Up the Creek (1984 film)
Up the Creek is a 1984 comedy film directed by Robert Butler and starring Tim Matheson, Dan Monahan, Stephen Furst, Jeff East, Sandy Helberg, Blaine Novak, James B. Sikking, Jennifer Runyon, and John Hillerman. Plot summary. Bob McGraw, Max, Gonzer, and Irwin, students at Lepetomane University (known derisively by some as "Lobotomy U"), are volunteered to compete in a collegiate raft race. They are "recruited" by Dean Burch who uses records of McGraw's checkered past as a means of blackmail to get them to compete. He offers them degrees in the major of their  choice as additional incentive. "You have the distinct honor of being the four worst students in the entire country.", says Birch, "You're not AT the bottom of the list, you ARE the bottom of the list!" Their opponents include Ivy University, prep schoolers who, with the help of an Ivy alumnus named Dr. Roland Tozer, plan to cheat their way to the Winner's Circle. Their adversaries also include the Washington Military Institute, who are soon disqualified for their attempts to sabotage the other schools' rafts. Captain Braverman, the leader of the Military men, seeks revenge on McGraw for  hindering their attempts to sabotage the other rafts. Also entered is a team of attractive female students, one of whom ends up in a romantic situation with McGraw. Production notes. This film was filmed in Bend, Oregon. Writer Jim Kouf later said Robert Butler "was not a great comedy director, he missed a lot of jokes." Soundtrack. One song that was in the film but not on the soundtrack is "First Girl President" by Namrac. Reception. The "Los Angeles Times" wrote that the film was "not as consistently amusing" as "Police Academy" but was "rambunctious and raunchy enough to divert  undemanding audiences." "The Washington Post" called it "a moist smut movie" in which the best performance was given by the dog. "The New York Times" called it "a ridiculous ordeal, all right, but certainly not in the way the filmmakers intended." Gene Siskel of the "Chicago Tribune" however said the film was "a good time", where Matheson, Furst and Helberg "play their roles with the same whimsical naturalness that made Bill Murray a star. They don't push themselves upon us, and that allows us to identify with them in a relaxed way. The result is a very tight script  with breathing room. That's most unusual for a teen comedy, and that's why "Up the Creek" is one of the best."