The directing debut of Matthew Robbins, co-writer (with Hal Barwood) of Steven Spielberg’s The Sugarland Express, is a youth movie very much in the mould of American Graffiti(1973).
Mark Hamill, then fresh from the original Star Wars(1977), stars as Kenneth W. Dantley Jr – a high school student who spends most of his time fondling, stroking and polishing the love of his life: a customised Chevrolet Corvette that he lovingly restored for auto-shop class.
When the car is stolen, Kenny goes looking for it with the help of trainee prostitute Vanessa (Annie Potts), who lives in a psychedelic Dormobile.
Kenny also crosses paths with various uninteresting characters like a con man, a car thief, and a Vegas gambler. Partridge Family redhead Danny Bonaduce is in the mix as Kootz – one of the hero’s high-school pals – and it’s a sad commentary on the movie that his scenes are the most entertaining.
Sadly, Robbins’s directing career proved to be fairly undistinguished after this promising first feature.
Released in some markets as The Hot One.
Kenneth W. Dantley Jr
Mark Hamill Vanessa
Annie Potts Ed McGrath
Eugene Roche Principal Bacon
Richard McKenzie Wayne Lowry
Kim Milford Kootz
Danny Bonaduce Ricci
Albert Insinnia Mrs Dantley
Jane A. Johnston Plain Clothes Police Lecturer
William Bryant
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