O.C. and Stiggs (1985)

O.C. and Stiggs (USA, 1985) 109 min color DIR: Robert Altman. PROD: Robert Altman, Peter Newman. SCR: Donald Cantrell, Ted Mann. STY: Tod Carroll, Ted Mann. MUSIC: King Sunny Adé. DOP: Pierre Mignot. CAST: Daniel H. Jenkins, Neill Barry, Paul Dooley, Jane Curtin, Martin Mull, Dennis Hopper, Ray Walston, Jon Cryer, Cynthia Nixon, Nina van Pallandt, Robert Fortier. (MGM/UA)

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Most Altman fans detest this comedy, a rare film from his 1980s output that is not a stage play adaptation. This breezy, wonky romp was shot in 1983, copyrighted in 1985, and sat on the shelf before crawling out for marginal play dates in 1987. (It’s that kind of movie.) Copies of its inevitable home video release quickly went to the 99 cent rack. One cheeky local video store even displayed the video box behind the counter, with a sign stating it was the worst film in their store! Really? When in the early 2000s you’re still trying to push those dusty Cinema of Transgression tapes?

Loosely based on stories by Ted Mann and Tod Carroll for National Lampoon magazine, featuring two bratty teens named O.C. and Stiggs (Daniel H. Jenkins, Neill Barry), who are each other’s only friend, this was the filmmaker’s answer to the day’s teenage comedy genre. (It even features Jon Cryer before Pretty in Pink!) Seen again today, this has surpassed many of its dated contemporaries– it remains fresh, invigorating, and has more than a few belly laughs.

As these two explain their crazy story to a complete stranger on the phone, we witness their summer project of humiliating the upper crust Schwab family. One cannot accuse this picture of not having enough panache, as this screwball farce is crammed with subplots and ideas. Perhaps they don’t all work, but O.C. and Stiggs sure warms up to you. Altman typically fills the project with a huge ensemble- Tina Louise is the school nurse that Mr. Schwab (an obnoxious Houston used car dealer) is seeing on the sly, Melvin Van Peebles (of all people) is a wino, Martin Mull is a sleazy ad guy, and Jane Curtin is Mrs. Schwab (who sneaks a drink in any conceivable way, in spite of her husband’s “no alcohol” policy). Most daffy of all, Dennis Hopper is a Vietnam vet who helps the boys in their coup de grace to bring the Schwabs to their knees. Hopper’s first scene hilariously sends up his Apocalypse Now character, as he has a bunch of cameras strapped around his neck, while strains of “The End” play on the soundtrack! 

This picture is tough-going at first due to its difficult wraparound structure, but soon becomes as invigorating as any of Altman’s 1970s output, strung along with an infectious score by King Sunny Adé. It becomes some ride, from a hilarious wedding scene (somehow involving machine gun fire) where the boys make total idiots out of the Schwabs, to the wild finale in which the duo invites winos and drug addicts to the Schwab’s high rolling party, and then pursues the patriarch right down to his underground bomb shelter! 

Although today this stands above a lot of the dated teen comedies of its time, in hindsight, O.C. and Stiggs is also a hilariously sarcastic summary of the 1980s. The boys effortlessly get rich quick thanks to some off-the-cuff idea that Mull exploits (in that decade, everyone was an entrepreneur), and in true Orwellian fashion, Mr. Schwab (Paul Dooley) blindly follows the policies of the omnipresent governor-elect Hal Phillip Walker (also the omnipresent elect hopeful in Altman’s Nashville!). Whew. Even second-tier Altman can be so life affirming. O.C. and Stiggs is far better than its poor reputation. Give it a try (or even a second glance).

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Originally published in Vol. #1, Issue #8.