Director – Ken Kwapis (Eerie, Indiana, Freaks and Geeks)
Starring – Cyndi Lauper (The Goonies, Off and Running), Jeff Goldblum (The Fly, Jurassic Park), and Peter Falk (Columbo, The Princess Bride)
Release Date – 1988
Rating – 2.5/5
Blu Release – 2.5/5
Tagline – “Put your hand on our hands and feel the…vibes”
I had spent the last few days watching some cheesy 80s action when not working. I wanted to keep the movies going but I was a little burned out on the action flicks by this point. When I went to my collection I decided to keep the Mill Creek Entertainment going so I looked through the sci-fi, horror and comedies waiting to be reviewed when one stuck out to me.
It was time for me to check out the 1988 romantic comedy Vibes starring Cyndi Lauper and Jeff Goldblum. If this was half as entertaining as the Andy Sidaris films then I was in for a good time. Thanks again Mill Creek for sending this one over.
**Spoiler Alert**The film follows a psychic Nick (Goldblum) and a medium Sylvia (Lauper) who are part of a study and excel in their results. Soon they part ways and go back to their normal lives when he discovers that his longtime girlfriend has cheated on him. He is then approached by Sylvia to go to Ecuador to help a man find his lost son. However, they soon realize that they were duped into going their and their powers to be used to unleash an ancient psychic weapon.**Spoiler Alert**
This is one of the many Mill Creek Entertainment releases that I had never heard of before prior to the release which is strange considering it stars Jeff Goldblum and Cyndi Lauper. I assumed that it was going to be a cheesy treat but something in the back of my mind kept saying that if this was a film never mentioned then it must be a stinker. The thought in the back of my mind was correct for the most part. The film is painfully forgettable but does have a few chuckles along the way.
The acting in this one is not what I was expecting. Goldblum delivers a decent performance here and there but in some of the scenes he just comes across as uninterested. Peter Falk is entertaining as always but he is severely underutilized. His character has very little to do with the story and he rarely gets to shine in the scene. My biggest complaint actually comes from Cyndi Lauper. I’m an 80s dude through and through. I respect Lauper’s music career and what she has contributed to 80s pop culture but acting is not her thing.
The story for this one has some funny moments but the sense of adventure and action is lost in the way the characters handle their scenes. You never feel like the characters are in danger because they never really show the emotions you would associate with those terrifying situations. Because of the cast we get a story that is not that effective.
Finally, if you are looking for blood and guts you will be very disappointed. However, if you want some cheap computer generated images and unenthused acting then you are in luck. Overall, Vibes is not the cheesy 80s flick I had hoped for. It misses it’s mark in almost every way possible. It does have some laughs but it is a film you will easily forget. The VHS slip is nice for collectors and the blu transfer looks good but this is still a hard film to recommend to movie fans.
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