SILVER SCREEN: Some Kind of erm... Wonderful?

I can't remember the first time I watched Some Kind of Wonderful. I think it must have been one of those movies my mother first played for me when I was 10, when she felt it necessary to educate me about life through the cheesey hits of the 1980s - Three Men and a Baby, Baby Boom, Steal Magnolias, Mystic Pizza- movies which became intrinsic to my emotional growth and were perhaps the reason for my affinity with the 80s era.

Sometimes I reflect on my life in the 80s with remorse that I was in nappies for most of it. I love everything about the era - the fashion, the hair, the music - the more eccentric and out of whack you were, the more you fitted in. It had all the 'feel good' lovin' of the 70s with all the sex, drugs and rock'n'roll of the 60s. It was the love child of pop and grunge, the goody-goody gone bad on the weekend. Had I lived through it as I should of, I would have been your Converse-wearing, baggy-t-shirt teamed with a leather jacket teenager, with a boombox on my shoulder which pumped out The Sex Pistols while I self-peirced my ears in detention. That's just the kinda girl I am, or should have been.

But back to Some Kind of Wonderful, this is the tale of two best friends - the tortured tomboy, Watts and the teenage mechanic come art maestro, Keith (played by the dashingly gorgeous, Eric Stolz - who may not look like much now but was a god in a pair of Chuck Taylors and demin skinnys) who falls in love with the homecoming queen, Amanda Jones but remains blind to the affections of his tomboy BFF.

On paper, I can see why my mum would put Some Kind of Wonderful on while doing the ironing as not only does it have all the makings of your typical angst-ridden rom-com, but it tells the story of a hard-working young upstart and an individual, independent tomboy. However, upon gaining a few years experience and learning one or two things about how relationships work, I'm not sure what my mum was hoping I'd learn when she sat me down to watch this movie at the tender age of 10.

Here you have the character of Watts - the 80s pin-up of feminism - a no-nonsense, drum-beating tomboy who says what she thinks and doesn't care what anyone else thinks of her. She's blunt and brazen, pushy and impatient, does whatever she wants without approval from her peers and is effortlessly cool in her ripped jeans and fingerless gloves. I want to be just like her, apart from the uncharacteristic and unattractive trait where she follows Keith around like a pathetic puppy.

Throughout the entire movie, Watts shoots her mouth off at everyone else and yet withstands everything Keith puts her through as he tries to win over Amanda. Watts helps Keith prepare the big date, convinces him to kiss her as 'practice', chauffers them around town and yet has a cry when he doesn't notice her! Watts is all tough-love on the outside, but on the inside she's nothing but mush. She's turns into just another girl having a sob over a silly boy.

Needless to say, Keith finally sees the error of his ways and realises Watts is the girl of his dreams, but with absolutely no thanks to her. She doesn't fight for him, she doesn't pull out a soap box and make a grand declaration of her love, she doesn't even use her bad-ass tomboy skills to rumble with Amanda Brown! Keith just suddenly realises and it's all happy families. It's completely uncharacteristic to who Watts is. She gets exactly what she wants or "was hoping for" without having to do anything to get it. And we all know it doesn't work that way.

So Some Kind of Wonderful - it's still wonderful but beware, if it's been a few years since your last viewing session, you're in for a few nasty shocks. Once you've grown up and can apply a few years better knowledge, it can come as a bit of a shock when you realise that Watts is not the heroine of the story after all - it's bloody Amanda Brown! She's the one that picks herself up, dusts herself off and gets on with her life all by herself.

And here I was thinking Watts was the one I always wanted to be like all these years! However, that does explain how I developed the annoying tendency of always being 'the friend' to the boys I like.

Damn you, Watts.