I'm not sure why but this song suddenly came to mind one day and I decided to search for it on Youtube. Very catchy song that was always played on 90.5FM which I enjoyed listening to. Pure 80s gold...



Apparently this song was from a 1987 movie called Mannequin, starring Andrew McCarthy and Kim Cattrall. According to the page on Wiki, the movie was a flop, but attained cult status later on. In fact, it is now considered a Hollywood success, grossing over $42 million! But what made the movie a flop in the first place? After watching the movie, I realized that the answer was because the story was plain crappy.

Synopsis from Wikipedia:

McCarthy plays Jonathan Switcher, a struggling artist who goes from one dead-end job to another. This all changes when a mannequin (Cattrall) he created for a department store window comes magically to life. The mannequin, "Emmy," was actually once Emahasure, a real-life princess from ancient Egypt. Her beauty and love inspire Switcher to become the best window dresser in town. Of course, there is intrigue involving a rival department store's attempt to drive the heroes out of business, and together the two star-crossed lovers must outwit the store's bumbling security guard, the rival store's scheming executives, and others intent on the store's demise.

The story has a subplot: in order to regain full status as a real life person, the mannequin must find true love.




To me, the crappiest scene in the entire movie has to be the first scene when Emmy is introduced as an Egyptian princess. How can I stomach an ancient Egyptian pair of royal mother and daughter bickering in modern, American-accented English?? I say, if I only heard the audio and blanked the screen I would think that that scene occured in the setting of a modern teenager's room! A totally unneccessary scene! Why did they have to try and justify where Emmy came from anyway?

But really, crappy it may be, even for a movie that is choke-full of stereotypical characters (the bumbling idiotic security guard, the effeminate and dramatic window-dresser, the evil jealous manager etc.) and silly situations, I must say that it was somewhat enchanting. In fact, once you get past that crappy first scene I just talked about, then you'll certainly enjoy what comes next. Maybe it's the likeable leads, or maybe it's that pure sense of nostalgia... Whatever it is, I can see why it gained a cult following after that.

Ahhh... the 80s...

Anyway, back to the 21st century - the-then teenage heartthrobs Andrew McCarthy and Kim Cattrall are already in their 40s and from the looks of it they are still going strong. Particularly Kim Cattrall who has starred as one of the sexy female leads Samantha Jones in Sex and the City. Anthony McCarthy hasn't fared too poorly too as he is one of the hunky male leads in the recent Lipstick Jungle, which was based on the novel of the same name written by the same writer of Sex and the City. What a coincidence, eh? Anyhow, I would say that both have aged pretty well, though more so for Cattrall than McCarthy actually. Still, both elude mature charms.

Andrew McCarthy (top) and Kim Cattrall (below) then and now...



Trivia - Andrew McCarthy is actually one of the original members of the Brat Pack of the 80s. This was a name coined by the media to describe a core group of young actors who would appear in more than one movie as a group of friends navigating through issues such as love, friendship, family and essentially those related to coming-of-age. Some of these movies, which also starred McCarthy, include the iconic Pretty in Pink and St Elmo's Fire. Another well-known one was Breakfast Club. Other notable members of the Brat Pack include Demi Moore and Rob Lowe.



She looks prettier now!