Reviewed by Colin Jacobson (August 2, 2022)
Back in the 1960s, “beach movies” about wholesome youths who loved to surf and party by the shore seemed everywhere. 1987’s Back to the Beach tried to revive the genre, albeit with a winking 80s vibe.
Teen idols in the early 1960s, Frankie (Frankie Avalon) and Annette (Annette Funicello) got married, had kids, and settled in the conservative Midwest. Now he finds himself a stressed car salesman, while she does little more than shop and deal with rebellious adolescent son Bobby (Demian Slade).
When the family decides to visit Hawaii, they stop over in Southern California to see older daughter Sandi (Lori Laughlin). This leads Frankie and Annette to re-encounter reflections of their youth – and potentially regain some of the vigor they lost over the years.
That synopsis makes Back sound much more like Marriage Story than the light-hearted beach movies that inspired it. Of course, Back shoots for a fluffy tone the vast majority of the time, with only enough drama to bring us to the inevitable heartwarming conclusion.
No one should consider it as a spoiler to reveal that the return to SoCal will reinvigorate the Frankie/Annette relationship and make them happier than ever. I wrote this before I watched the movie, so it doesn’t feel like a spoiler if I figured it out without actually viewing the movie.
Indeed, nary a surprise occurs during Back, but the lack of surprises comes as no surprise – unless one considers the snarky 80s approach to the subject as a surprise, I suppose. Back exists as partial homage and partial parody, as all involved knew a take on the subject that opted for the earnest tone of the original films wouldn’t fly in the late 1980s.
For the most part, Back balances the homage/parody elements pretty well, even if its concept can confuse. Primarily, it seems odd that the movie essentially treats Frankie and Annette as the real Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello and not their movie characters.
I mean, Back relates that Frankie was a teen idol and Annette was a Mouseketeer! The film may not explicitly call them “Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello” – heck, technically it never refers to him by name beyond “Big Kahuna” – but for all intents and purposes, it views them as the real people, not characters.
Of course, we know Frankie and Annette never married, much less moved to the Midwest. Still, the decision to essentially make the characters Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello feels like a mistake, as it just seems odd that they go unrecognized by the public so much of the time. Even in 1987, both were still pretty famous.
That said, I recognize any attempts to seriously analyze a piece of light fluff like Back will become a mistake. Given the fantasy/satirical vibe of the movie, it never attempts a view of reality, so it probably seems best to just go with the flow.
If one does so, one will find a fairly breezy and engaging little flick, albeit one that shows diminishing returns as it runs. This occurs for two reasons.
For one, Back boasts a wafer-thin plot, and those elements become even less relevant as the movie proceeds. Whatever stabs at story we get in the first half largely evaporate along the way, and the essential absence of narrative makes the last act less engaging than I might like.
For another, the novelty of the premise erodes as we go, too. Back basically makes its bones off the satirical 80s update on 1960s teen beach movies as well as a parade of musical numbers and cameos.
The farther into the film we go, the more tedious these become, and that holds true especially for the cameos. A few of these go a long way, and they eventually feel like a crutch, as though the producers felt they needed those moments or they’d lose the audience.
It doesn’t help that some of the guest appearances feel random and out of nowhere. It makes sense to bring back other 1960s stars, but we wind up with a mind-bogglingly odd Pee-wee Herman musical number and also spots from “era-incompatible” folks like Stevie Ray Vaughan and a pre-murderer OJ Simpson.
Back restrains itself in terms of cameos somewhat during the first half, but later in the film, all bets are off and we find ourselves inundated. Less would’ve been more.
All these gripes aside, I must admit Back seems fun and breezy enough to maintain interest. It helps that Avalon and Funicello seem happy to be together again.
Annette offers by far the better performance of the two. Avalon overacts relentlessly and often seems to be in a different movie than the others, whereas Annette manages a nice balance between self-parody and actual character personality.
Avalon also sports one of the worst wigs ever seen on screen. Only legendary “surf guitarist” Dick Dale’s insane attempts to look like a member of Motley Crue diminish the awfulness of Frankie’s “hair”.
While Avalon feels too campy, he never seems completely out of touch, and again, his connection with Annette adds impact. The pair would never work together again, as Funicello’s Multiple Sclerosis sadly meant the essential end of her career around this time.
I can’t say that Back allowed Annette to go out on top, but she could’ve wound up in a much less flattering endeavor. Nothing about Back makes it a great film – or even a good one, objectively – but it offers enough goofy charm to generally work.
