Plain Clothes

Plot synopsis:
Undercover cop Nick Dunbar's (Arliss Howard) brother Matt (Loren Dean) is accused of killing his teacher, Mr. Bradwood (Mack Harrell) at Adlai Stevenson High School. Nick loses his temper with Hechtor (Larry Pine), the detective in charge, and gets suspended. Nick's partner Ed (Seymour Cassel) pretends to be Nick's dad to enroll him as a student. Matt gives Nick pointers to get people to talk to him. Nick deals with bullies, girls with crushes on him, teachers and staff who range from quirky to bizarre, and a teacher, Robin Torrence (Suzy Amis), to whom he is attracted who thinks he is a teen. The turning point in his popularity (and therefore his ability to get information) happens in the classroom metaphor scene, in which E.E. Cummings' poem she being brand new, is used in its entirety. The character Renard (Michael Huguenor), who had a large part in the script but was mostly edited out of the film, makes his only appearance in this scene.
Along the way, Nick and Ed narrow the probable motives down to jealousy (Bradwood was trading grades for sex with Dawn-Marie Zeffer (Alexandra Powers), the girlfriend of Kyle Kerns (Peter Dobson), the leader of the bullies) or self-preservation (Bradwood was blackmailing some staff about running a real estate scam on the other teachers). Nick's identity is discovered by Jane Melway (Diane Ladd), one of the con artist's gang, and it all comes to a head at the Pagan May Fest (the school's mascots are the Pagans). Nick and Ed find out that they are probably on the wrong track - Chet Butler (George Wendt), one of the gang's members is missing and an emotional confession from Melway points to Butler as the murderer - not to stop the blackmail, but because Bradwood was engaged to Melway, with whom Butler used to have an affair and whom he still loves. Bradwood also found the love letters in which Butler claims to have killed Melway's husband.
Butler appears and implicates himself with words and actions. A chase ensues, ending with Nick being cornered finding the evidence that cements Butler's guilt. Nick is saved twice in quick succession, once by a schoolmate's opportune distraction, and once by an excellent shot of Ed's at the perfect time. Nick makes a date with Robin Torrence, who now knows he is an adult, and the real-estate scammers are arrested. Hector looks very foolish. Matt is released from jail and can't wait to get back to school.

Tags: murder

Review:
The first time I saw Plain Clothes was a coincidence.
Changing channels on a Saturday night and finding (and sticking with) this movie.
It is an eighties high school comedy with a funny little cross over to thriller.Watching B-movies is fun and I do it lots.
I have no high expectations and I don't pay a fee to go to the movies and end up wanting my money back.
Film makers are trying to be noticed among the hundreds of B-movies made every year by going over the top making their movie "special".
But people don't seem to understand that one can make a nice movie without having the greatest script or actors of all time, or the money to do Star Wars-like gimmicks.
To me Plain Clothes is a perfect B-movie.
A nice, simple story, nice actors, funny here and there and quite entertaining.
I have watched it now a couple of times and it is still fun!
With the cop entering the school as a "thug" (as his little brother calls him).
George ("NORM!!!") Wendt as the insane teacher/bad guy.
the Shawshank Redemption, Schindler's List, etc., but that doesn't mean that a movie that isn't in this category flunks.
Plain Clothes is, plain and simple, a nice, ok movie.
Average, may be, but fun average and that is more than I can say of zillions of movies (starring "stars" like Pamela Anderson or Arnold Schwarzenegger)..
A light-hearted and completely enjoyable movie.
The constant flow of jokes and double entendres in the background make this a movie to enjoy again and again.
Some of the acting was a little soft but did little to take away from the fun.
Worth the time to watch and if you ever see it at your local video store - buy it.
Seeing George Wendt and Robert Stack hamming it up is a treat for those of us who watched these actors growing up.
The sexual situations were light and harmless and the violence was low-key.
Still not sure if this would qualify as a teen movie, crime drama, love story or something else.
This a movie that stuck with me, with the odd line of dialogue, or the iconographic facial expression popping into my head unsolicited for years later.
The humour is constant, but understated; the acting was all well-done, and the plot carried itself.
The viewer sees Nick start off clumsily, and practically cheers when he starts to be affected by the kids he's never got along with as he starts to understand them.Nick looks more developed than the bullies who try to intimidate him, but he always carries himself with a casually awkward air that could fit right in with a group of teens.
His and Ms. Torrence's attraction to one another is carefully done - believable, but not overwhelming, so you forgive other characters missing it.It is not easy playing a 'quirky' character in a movie like this.
The cast had to walk a line, never going so far that the movie became slapstick (the script would not have supported that), and did an excellent job.
And Abe Vigoda, with that fantastic face - looks like a basset hound when serious, like a game show host when smiling!
Seymour Cassel, Robert Stack, George Wendt, Suzy Amis, and Jackie Gayle all showed great comedic delivery.
Often such things are better implied than shown, and although there was some (it IS a murder mystery, and there are romantic entanglements to deal with), it was appropriate.
The music, montages, costuming and settings were all make for a believable a late-80s high school, although the dialogue was overblown for comedic effect.There was a slight glitch in the characterization when it is at first implied Nick (like his brother) has a hair-trigger temper, and then spends most of the more tense, humiliating scenes acting like he has (more than) adult control.
The clues dropped for the mystery are often disguised as humour; I do not think the audience will have an "Aha!" moment like Nick apparently does, but it worked well in this context.More than one fan has said they want this on DVD - well, me, too!
_Plain Clothes_ on digital!
(And, as an aside, what a useless title: when I tried to find this movie, the title was the thing I never remembered about it.)All said, a fun, light-hearted movie, full of human nature, nostalgia, and quotable lines..
This is one of those films that I watched on a Saturday afternoon when there was nothing else on, & man, am I glad I did.Arliss Howard plays a young detective who must go undercover at a high school in order to clear his younger brother of a murder accusation.
The movie is punctuated by its quirky sense of humour (look for the quick visual gag "Free at Last!" in Robert Stack's office!!) & a refusal to take itself seriously.
Adding to the charm of this are excellent performances by Robert Stack, Suzy Amis, Diane Ladd, George Wendt, Seymour Cassel, Reginald VelJohnson, & a howlingly deadpan performance by the great Abe Vigoda!This film will never win any awards, but the cast are solid & the script is funny.
It's a tad more grown-up & far less preachy than most of the '80s pap that garnered all the attention, & if anyone's looking for a good popcorn-muncher that'll give a few good laughs, try this one on for size..
A sweet little film that's fun to watch.
He is assisted by fine veteran actors who look as if they are having a whale of a good time.
A great, mildly funny obscure 80s comedy for us mildly amusing obscure 80s fans..
'Plain Clothes' is not great comedy, though it does, at least subtly, attempt stupid humor (such as the running gags with the school announcements and the Springsteen jokes).
And, as a b-comedy with a relatively unknown cast leading with Arliss Howard and Seymour Cassell (who is great, but doesn't often act in the mainstream circuit), this may be one obscure 80s comedy that could only really be best enjoyed by us fans of obscure 80s movies.
Familiar, name-escaping faces, a different story, high school in the 80s, it just might have what you're looking for.Plain Clothes is the story of a babyface young cop (Arliss Howard) who's younger brother is prime suspect in a teacher's unusual murder at his high school.
Convinced that his brother is telling the truth when he claims to be innocent, the cop goes undercover as a high school student to investigate.
You have your typical 80s teen movie elements, since this does take place in a high school and our main character does pose as one of the more interesting students.
Love triangles and social scuffles mixed with the suspense/action of the cop story angle.
It does quite a bit of shifting and does, as another viewer commented, culminate in a rather confusing climax.For this bit of narrative game playing and mild comedy treatment, this movie is perfect for just a certain kind of audience (if you love obscure b-80s movies) and a certain kind of day (lazy weekend noons are probably best).
By the way, Max Perlich fans should not miss him in his trademark leather jacket and buzz cut when he shows up (briefly) as Carter, one of the kids who befriends the undercover cop..
Arliss Howard (looking at home) stars in this enjoyably offbeat mystery comedy, which he plays a cop who goes undercover at his brother's high school when he's accused of stabbing a teacher.
Because how young he looks no one believes he's a cop, so why not go back to school to figure who committed the murder and helping is his partner (a terrific Seymour Cassel) who pretends to be his father.
But there's no escaping the daily grind of high school.Kind of surprised this is not more well known, bestowing an excellent ensemble cast (George Wendt, Diana Ladd, Suzy Amis, Larry Pine and Robert Stack) giving decent performances by presenting an odd assortment of characters and sharing great chemistry (especially Howard and Cassel).
The story moves between trying to connect the dots throwing out possible leads and red herrings (in predictably daft way), while also adjusting to school life.
These are the usual things (bullying, popularity and crushes), but it remains charming, authentically atmospheric and lightly humorous.
There's a certain mock seriousness attitude abound and there's neat running gag involving amusing quips over the school PA system and a memorable little poetry reading to explain the word metaphor.
It has snappy energy and frequent humour, while low-key it does balance out nicely against its murder mystery angle.Pleasing under-the-radar late 80s comedy..
i love this movie!yes some corny-ness,nothing major,,,no major stars,,,but cast has energy to make this a great 80's teen movie.george wendt,robert stack,harry shearer,,abe vigoda....very charming movie,..
Back to school.
Undercover cop Arliss Howard is used to Plain Clothes assignments, but usually those are indeed assigned.
He goes undercover on his own to find out the murderer of one of the high school faculty.
The victim falls dead in his classroom and the cops have arrested student Loren Dean for the murderer.
But Dean is Howard's brother and Howard starts his own investigation by going back to high school where he becomes popular when he accidentally punches out Principal Robert Stack.
There's a treasure trove of suspects among the faculty which includes Diane Ladd, Abe Vigoda, George Wendt, and Suzy Amis.
The students also have suspects such as school bully Peter Dobson.
Plain Clothes will yield a few laughs for most moviegoers.
The climax which was staged at a carnival seems to have been borrowed in part from Some Came Running and Abbott&Costello Go To Hollywood.I'll let you watch and see who the real murderer is and which film you think inspired the final chase scene..
I wouldn't give this movie an overall good mark, but I think in its niche it well deserves its average.
To be an eighties movie it contains enough for the younger viewer to enjoy.
I quite liked the small poetry incorporated.
Underrated 80s highschool movie.
"Plain clothes" is an overlooked 80s flick.
Nick Dunbar (Arles Howard (who reminds me of Allen Covert)) is a young 24 year old cop who's partner is Seymour Castle in a funny role himself.
Nick constantly is given undercover assigments working around kids.
"I hate kids!" Nick complains to his captain.
"It is g****mn unAmerican to hate kids!" his captain yells back.
"But kids and I never got along!" Dunbar replies.
Deal with it!" That's exactly what Nick does.
Then, Nick finds out how his brother Matt Dunbar is accused of stabbing and killing one of his teachers, Mr. Bradwood.
Nick knows his brother is innocent but he doesn't have enough proof.
His next assignment: to go undercover to highschool posing as a highschool student.
Nick goes to school posing as a student to look for more clues to try and prove his brother's innocence.
When in school, he encounters the usual highschool cliques.
Since he can't go with his last name Dunbar, or people will know he's Matt Dundar's brother.
He goes under the name Nick Springstien.
The bully Kyle Kerns is just another typical 80s highschool movie bully, just like in "Karate kid", " Just one of the guys", "Teen wolf", " The heavenly kid", " Like father, like son", etc.
Nick must talk to these kids to try and find out what he can about exactly what happened the day Mr. Bradwood was killed.
But getting straight answers from these highschool kids isn't easy because they just wanna act like, well highschool kids.
And Nick cannot ask anything too directly so no one finds out he's a cop.
Nick encounters several teachers too.
Suzy Amis as the young attractive English teacher, who kinda likes Nick's mature persona (such as Nick's metaphor in class) little knowing it's real.
Robert Stack as the principal, who we see in a humorous "visit to the principal's office" scene after Nick accidentally chucks him in the chin thinking he was one of Kyle's bully friends coming up behind him during a confrontation with Kyle.
I didn't know principals were still using the paddle in the late 80s.
Then there's Abe Vigoda who's an old teacher who's constantly walking down the hallway with notes (such as 'party naked') on his back, and is impressed with Nick being polite since none of the other kids are.
Then there's George Wendt as the shop teacher/school counsler who needs Nick to help finish his sentences while talking to Nick.
And at least one of these people has some darker secrets about them, but I won't say who just in case anyone reading this review has not seen the movie yet.
Oh, and listen to some of the funny comments made during the principal's constant ramblings over the school intercom..
Fantastically mystery comedy with the greatest actress in the world, Alexandra Powers..
Great Quirky Mystery-Comedy, a sleeper!.
"Plain Clothes" is a great quirky mystery-comedy.
Fans of the flick frequently lobby for a DVD release.Arliss Howard is perfect as Nick Dunbar, a 'young-looking' undercover detective who must go 'plain clothes' into an odd high school to find evidence to clear his brother on a murder rap.
Turns out the staff at this school are all a bit wacky and include the likes of George Wendt, Dianne Ladd, Abe Vigoda, Harry Shearer and Robert Stack (over a live PA system: "Is this thing on?
No shortage of suspects.Add to this: Nick doesn't like teens or kids - never did - never was one himself, apparently!
And watch for a hilarious scene in which Nick decides to convince everyone that he's for real by presenting his 'metaphor' homework.
The movie it self is kind of comfusing...but....
It has some very funny lines..and he isnt that bad too look at either...i think it was a 4 out of 10 ever all..
but i probable would watch it agin...I was just a little confused because i didnt watch it from the beginnign...so you really do have to watch the whole thing to underastand it...but it was good...no rotten apples here.!!!lol...ok..i have to have ten lines so...ill...talk...about ....somethin.....else....lol......
Not a bad movie but not a good one either.
It's one of those 80's movies you have to a least see once in your lifetime.Arliss Howard as Nick Dunbar: The 34yr old playing a 24yr undercover cop playing an 18yr.
While Howard was somewhat young enough to somewhat get away with it, I still felt he was miscast somewhat.
In some scenes he kinda fit in but in others, you could tell his age and it was more embarrassing than funny.
But still, he did an earnest performance.Suzy Amis as Robin Torrence: Now she I believed did a great job and was quite believable as the young teacher smitten by the Nick Dunbar character.
She really looked quite nice in this type of role.George Wendt as Chet Butler: Poor Wendt, he at 1st came on quite nicely as a somewhat loony teacher but by the end it was quite ridiculous for me to accept him as a invincible, crazy killer who even shoots dogs!
I quite expected him to just have a heart-attack with all that running around after Howard's Dunbar.
Complete miscast here.Diane Ladd as Jane Melway: Now she was quite believable in her role.
(At 1st I thought she was Dee Wallace!) Ladd did a great job in her little role.Seymour Cassel as Ed Malmburg: Was OK at best.
Playing Dunbar's partner and role-playing as the dad was OK.
I wish Collidge would have had a little more interplay with Cassel and Howard doing the "father & son" thing.
There could have been some more potential comedy there.Abe Vigoda as Mr. Wiseman: Was a complete miscast.
What a shame to have the late Vigoda in a thankless role in which all he had to do was walk around oblivious to the fact fact that everyday some student was putting a different note pinned to his back and he of course would not notice and walk around all day like a idiot.
Why would Vigoda take such a thankless role is beyond me.Robert Stack as Mr. Gardner: Stack as the principle was OK at best but still a misfire and not funny at all.
While it;s always great to see the late great Stack in a role out of the Untouchable mold, he just is too intense for a comedy and to me was just miscast in a throwaway role like Vigoda.Alexandra Powers as Dawn-Marie Zeffer: The beautiful Powers was very well cast as the cheerleader type.
Her little scene where she is trying to seduce Howard's Dunbar was really good.
I could see Howard having a hard time resisting this sexy little charmer but he had to have it under control for a lot of reasons.
I like at the end when she realizes he's a cop and she is still like saying in a devilish sexy way, "So, how old are you anyways?" What a shame this very cute actress gave up acting.
I wonder what she is doing now...Peter Dobson as Kyle Kerns: Great casting here.
Dobson as a bully on Dunbar's case was right on.
Very believable and a good job done by Dobson.Harry Shearer as Simon Feck: Complete miscast here for the great Shearer.
Just like Vigoda, a throw-away role that any extra could have done.
Don't understand why these greats would take such meaningless bit role role that are just basically cameos.Reginald VelJohnson as Captain Graff: Another meaningless cameo bit in which VelJohnson was just wasted.
A thankless throwaway role also.Max Perlich as Carter: Great casting here.
A very believable Perlich as a fellow student who befriends Dunbar.
Good job by Perlich.All in all, Coolidge has done better (Valley Girl) but OK in some respect.
Great ending song, "YOU CAN COUNT ON ME",written and performed by Billy Sherwood.