Taglines: An undercover nightmare.
Plain Clothes movie storyline. Undercover cop Nick Dunbar’s (Arliss Howard) brother Matt (Loren Dean) is accused of killing his high school teacher, Mr. Bradwood (Mack Harrell). Nick loses his temper with Hector (Larry Pine), the detective in charge, and gets suspended. Nick’s partner Ed (Seymour Cassel) pretends to be Nick’s dad to enroll him as a student. Matt gives Nick pointers to get people to talk to him. Nick deals with bullies, girls with crushes on him, teachers & staff who range from quirky to bizarre, and a teacher, Robin Torrence (Suzy Amis), to whom he is attracted who thinks he’s a teen.
Along the way, Nick and Ed narrow the probable motives down to jealousy (Bradwood was trading grades for sex with Dawn-Marie Zeffer (Alexandra Powers), the girlfriend of Kyle Kerns (Peter Dobson), one of the bullies) or self-preservation (Bradwood was blackmailing some staff about running a real estate scam on the other teachers).
Nick’s identity is discovered by Jane Melway (Diane Ladd), one of the con artist’s gang, and it all comes to a head at the May Fest. Nick and Ed find out that they are probably on the wrong track – Chet Butler (George Wendt), one of the gang’s members is missing and an emotional confession from Melway points to Butler as the murderer – not to stop the blackmail, but because Bradwood was engaged to Melway, with whom Butler used to have an affair and whom he still loves.
Butler appears and implicates himself with words and actions. A chase ensues, ending with Nick being cornered finding the evidence that cements Butler’s guilt. He is saved twice in quick succession, once by a schoolmate’s opportune distraction, and once by an excellent shot of Ed’s at the perfect time. Nick makes a date with Robin Torrence, who now knows he is an adult, and the real-estate scammers are arrested. Hector looks very foolish. Matt is released from jail and can’t wait to get back to school.
Plain Clothes is a 1988 American comedy film directed by Martha Coolidge and starring Arliss Howard, George Wendt, Suzy Amis, Diane Ladd, Abe Vigoda, Seymour Cassel, Robert Stack, Larry Pine, Alexandra Powers, Peter Dobson, Harry Shearer, Loren Dean and Reginald VelJohnson. The film was released on April 15, 1988.
Plain Clothes (1988)
Directed by: Martha Coolidge
Starring: Arliss Howard, George Wendt, Suzy Amis, Diane Ladd, Abe Vigoda, Seymour Cassel, Robert Stack, Larry Pine, Alexandra Powers, Peter Dobson, Harry Shearer, Loren Dean, Reginald VelJohnson
Screenplay by: Scott Frank
Production Design by: Michel Levesque
Cinematography by: Daniel Hainey
Film Editing by: Edward M. Abroms, Patrick Kennedy
Costume Design by: Tracy Tynan
Set Decoration by: Marya Delia Javier
Art Direction by: William Apperson
Music by: Scott Wilk
MPAA Rating: None.
Distributed by: Paramount Pictures
Release Date: April 15, 1988
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