Good-looking but virginal "rockstar" teen Tommy tries to score with some of the local high school girls. But a classmate's mom decides to make a man out of him.Good-looking but virginal "rockstar" teen Tommy tries to score with some of the local high school girls. But a classmate's mom decides to make a man out of him.Good-looking but virginal "rockstar" teen Tommy tries to score with some of the local high school girls. But a classmate's mom decides to make a man out of him.
Deedee Downs
- Sylvine
- (as Dee Dee Downs)
Rosemary Alexander
- Lisa's Mother
- (as Rosemary Lovell)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe day before the film's premiere, it was reported that Joan Collins, Betty Thomas, Carrie Snodgress, and Lee Purcell had all taken legal action to get their names removed from the credits. Collins claimed that the film's advertising was misleading because she had only performed in a minor supporting role shot two years earlier, but a sex scene had been added afterward using a body double to cash in on her new celebrity status from the hit TV show Dynasty (1981). The other three performers claimed they had been under a false impression about the kind of film they were making. Collins' attorneys won a partial victory when a federal court ordered Jensen Farley Pictures to stop using ads that depicted Collins nude.
- Alternate versionsAfter the success of films such as My Tutor (1983) and Private Lessons (1981), and Joan Collins renewed popularity after her appearance in Dynasty (1981), this 1979 film was re-worked with additional scenes and a misleading advertising campaign. The new scenes featured an unconvincing nude double for Collins' in scenes of her character seducing a youth, and the film promoted as an older-woman seduction story. A billboard showing a concealed nude image of Collins greatly angered the actress.
- SoundtracksFriends and Faces
Performed by Renee Harris
Featured review
Schlocky teen "rite of passage" film
My review was written in August 1982 after a Times Square screening.
"Homework" is a very poorly-made sex comedy about a high school boy's problems in losing his virginity. Filmed circa 1979 with the alternate title "Growing Pains", picture predates Jensen Farley's hit pickup "Private Lessons", but offers exploitation possibilities as a followup release.
Evidencing plentiful post-production doctoring (mainly in the form of added nude scenes), "Homework" is truly a mixed bag, alternating dead-serious (bordering on pathos at times) depictions of the problems young teen Tommy (Michael Morgan) with poor-taste gags and softcore sex. Episodic screenplay also covers his pals' antics: Ralph (Lanny Horn) with a crush on the cute substitute French teacher (Lee Purcell); g.f. Sheila (Erin Donovan) obsessed with swim team practice and Lisa (Shell Kepler) hoping to use their vocal group The Flies as a stepping stone.
Plot payoff has Sheila's mom Diana (Joan Collins) lusting after young Tommy and finally introducing him to sex (with the aid of poorly matched double Joy Michael, who also portrays Diana at age 16 in several crudely inserted flashback scenes).
"Homework" ironically also strikes a blow against serious-minded efforts in the exploitation field. While out-and-out silly and frivolous teen pics are easy to watch (viz., the many American International and Crown International hits of the last two decades), this film's serious scenes clash with viewer's expectations and the rest of the package. It is dreary and tedious to see Tommy pouring his problems out to school psychologist Dr. Delingua (Carrie Snodgress) or traipse around the seamy Sunset Strip, forlorn amidst a barrage of sexual enticements. Instead of being funny, his bed scene of impotency with a hooker is distasteful. Documentary-trained lighting cameraman Paul Goldsmith stresses source lighting for a "realistic" look, which runs counter to the comedy and results in dim, ugly interiors.
Well-known adult cast plays second-fiddle to the kids, with Collins a steady trouper even when assigned to staring at a kid's jeans-clad crotch for a whole scene. Purcell is winning as the nervous teacher, though her role and that of the psychologist played by Snodgress are peripheral. Betty Thomas (later of "Hill St. Blues") has a ten-second bit part as rock star Wings Hauser's secretary. Biggest laughs of the film go to Mel ("Little Shop of Horrors") Welles and Beverly Todd, as doctor and clinic receptionist.
"Homework" is a very poorly-made sex comedy about a high school boy's problems in losing his virginity. Filmed circa 1979 with the alternate title "Growing Pains", picture predates Jensen Farley's hit pickup "Private Lessons", but offers exploitation possibilities as a followup release.
Evidencing plentiful post-production doctoring (mainly in the form of added nude scenes), "Homework" is truly a mixed bag, alternating dead-serious (bordering on pathos at times) depictions of the problems young teen Tommy (Michael Morgan) with poor-taste gags and softcore sex. Episodic screenplay also covers his pals' antics: Ralph (Lanny Horn) with a crush on the cute substitute French teacher (Lee Purcell); g.f. Sheila (Erin Donovan) obsessed with swim team practice and Lisa (Shell Kepler) hoping to use their vocal group The Flies as a stepping stone.
Plot payoff has Sheila's mom Diana (Joan Collins) lusting after young Tommy and finally introducing him to sex (with the aid of poorly matched double Joy Michael, who also portrays Diana at age 16 in several crudely inserted flashback scenes).
"Homework" ironically also strikes a blow against serious-minded efforts in the exploitation field. While out-and-out silly and frivolous teen pics are easy to watch (viz., the many American International and Crown International hits of the last two decades), this film's serious scenes clash with viewer's expectations and the rest of the package. It is dreary and tedious to see Tommy pouring his problems out to school psychologist Dr. Delingua (Carrie Snodgress) or traipse around the seamy Sunset Strip, forlorn amidst a barrage of sexual enticements. Instead of being funny, his bed scene of impotency with a hooker is distasteful. Documentary-trained lighting cameraman Paul Goldsmith stresses source lighting for a "realistic" look, which runs counter to the comedy and results in dim, ugly interiors.
Well-known adult cast plays second-fiddle to the kids, with Collins a steady trouper even when assigned to staring at a kid's jeans-clad crotch for a whole scene. Purcell is winning as the nervous teacher, though her role and that of the psychologist played by Snodgress are peripheral. Betty Thomas (later of "Hill St. Blues") has a ten-second bit part as rock star Wings Hauser's secretary. Biggest laughs of the film go to Mel ("Little Shop of Horrors") Welles and Beverly Todd, as doctor and clinic receptionist.
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- lor_
- Jan 19, 2023
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Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- Growing Pains
- Filming locations
- California, USA(Location)
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Gross US & Canada
- $2,914,328
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $1,366,535
- Aug 29, 1982
- Gross worldwide
- $2,914,328
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