Morgan Stewart's Coming Home

Most movie buffs know that when you see the credit "Directed by Alan Smithee," your odds are good that it's going to be an awful movie. Alan Smithee is a pseudonym used when the director, writer, etc. is so ashamed of their film that they have their name removed. It has become such a negative connotation that Hollywood has stopped using it. Most of the time, these films are pretty awful, Hellraiser: Bloodline, anyone? But sometimes, a pretty decent movie in the Smithee cannon squeeks by. Case in point, my next Jon Cryer film, Morgan Stewart's Coming Home.

Cryer plays Morgan Stewart, the son of a republican senator, Nicholas Pryor. Morgan has spent most of his teen years in boarding school because his mom, Lynn Redgrave, thinks his eccentric personality and love of horror films will hurt their image. But when his dad is up for re-election, they bring Morgan back home to help with the campaign. His mom and an uptight campaign manager, Paul Gleason, try to curb Morgan's wild side. But with the help of a new girlfriend, Viveka Davis, Morgan let's his freak flag fly.

Not in the same league as the John Hughes films of the era, but still pretty entertaining. Like he did in No Small Affair, Cryer makes what could have been a bratty character into someone you sympathize with. Pryor and Redgrave are really good too, especially Redgrave. The shrillness she brings to the character makes her someone you love to hate. Gleason, pretty much a staple in every 80's teen comedy, basically plays the same roles he played in The Breakfast Club and Johnny Be Good.

I'm not sure why the directors, Paul Aaron and Terry Winsor, took their name off the project. There were a lot of issues after the film wrapped. Originally titled Home Front, the film sat on the shelf for a couple of years before it was released. After Cryer found success with Pretty In Pink, the studio thought they could cash in on his fame. They also changed the title to Morgan Stewart's Coming Home. Since Ferris Bueller's Day Off was such a huge hit, the studio probably thought they could bring in the audiences with a similar sounding title.

Morgan Stewart is cute, little movie that should be checked out. It is available on dvd.