[Editor's Note: This is the latest entry in our annual "Summer of…" series, copresented by Aaron Aradillas of Blog Talk Radio's Back By Midnight and Jamey DuVall and Jerry Dennis of Blog Talk Radio's Movie Geeks United!. Due to a very strong response, we'll be publishing these retrospective pieces on films released during the dog days of 1985 past the original June 19th end date. We're still accepting submissions, so get in touch (keithuhlich@gmail.com) if you'd like to contribute. And keep checking in with Aaron, Jamey and Jerry's shows for 1985-themed tribute episodes.]

As the shamed bearer of an adolescent crush on C. Thomas Howell, I saw most of his movies multiple times—including not only Soul Man but the execrable volleyball roman à clef Side Out (yes, you read that last clause correctly).

Somehow, though, I managed to miss Secret Admirer when it came out. In fact, I have absolutely no contemporaneous memory of the film at all, which is a shame, because it's relatively good. Of course, "relatively good" in the mid-'80s teen-movie genre often means "not unwatchable," and Secret Admirer doesn't quite qualify as fresh or unpredictable.

It's got byzantine plotting down cold, though. Toni (an enjoyably sarcastic Lori Loughlin) is in love with her best friend, Michael (Howell), and slips an unsigned letter into his locker to testify to that fact. Michael is inspired by the letter to write a mash note to the joy of his desiring, Deborah Ann Fimple (Kelly Preston), whose interests include shopping, dating fratty college boys, and pulling her hair to the side in unflattering styles. Toni, who is disappointed but supportive, intercepts Michael's letter to Debbie and, when she realizes how pedestrian it is, rewrites it for him without his knowledge. Continue Reading »