Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		4.0

My Tutor Blu-ray Movie Review

Note to self: Have trouble with French.

Reviewed by Brian Orndorf September 27, 2013

In 1983, “My Tutor” played up the fantasy of an older teacher seducing her younger student. In 2013, that type of activity is typically greeted with a felony sex offender charge. How times have changed. Of course, “My Tutor” is only a movie, and a rather entertaining “teensploitation” effort from 30 years ago, engineered to titillate teen audiences hunting for a peek at naked breasts and horndog monkey business, employing a common scenario of temptation to lure ticket buyers in, only to hit them with a genuine sense of humor and an unusually muted seductress in actress Caren Kaye. “My Tutor” is simple but effective, and if approached on a lowered level of expectation, the picture captures all the hormonal urges of adolescence, frosted with a permissive ‘80’s attitude that doesn’t judge the taboo couple in question.

Graduating high school with plans to attend Yale to keep his rich father, Mr. Chrystal (Kevin McCarthy), satisfied, Bobby (a credibly modest Matt Lattanzi) dreams of a different life where he’s free to study astronomy instead of business. Failing French, Bobby’s future is in jeopardy, requiring a few phone calls and the hiring of tutor Terry (Caren Kaye, in a likable performance) to keep his collegiate burden on track. Smitten with Terry, Bobby finds himself too distracted to keep up with his homework, trying to rid himself of his virginity with pals Jack (Crispin Glover, in a feature film debut) and Billy (Clark Brandon), who share in misadventures around town. As the summer passes, Bobby watches Terry endure a messy break-up with her loutish ex, leaving her open to the student’s persistent charms. Embarking on an affair, Bobby learns a thing or two about sex from his French tutor, developing confidence as a young man, which impresses his once unreachable high school crush, Bonnie (Amber Denyse Austin).

“My Tutor” isn’t a challenging film concerning the unraveling of a teenager, but a sporadically jocular, softcore take on the coming of age movie. The screenplay by Joe Roberts clings to the basics of tomfoolery and titillation, with Bobby our guide into a haze of impulses, trying to develop his sexual stance before he’s off to college, relying on goons Billy and Jack to organize field trips that tease the satisfaction of a proper lustful encounter. These misadventures in deflowering are scattered throughout the feature, employed to disarm audiences before the heat from Terry is unleashed. We follow the trio into a brothel where the evening literally spins out of control (Kitten Natividad, a voluptuous Russ Meyer stalwart, makes a vivid appearance as Bobby’s virgin surgeon), over to a diner where a frisky waitress will ride anything with a heartbeat, and exit a mud wrestling club (cruelly, the interior is never shown) where Billy and Jack fail to pick up two thonged gladiators. The shenanigans aren’t particularly amusing, fitting comfortably with the teen cinema tastes of the time, but they’re a useful balance to the relative sincerity of the story, which soon settles into a subdued seduction escalation.

Bobby is a frisky fellow, his mind racing when approaching a sexual moment, dreaming of taking women forcefully, be it Terry on a kitchen table or a nameless woman (gifted raconteur Jewel Shepard) inside a phone booth. He’s all wound up with urges, yet the relationship between Bobby and Terry is played gently, with young male cautious around his object of affection, gradually winning her trust before she lights up his life with an extended lovemaking scene scored to a soundtrack cut (“The First Time We Make Love”) that spells out the obvious. From there, “My Tutor” touches on Bobby’s possessiveness around Terry’s insufferable ex, Mr. Chrystal’s lecherous intentions with his new hire, and Bobby’s renewed interest in Bonnie, a comely girl previously thought inaccessible due to her interest in sophisticated guys. But Bobby is a changed man, learning about wine tasting and emotional availability from his older lover, creating a sufficient arc of maturation that allows “My Tutor” to reach a little more deeply than its mouthbreathing brethren. Sly bits of comedy also help to sustain interest in the feature, including a bit where the Chrystal’s American-born housekeeping staff feigns their Mexican heritage to mess with Bobby’s daffy mother, and a reference to “The Graduate” pops up as well.

“My Tutor” isn’t a great film (humorously, its early summertime setting features visible breath and turned leaves), but it’s perfectly digestible as exploitation and melodrama. However, a screenwriting flaw tosses a wet blanket on the entire endeavor. To create tension between Bobby and Terry, Roberts employs a secretive monetary bonus subplot that’s used by Mr. Chrystal to both lure and destroy the tutor, though it’s difficult to understand why Bobby feels so betrayed by this revelation. Terry’s been hired to help him pass a French test, with a vested interest in his success with or without the extra cash, making the third act feel incredibly strained, as though the production had no clue how to end the movie, so they invented a conflict that’s nonsensical. Although it seems strange to critique screenwriting that also manufactures multiple opportunities for actresses to undress, this forgettable conjuring of irritation is just lazy, annoyingly so.

My Tutor Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The AVC encoded image (1.78:1 aspect ratio) presentation on "My Tutor" features expected evidence of print debris, though the image is surprisingly clean for most of the run time, without distracting reel changes and heavy scratches. Colors are pleasing and secure, with a full sense of primaries that reveal only a slightly aged appearance, keeping costuming vivid and skintones natural, preserving a fine sense of pinkness to aid the nudity. Minor amounts of crush surface during night mischief, and a quick moment of banding is present. Detail is satisfactory, providing decent facial textures and a welcome sense of depth to exterior shots, allowing the film to be studied in full. Grain is tastefully managed.

My Tutor Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The 2.0 DTS-HD MA sound mix does hit a few crispy highs during the listening experience, but the basic elements of the track are cared for. Music plays a large role in the movie, finding soundtrack cuts retaining their original emphasis and instrumentation, adding a seductive mood to the sex scenes. Scoring is on the thin side but supportive, never obscuring dialogue exchanges. Performance direction registers in voices, with emotional emphasis and Lattanzi's soft ways transmitted cleanly. Atmospherics are consistent but never aggressive. Hiss is a rare event, with the BD offering a clean presentation without aggressive aural distractions. Also offered on the disc is a Music and Effects Track (labeled "Isolated ME Track") for those interested in the sonic landscape of the feature.

My Tutor Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• "Antoinette's Sweet Dream Show" (9:07, HD) returns Katarina Leigh Waters to the Scorpion BD experience, only here the host is playing a demure "French" character to jazz up the routine. Playful acting and iffy accent work ensues, with Antoinette soon running through the IMDB highlights of the cast and crew, also sharing her fascination with star Lattanzi.

• "Outro" (3:04, HD) returns to Antoinette for a farewell segment.

• A Theatrical Trailer (1:59, SD) is included.

My Tutor Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Shockingly, "My Tutor" was something of a hit back in the day, playing steadily throughout the spring and summer of 1983, ending up outgrossing such lauded films as "The Right Stuff" and "A Christmas Story." Its mass acceptance makes sense, as the picture shows a little more significance than the average crotch-rubbing enterprise, making an effort to bring passably feeling characters to the screen while tending to all the exposed flesh, hitting universal experiences of curiosity and desire in a subgenre that's consistently more interested in stupidity.