Platicsco Good story, Not enough for a whole film

JinRoz For all the hype it got I was expecting a lot more!

Bea Swanson This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

Rosie Searle It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

Michael Ledo Tommy Boyd (Betsy Russell) is an unconvincing tomboy who is carefully edited. She is also a grease monkey minus any grease or dirt and always has a nice clean manicure as most auto-mechanics and welders. She was a wild friend Seville (Kristi Somers) who will do anything to endear herself to the motion picture industry. Tommy idolizes local race driver Randy Starr (Gerard Christopher) but wants his respect too which she can gain by racing cars.On the surface, this is a lousy film. Betsy Russell gets an "F" attempting to play a mechanic. This film is available in at least two different 50 DVD collections of "B" movies and '80's films. What makes this film a hit is the classic 80's nude scenes provided by both Betsy Russell and Kristi Somers. If not for Phobe Cates, this would certainly be some of the best of 80's boy fantasy.8 stars for the nudity.Guide: F-word, sex, nudity (Betsy Russell, Kristi Somers, Rory Barish, Cynthia Ann Thompson, Michelle Bauer..no surprise...in fact she just drives onto the set, flashes and drives off.)

Leofwine_draca Boy, Crown International Pictures have done it again. That is, churned out yet another entirely forgettable teen comedy, with sex and gratuitous nude scenes to draw in the crowds. TOMBOY is a pitifully-written '80s high school comedy about the titular character, a tomboy who dreams of winning over the hunk of her dreams. Will she manage it? Does anybody care? It took me a while to realise that the lead actress, Betsy Russell, is better known for playing Jigsaw's wife in the SAW franchise. She's COMPLETELY unrecognisable here which shows how much work she must have had done. Still, Russell is a pretty poor actress, failing to invest her character with any moments of sympathy, and the rest of the cast are no better. The humour is so lightweight that it's easy to miss it, and the racing scenes and stuff are all predictable and have been done better elsewhere. TOMBOY really is a film to miss.Trivia fans take note: director Herb Freed is better known for helming the early '80s slasher GRADUATION DAY, which is considerably better than this film!

Scott LeBrun And how can you not love that cheesy, peppy, oh-so-80s pop theme song? This irresistible female-empowerment exploitation comedy stars the adorable, sexy as hell Ms. Russell as Tomasina "Tommy" Boyd, a young lady who'd much rather tinker with cars and play sports than do so-called "girly" things. She worships studly race car driver Randy Starr (Gerard Christopher), whom she is able to meet through Ernie Leeds, Jr. (Eric Douglas), a filthy rich auto racing entrepreneur. When the confident Randy isn't able to take her seriously, she sets out to prove that anything he can do, she can do just as well, if not better."Tomboy" creates some pretty good vibes for a pleasant 91 minutes. There's enough laughs and titillation to make it quite watchable. A big part of the appeal is Russell, one of the iconic 80s hotties who'd also made her mark in movies like "Private School", "Avenging Angel", and "Cheerleader Camp", and who's recently made a comeback in some of the "Saw" sequels. The movie itself is silly and clumsy at times, but ultimately upbeat entertainment. Voyeurs will be pleased with the amount of breast shots on display, and can take delight in a goofy, erotic commercial performed by Tommy's friend Seville (Kristi Somers, "Hell Comes to Frogtown"). The soundtrack provides tons of cheesy goodness.The direction by Herb Freed, who'd previously done the horror pictures "Haunts", "Beyond Evil", and "Graduation Day", may not be inspired but it gets the job done, as do the performances by an engaging cast. Veteran Richard Erdman is likable as Chester, Tommy's boss and pal; Douglas, son of Kirk and brother to Michael, is effectively smarmy as the rich jerk. Fans of 80s movies will note the appearances by such people as Cynthia Thompson (the female lead in "Cavegirl", Dennis Hayden (one of the terrorists in "Die Hard"), and trash flick favourite Michelle Bauer, in an uncredited bit.This kind of thing may not be Shakespeare, but it sure hits the spot for people just looking to have a good time.Seven out of 10.

Woodyanders Lovely, perky, curly-haired and highly appealing brunette 80's flash-in-the-pan B-movie starlet Betsy ("Out of Control," "Cheerleader Camp") Russell gives a winningly spunky performance as Tomasina "Tommy" Boyd, a scrappy, willful, fiercely self-reliant spitfire hoyden automobile mechanic with a humongous crush on cocky race car driving dreamboat hunk Randy Starr (handsome, dashing Gerald Christopher). Egged on by her flighty, opportunistic aspiring actress gal pal Seville Ritz (leggy, luscious blonde looker Kristi Somers), Tommy meets Randy at a jerky rich kid's (Kirk Douglas' obnoxious youngest son Eric in an unbearably grating thespic turn) posh night party and, of course, the two fall a** over teakettle for each other. The only problem is that male chauvinist Randy won't take Tommy seriously because she's a chick, so naturally the take no guff Tommy dares Randy to a high stakes souped-up auto race to win over his respect.Passably directed by seasoned trash exploitation feature hack Herb Freed (who also graced us with the grim, unsettling, arrestingly off-kilter psychological horror sleeper "Haunts" and the atrocious teen body count slasher tripe "Graduation Day") and scripted in strictly off-the-peg adolescent comedy-drama formula fashion by Ben Zelig, this typically tacky and immaterial Crown International Pictures drive-in fluff covers all the necessary junky bases to qualify as a pleasingly silly serving of pure nonsense: a sizable number of nice-looking busty babes take their shirts off at regular 15 minute intervals (besides Russell and Somers, we also have "Cavegirl" 's eminently adorable Cynthia Ann Thompson as a frequently bare-breasted bimbo and cheesy horror scream queen Michelle Bauer in a ridiculous uncredited bit part as a topless tootsie in a flashy white Corvette), a heavy-handed "you go girl!" stand-up-for-yourself feminist subtext, a generous smattering of witless lowbrow humor (Ritz's audition for a TV commercial is a racy hoot!), the best cornball motorcycle courtship scene since "Viva Kneivel!," cheap gay jokes, stupidly vulgar dialogue ("Good night, little *beep*!"), a horrible soundtrack full of generic, mechanically bouncy Top 40 hit tune soundalike songs (the incredibly awful theme number boasts the following immortal couplet: "She's a road runner/She's a tail gunner!"), an unforgettably hideous folks in tight, clingy leotards thrusting their pelvises to and fro to crappy disco music get down and boogie aerobic workout sequence ala "Flashdance," and an utterly predictable grand finale all-or-nothing climactic car race. What's not to like about this charmingly shoddy 80's schlock artifact?