Comedy

Romance

She's Out of Control

Weintraub Entertainment Group

Columbia Pictures

United States of America

English

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

Donald Peterman

John G. Wilson

Alan Silvestri

Amanda Mackey

Tim Sexton

Marie France

William W. Wilson

Robert Kaufman

Wally Crowder

Dan Moore

Colby P. Bart

Christopher Rouse

Bob Newlan

Mark Ormandy

David B. Cohn

James Lansbury

David Kelley

Daniel Maltese

Bri Franchot

Paula Abdul

Kenneth Karman

Michael Hancock

Kenneth Schwarz

Brian Callahan

Jerry Stanford

Thomas Whiting

Art Tostado

H. Bud Otto

Damian Ganczewski

Ronald G. Cogswell

Michael Warner

David Bifano

Gary Burritt

Clay Pinney

Stu Bernstein

Anna Zappia

Jo Forman

Craig S. Jaeger

Thomas J. Mack

Maurizio Bizzarri

Linda Trainoff

Rey Vincenty

Gary Mundheim

Gina Rutledge

John Warnke

Barry Rubinow

Frank Griffin

Stephen Robinette

Tom Ryba

Robert R. Rutledge

Robert Waxman

David R. Ellis

Andy Gill

John C. Meier

Joe Wood

Bruce A. Gibeson

Stephen Deutsch

Dov Hoenig

David L. Snyder

Erik Cord

_**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-

Best Movies

She's Out of Control

Cast & Crew

Videos

Cast

Tony Danza

Catherine Hicks

Wallace Shawn

Dick O'Neill

Ami Dolenz

Laura Mooney

Derek McGrath

Dana Ashbrook

Matthew Perry

Lance Wilson-White

Box office

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