Tony Danza

Catherine Hicks

Wallace Shawn

Dick O'Neill

Ami Dolenz

Laura Mooney

Derek McGrath

Dana Ashbrook

Matthew Perry

Lance Wilson-White

Michael Alaimo

Marcie Barkin

Diana Barrows

Jan Bina

Michael Bower

Mitch Braiman

Todd Bridges

Robert Casper

Les Collins

Dustin Diamond

Robert C. Eberz

Marc Gilpin

John Hendrickson

Kenneth Hoyt

Susan Isaacs

Brad Kesten

Mina Kolb

Rusdi Lane

Peter Linari

Aaron Mason

Tony Max

Jeff Maynard

Bess Meyer

Scott Morris

Oliver Muirhead

Max Murphy

Kate Murtagh

Matt McKenzie

Kevin O'Keefe

Ron Pace

Ria Pavia

Robbie Rist

Philip Arthur Ross

Steven Robert Ross

Gary Schwartz

Michael Shepard

Garret Smith

Scooter Stevens

Laura Summer

Brad Tanner

Dylan Tucker

Joshua Waggoner

Eric Walker

Kevin West

Terry Wills

Thomas R. Zak

Jim Ladd

Aurorah Allain

Lindsley Allen

Kerry Wall

Suzy Cote

Megan Gallivan

Will Jenkins

Morgan Lawley

Jimmy Locust

Jim Raposa

Gavin Ryan

Bj Korros

Dominick Brascia

Geoffrey Cascio

Tracey Flint

Bernadette Meehan-Cascio

Stan Rodarte

Scott Salter

Reynaldo Silva

Stan Dragoti

Michael J. Nathanson

Seth Winston

Alan Silvestri

Tim Sexton

Amanda Mackey

Marie France

Donald Peterman

William W. Wilson

John G. Wilson

Robert Kaufman

Wally Crowder

Thomas J. Mack

David Kelley

H. Bud Otto

Anna Zappia

Damian Ganczewski

Ronald G. Cogswell

Kenneth Schwarz

Dan Moore

Brian Callahan

Colby P. Bart

Maurizio Bizzarri

Jo Forman

Frank Griffin

Michael Hancock

Linda Trainoff

Stephen Robinette

Daniel Maltese

John Warnke

Clay Pinney

Tom Ryba

Rey Vincenty

James Lansbury

Bri Franchot

Paula Abdul

Christopher Rouse

Robert R. Rutledge

Stu Bernstein

Bob Newlan

Gary Mundheim

Jerry Stanford

Robert Waxman

Barry Rubinow

Michael Warner

Mark Ormandy

David B. Cohn

Thomas Whiting

Craig S. Jaeger

Gina Rutledge

Kenneth Karman

David Bifano

Gary Burritt

Art Tostado

David R. Ellis

Andy Gill

John C. Meier

Stephen Deutsch

Dov Hoenig

David L. Snyder

Joe Wood

Bruce A. Gibeson

Erik Cord

Comedy

Romance

She's Out of Control

Weintraub Entertainment Group

Columbia Pictures

United States of America

_**Laugh with it, don’t psychoanalyze it**_

A widower (Tony Danza) manages a radio station and takes care of his two girls. As he’s away on business, his girlfriend (Catherine Hicks) gives his nerdy 15 year-old daughter (Ami Dolenz) a makeover. When the dad returns home his daughter is no longer a girl, but a blossoming woman who’s attracting males left and right. Wallace Shawn plays a successful psychologist.

"She’s Out of Control" (1989) is a coming of age dramedy that pokes fun at several things: The loving father who’s overly concerned about his daughter’s honor, a girl’s discovery of her womanly powers, self-help authors who supposedly have everything figured out, and the challenging relationship between the daughter’s boyfriend and her father . 

The title isn’t “false advertising” because everything’s told from the perspective of the protagonist, which is Danza’s character. To HIM, she is out of control. Speaking of Danza, he has John Ritter’s likable charm and easily carries the movie. 

Dolenz was 18 during shooting and is serviceable as the title character, but she got better in such roles as she aged, as witnessed in “Pumpkinhead II: Blood Wings” (1993). The film would’ve been more successful if they casted a more iconic 80’s actress in the role (although I’m glad Molly Ringwald didn’t play the part, probably because she was too old by 1988 when the film was shot). On the other side of the gender spectrum, Dana Ashbrook stands out as rockin’ loner Joey.

The main reason I was interested in seeing this flick was because Siskel & Ebert tore it to pieces on their show. Gene even said he considered quitting his job because of it. Seriously? It’s a cute high school comedy focusing on a father’s amusing travails, not frickin’ “Gandhi.” Meanwhile, in Ebert’s review, he laughably psychoanalyzed the dad’s attitude toward his daughter as “perverse,” “sick” and “sexual.” Really? All movies exaggerate reality to some degree, especially farces like this one. ALL fathers of nubile daughters can relate to his situation to some degree, even though it’s amusingly EXAGGERATED.  

The movie runs 1 hour, 30 minutes, and was shot in the Los Angeles area (South Pasadena, Malibu, Huntington Park, Downey, Oxnard and Hollywood).

GRADE: B-