable character traits during the course of this film!

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