Crash Course
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| Crash Course (also known as Driving Academy) |
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 VHS cover of Crash Course |
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| Directed by | Oz Scott |
| Produced by | Maj Canton Irv Wilson |
| Written by | William A. Schwartz |
| Starring | Jackée Alyssa Milano Brian Bloom Harvey Korman Olivia d'Abo Tina Yothers Edie McClurg |
| Music by | Mark Davis |
| Cinematography | Bernd Heinl |
| Editing by | Duane Hartzell |
| Distributed by | NBC |
| Release date(s) | January 17, 1988 |
| Running time | 95 min. |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Allmovie profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
Crash Course (also known as Driving Academy) is a 1988 made for television teen film directed by Oz Scott.
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[edit] Plot
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The plot summary in this article or section is too long or detailed compared to the rest of the article. Please edit the article to focus on discussing the work rather than merely reiterating the plot. |
“Crash Course” centers on a group of high school students in a Driver’s Education class – many for the second or third time. The recently divorced teacher, super-passive Larry Pearl, is on thin ice with the football fanatic principal, Principal Paulson, who is being pressured by the district superintendent to raise Driver’s Ed. completion rates or lose his coveted football program. With this in mind, Principal Paulson and his assistant with a secret desire for his job, Abner Frasier, hire an outside Driver’s Ed. instructor with a very tough reputation, Edna Savage – or E.W. Savage – who quickly takes control of the class.
The plot focuses mostly on the students and their interaction with their teachers and each other – and their terrible driving. In the beginning, Riko is the loner with just a few friends, Chadley is the nerd with few friends who longs to be cool and also longs to be a part of Vanessa’s life – Vanessa being the young, attractive girl who had to fake her mother’s signature on her Driver’s Ed. permission slip. Kichi is the hip-hop Asian kid who often raps what he has to say and constantly flirts with Maria, the rich foreign girl who thinks that the right-of-way on the roadways always goes to (insert awesomely fake foreign Eastern European accent) “my father’s limo.” Finally you have stereotypical football meathead J.J., who needs to pass his English exam to keep his eligibility and constantly asks out and gets rejected by Alice, the tomboy whose father owns “Santini & Son” concrete company – Alice being the “son” her father wanted.
As the movie progresses, the students’ relationships with their teacher, each other and their driving abilities all begin to improve. Friendships are formed in and out of the classroom –All the while Abner, Acting Principal while Paulson is out of town, is spying on the entire bunch – teachers and students – and constantly calling the superintendent with the purpose of smearing the reputation of Principal Paulson in hopes of taking his job.
Just as things start to look up for the class in school and at home, an untimely accident involving Chadley, Vanessa and the Driver’s Ed. car brings the entire class closer together. Finally, each character – save for Abner, whose attempts to take over as principal are thwarted by the progression of all the characters and the timely return of Principal Paulson – reaches a point in their life where they seem happy with themselves, their relationships with their friends and their relationships with their parents.
[edit] Cast
[edit] Teens
- Riko Konner (played by Brian Bloom) is a teenager with a tough father. His parents fight a lot, because his mother is afraid of his father. Because of his bad relationships, he is a loner at school for the most part, but is friends with Kichi and forms a close friendship with Chad later on.
- Vanessa Crawford (played by Alyssa Milano) is a self-absorbed teenager who is annoyed by her overprotecting mother. She just wants to do stuff that every teenager does, but gets stopped by her mother every time. Vanessa wants to sign up for drivers education, but her mother thinks it is too dangerous. She is the new kid at school and is nice to everyone.
- Chadley Bennett IV (played by Rob Stone) is a straight A student who lives in an upper class family. He doesn't have a great relationship with his father, who wants him to be popular. He knows the answer of every question, but can't drive a car. He and Riko become close by the end of the movie.
- Maria Abeja (played by Olivia d'Abo) is an attractive and conceited French teenager who only cares about looks.
- Alice Santini (played by Tina Yothers) is a shy girl who looks like a tomboy. She focuses on her future career and turns down J.J. a lot of times, although she likes him. Her father wants her to be a truck driver.
- J.J. Maslanski (played by Nathan Dyer) is a stereotypical football player who eats a lot and has an eye for Alice. He flunks every test he takes.
- Kichi (played by B.D. Wong) is an Asian teenager who loves to flirt with women, likes to rap and listen to music. He is regarded as the comedian of the group.
[edit] Other
- Edna Savage (played by Jackée Harry) is a tough driving instructor.
- Larry Pearle (played by Charles Robinson) is an unsuccessful driving instructor.
- Abner Fraser (played by Harvey Korman) is an old man who wants to become the principal of the school.
- Principal Paulson (played by Ray Walston) is the school principal. He wants to fire Larry and introduces Edna. He's always worried about his popularity.
- Beth Crawford (played by Edie McClurg) is the overprotecting mother of Vanessa Crawford.
- Ed Konner (played by Dick Butkus) is the tough father of Riko. He has a bad relationship with his wife and wants his son to succeed in (business) life.
