Just One of the Guys (1985) is a romantic comedy that reimagines William Shakepeare’s Twelfth Night as an 80’s high school comedy. It was directed by Lisa Gottlieb. It is a time capsule of 80’s hair and fashion and famous for its Signature Scene.
High school senior Terry Griffith (Joyce Hyser) has a great life, but she aspires to be a journalist. When she can’t convince her high school journalism teacher to let her compete for a summer internship, she decides that she isn’t respected because she's a woman. With the help of her oversexed little brother Buddy (Billy Jayne), she goes to a different high school and enrolls as a male transfer student. She starts a friendship with Rick Morehouse (Clayton Rohner), finds herself the target of bully Greg Tolan (80’s go-to villain William Zabka), and attracts the unwanted interest of Sandy (a young Sherilyn Fenn).
Compare She's the Man, which reimagines Twelfth Night as a 2000s high school comedy.
This film exhibits the following tropes:
- Actor Allusion: A strangely circuitous one. Boy-Terry is compared to Ralph Macchio in-universe. The character of Greg Tolan (the film's villain) is portrayed by William Zabka, who was also the villain in The Karate Kid.
- Adults Are Useless: Given that this is a high school comedy, this is rather to be expected. There is no effective adult supervision in this world.
- Terry and Buddy's parents are on vacation for the entire film.
- The high school faculty and staff are remarkably absent. Greg Tolan tears up the lunch room seemingly every day and the few adults present look on helplessly.
- All Men Are Perverts: Little brother Buddy is obsessed with sex.Terry: “Sometimes I just wish I were a guy.”Buddy: “No, you don't. The male body needs sex at all times. It's a living hell.”
- Annoying Younger Sibling: Little brother Buddy is absolutely one, but he also has moments of kindness for his sister.
- Assumed Win: Big Jerk on Campus Greg smiles and straightens his collar before the prom king is announced. Surprisingly, he actually does win.
- Attractive Bent-Gender: Joyce Hyser is attractive as a woman and turns heads in the movie as her male counterpart, Terry. (Co-star Sherilyn Fenn has stated that she found boy-Terry “really cute.”)
- Bisexual Love Triangle: Terry, who gains unwanted attention from both Rick and Sandy while disguised as a boy.
- Class Princess: Deborah is Rick's Lust Object, the best-dressed and most popular girl in school, and is never seen being personally mean to anyone. While she does date Big Jerk on Campus Greg, she believes that he has Hidden Depths, sometimes tries to talk him out of bullying people and eventually dumps him after accepting that "You are an asshole." She's also the head of the prom committee and is pleasantly surprised when she's voted prom queen, in contrast to Greg's cocky but justified Assumed Win for prom king.
- Distracted by the Sexy: Female-on-male. Posing as a male, Terry has the chance to see men in the buff in the men’s locker room and likes (some of) what she sees.
- Even the Girls Want Her: Terry is so attractive as a boy in disguise that she even gains a female admirer in Sandy.
- Fanservice: The film opens with Terry lounging in her underwear, and then in a swimsuit. Later, Sandy takes off her top to reveal a camisole. Then there's the explicit scene at the end of the film where Terry flashes her breasts at Rick.
- Gag Penis: Terry puts socks in his trousers to create a cosmetic bulge. When Sandy tries to seduce Terry, she pulls the socks out of his pants. Rather than being offended, she says she's flattered.Sandy "It's okay. I mean, how small can it be?"
- Grass is Greener: Terry thinks that life will be easier as a male. She learns that it isn't as good as she expected.
- Gender-Bender Friendship: Terry befriends Rick while posing as a male.
- Gender-Blender Name: Terry, for both guys and girls. This helps Terry in her disguise.
- Girls Love Stuffed Animals: Terry has lots of dolls and stuffed animals, including a giant teddy bear, in her room.
- Guys are Slobs: Terry's visit to a men's locker room exposes her to the repulsive underside of masculinity.
- Happy-Ending Massage: Upset about his failure to have sex with anyone during his parents' long absence, Buddy contemplates visiting a place called "Massage Delight."
- I Have Brothers: Inverted when Terry (who is disguised as a boy) falsely claims to have sisters to explain how "he" knows a trick to fix an earring.
- Internal Reveal: Terry has to convince Rick that she's actually a she. She flashes him to convince him.Jill: "I swear, sixth grade is so bogus!"
- Jerk Jock: Greg Tolan (William Zabka, natch)
- Jerkass Has a Point: The journalism teacher who Terry thought was just being sexist was actually correct: her story on school lunch nutrition was really boring.
- Let Us Never Speak of This Again: When Denis agrees to pose as Terry's prom date, she conditions this on Terry never telling anyone.
- The Makeover: Terry decides that Rick needs a new outfit and a haircut.
- Mistaken for Gay: When boy-Terry kisses Rick and professes her love for Rick, he brushes it off as an unwanted gay overture.
- Modesty Bed Sheet: Buddy and Sandy are covered by sheets while having sex.
- No Bisexuals: When Rick thinks Terry is gay, Terry confesses that he is not gay despite planting a kiss on Rick earlier. Rick then says that now he is confused. Terry admits that she's not gay and that she is actually a woman but Rick doesn't believe her. Bisexuality isn't acknowledged even in 1980's high school.
- Not So Above It All: Linda finds Buddy's advances annoying, but when he asks if it would make a difference if he was hung like a bear, she admits that it might. Buddy then admits that he isn't, and that was a desperate shot in the dark.
- Porn Stash: Buddy, who's fifteen, has a massive collection of Playboy magazines. When his parents leave town, he decorates his bedroom with centerfolds.
- Pubescent Braces: Linda, a girl Terry's younger brother tries to seduce, has a pair of braces and is more focused on studying than responding to Buddy's advances.
- Pygmalion Plot: Terry decides that she can turn Rick into a popular student. She falls in love with him.
- Outfit-Rip Sex Check: Boy-Terry does this to herself in a self-reveal.
- Reptiles Are Abhorrent: The character billed as "Reptile" is constantly showing off his collection of lizards and amphibians. They are not well-received.
- Screw the Rules, I Make Them!: Played for Laughs. After Deborah and her ex-boyfriend Greg become prom queen and prom king, Deborah notes that traditionally, the two of them should dance together. However, as the head of the prom committee, she abolishes that tradition and quickly hurries away to dance with her date instead of Greg, to his frustration.
- Stealth Insult: Terry is given a rude "What're you looking at?" by Greg as she hands him a towel at the showers, to which she very thickly replies "Nothing".
- Sweet on Polly Oliver: Sandy finds boy-Terry much to her liking. Rick also finds himself conflicted by his feelings for Terry.
- Sweet Polly Oliver: Terry, disguising herself as a boy.
- Those Two Guys: The two Trekkies who get bullied a lot and claim to really be visitors from another planet.
- Throat-Slitting Gesture: As Rick's attempts to ask out a girl named Betty get more cringeworthy, Terry makes a throat-slitting gesture to urge him to abandon the conversation.
- Twelfth Night Adventure: There isn't a lot of William Shakespeare is the film, but it is a cross-dressing comedy.
- Unsettling Gender-Reveal: Rick is not amused when Terry flashes him.Rick: Wait a minute, are those what I think they are?Terry: I'm sorry.Rick: Where do you get off having tits?
- Wholesome Crossdresser: Terry.
- Wedgie: The Jerk Jock Greg Tolan is introduced giving another character one.
