My name is Chester. I'm great, I'm wonderful, everybody likes me!
Ladybugs has all the markings of a cheesy 1990s movie – awful floral dresses and shoulder pads run amuck and the soundtrack is delightfully tacky. There’s a cute teen boy with a mischievous grin trying to impress the girl he likes and cliched objectifications of women. And Rodney Dangerfield. And his lack of respect, obviously.
The late Rodney Dangerfield (Caddyshack) plays Chester Lee, salesman for Mullen Industries. He intends to gain a promotion in the company in order to marry his fiancée Bess and become a father to her sullen teenager Matthew, played by the late Jonathan Brandis. However, through a series of lies and ass-kissing, he becomes coach of the Ladybugs, a losing female soccer team Mullen Industries sponsors. Desperate, he turns to JV soccer star Matthew and convinces him to dress like a girl in order to play with and ultimately lead the team to victory. Matthew, seeing a chance to get to know Kimberly, Ladybug and Mr. Mullen’s daughter to boot, finds this deal mutually beneficial and reluctantly agrees. Close calls, misunderstandings and B-movie humor ensues.
Dangerfield plays the same character he plays in about every film I’ve seen him in – a guy who bounces around a lot, cracks odd one-liners and generally looks uncomfortable. There is no real emotional connection to anyone in the film, as everyone is so over-the-top and clichéd, but it can be amusing if you appreciate it for what it is. Watching Ladybugs again, I know exactly why I enjoyed it back in the day – Jonathan Brandis is adorable and reminds me of a cross between Jonathan Jackson and Devon Sawa, two other 90s-era crush-worthy stars.
I dressed her son up like a girl, and invited him to play with me.
Pre-teen crushes aside, this film and the way it plays out confuses me. The plot and acting are appropriate for a younger teen to enjoy, as I remember doing several years ago. However, for such an innocent plot, there is quite a lot of cussing done by the kids and thinly veiled sexual references made by Dangerfield (something that no one should ever have to hear). In general, neither of these issues bother me, but they seemed really out of character for the audience they’re trying to attract. Plus, I guess 1992 was a different era – several of the comments Chester makes to the young girls on the team couldn’t be said now without people finding it creepy. However, perhaps that’s just part of Dangerfield’s odd charm. The funniest moment for me is at the end of the film – unlike most movies, no one seems to have gained any new morals or standards; no one has learned anything from their mistakes.
Presented in a 1080P high def 16X9 widescreen (1.85) format, the Ladybugs transfer does pretty well. The brighter colors – especially the team uniforms – are incredibly vivid. The darker browns and blacks have a bit of grainy quality to them, but nothing awful. However, it's a shoot and a miss with a 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio track. I found myself messing with the volume quite a bit during the film – dialogue is crystal clear at some points and muddled at others.
Ladybugs comes as a single disc Blu-ray with no special features.
At the end of the day, I think most people would agree that Ladybugs is not fantastic film. There’s nothing truly iconic about it. However, it’s always nice to see Rodney Dangerfield, recall his comedic style and to wax nostalgic about the good ol’ days of playing soccer with my girlfriends and gossiping about cute boys. It’s worth a rental, at least – if you’re a Dangerfield fan, might as well add this to your collection.
ComicsOnline gives Ladybugs 3 out of 5 hot chicks with shoulder pads.
Buy Ladybugs on Blu-ray at Amazon now!
Keep coming back to ComicsOnline for more Blu-ray reviews and everything geek pop culture!
