This movie is everything I love about the 80s, and everything I love about the movies…straight to the favs! Judd Nelson’s performance here should’ve been talked about more, but I guess The Breakfast Club came out only a few weeks later and history chose its favourite child. Also the fact that this barely got a release with Warner Bros AND Spielberg backing it is nuts. NUTS. Welp, justice be served because it’s never too late: Pls watch this movie! You won’t regret it! Kevin Reynold’s deserves more flowers for this debut! Judd Nelson and Kevin Costner are so great! The soundtrack is so groovy! The 70s are so unapologetic! God bless tubi, and happy holidays!
“Fandango” is the kind of film that hits so many of my sweet spots that I can't help but love it, despite its modest aspirations. As a coming-of-age road trip dramedy, it captures the essence of a generation grappling with uncertainty. Part of this generation of young people is about to be lost in the Vietnam War, but they are not going to transition into adulthood quietly without one last foolish hurrah.“There's nothing wrong with going nowhere, son. It's a privilege of youth.”Having painted that melancholy backdrop for you, “Fandango” adopts a light tone and celebrates the joys of youth at every opportunity. This group of kids is determined to create lasting memories. Having never been a carefree person, I am always on board to live vicariously through movies where kids know how to suck the marrow out of life by acting a fool. The movie features a cast of up-and-coming actors who would later achieve greater fame and recognition. Kevin Costner really pops as a young firecracker with a lot of zest for life and love. Two of the friends are drafted into the Vietnam War, while one is on the brink of marriage. This group of friends may never reunite, and if they do, they will have transformed in ways they can’t yet imagine.This premise is nothing we haven't seen before, but that doesn't make the experience less pleasurable or the emotion less authentic. To be fair to the script, the adolescent antics escalate in ways I didn't expect, and any story that takes surprising turns earns my respect. As goofy as the skydiving sequence may be, it comes out of nowhere, and the stoner pilot they meet is a colorful and memorable character. The plane stunts are impressive.I found the quest for Dom's grave to be quite predictable, and the thought of drinking hot champagne makes me shudder. However, it's exactly the kind of dumb idea a group of teenagers might consider profound—burying a bottle of booze with the promise of returning to that spot later.“(Costner) You ever been in love, Philip?I don't know.(Costner) Of course you know. You ever thought you loved a woman, you loved her. That's all love is, mostly - thoughts.”Most of the dark comedy scenes are quite memorable and shot with a sense of poetry. The moments of shooting fireworks at each other in the cemetery, attempting to get a freight train to pull their car, and scamming the local population for wedding supplies were all pure joy, heightened in emotion by tasteful needledrops.These antics are never mean-spirited. It’s comforting to see echoes of other hangout films, like “Breaking Away”, while the underlying threat of the Vietnam War adds a layer of emotional depth that feels haunting. It's a hurrah, but it's also the last one. “Fandango” is a movie worth seeking out for fans of coming-of-age and road-trip films. While the notes it plays may be familiar, the instruments are always in tune. Kevin Costner is lightning in a bottle as a more lighthearted character, before he began taking on more serious roles, often portraying messianic figures in many of his post-“Dances with Wolves” films.Plus, the film boasts a fantastic soundtrack, a crucial element for any road trip movie worth its salt. My personal favorite is a rendition of “Spooky” by Classics IV, though Dusty Springfield’s version is more well-known. That song evokes a bittersweet feeling that perfectly complements a nighttime scene in the film.
