Platicsco Good story, Not enough for a whole film

Matrixiole Simple and well acted, it has tension enough to knot the stomach.

TaryBiggBall It was OK. I don't see why everyone loves it so much. It wasn't very smart or deep or well-directed.

Edwin The storyline feels a little thin and moth-eaten in parts but this sequel is plenty of fun.

Pepper Anne Screenwriter Larry Kreton adapts Fresh Horses, originally a play, for the big screen. Perhaps it was the desire to recreate something via casting decisions with the Pretty in Pink duo, McCarthy and Ringwald re-teaming for similar roles, or just in the failure of this particular play to translate so neatly to film, but something was missing that makes Fresh Horses instantly forgettable.McCarthy never seems to offer much emotion, even in the roles intended to be more romantic. He's just the inert character with some pre-determined purpose that has to be filled for two hours or so. Here, he plays Matt Larkin, the college preppy who breaks off his engagement when he falls for the mostly unsympathetic Jewel (Ringwald, written to be an almost complete dimwit), a girl who is essentially his opposite and fits the "broken home" stereotype that he feels obliged to rescue. Of course, despite urgings from his best friend Tipton (Ben Stiller in a role probably better suited for Paul Rieser) to quit playing it safe all the time and live a little, his friends are suspicious of Matt's new love interest.The movie might disappoint those looking for something similar to McCarthy and Ringwald's previous romantic pairing in Pretty in Pink, since there is so little sincerity and direction. And, neither of the leads are particularly likable - from beginning to end, Matt can't seem to decide for himself what he wants or has the guts to act on it; and Ringwald's character, too, is at times so ignorant and so shady. It doesn't exactly make for a particularly interesting love story.

TxMike The title is derived from a line in the movie relating to getting a fresh horse under you when the one you are riding is worn out. It is a reference to getting a new girlfriend when you get tired of the one you have been with.Andrew McCarthy is 20-something Engineering student Matt Larkin in Cincinnatti. He has just become engaged to a wealthy but otherwise rather dull girl in a reception that looks like a big deal for the family. His good buddy is Ben Stiller as Tipton who gets Matt to go to this house out in the country where a lady informally has people over for relaxation, food, and drinks. There Matt encounters Molly Ringwald as Jewel, an intelligent but undereducated young lady who tells him she is 20, but some rumors later say she is only 16. Other rumors say she is married. Matt has an instant attraction to Jewel.I believe this movie was billed as a followup to "Pretty in Pink", a 1986 movie with the two main actors here. Both McCarthy and Ringwall impress me more than I thought they would, each created good characters in what turned out to be, for me, a rather ordinary movie.Viggo Mortensen, already about 30, has a small but important role as Green.SPOILERS. Meeting Jewel made Matt realize that he didn't really want to marry the girl he was with, and she did not take the breakup very well. It turned out that Jewel really was married, to Green, she says as a way to get away from her stepfather. Matt goes overboard to help Jewel get out of her situation, but it is never clear that Jewel was being honest with him. After Jewel ultimately rejects Matt's love, he graduates and goes off to graduate school "up north." They have a chance encounter a year later, at an outdoor event at night, Jewel is with a new guy who seems very nice, she moves close to Matt and whispers in his ear, "Thank you" .

tomsharp I would have to agree with some that this is not the best movie ever made, but for those of you that haven't taken the time to watch it, this film still has many very nice qualities to it. The film is filmed beautifully, and the music score is beautiful as well. If you can look past most reviews of this movie, and the fact that Ringwald and McCarthy were burdened by the Brat Pack title, you can still enjoy this movie. I'm not saying that the stars deserved Oscars for their performances here... but this movie is very watchable. I feel that Molly Ringwald and Andrew McCarthy might have been looked down on from the start of this movie simply because it was a departure from the type movies and characters they had played so far. Everyone is entitled to their own opinions, which is how it will always be, but it should be fair for some of us to mention how much we appreciate this movie too. I have seen many films that are much worse. I'm not saying this one of the best films ever... just that there is a lot of creativity and beauty to this film that shouldn't be missed because of only negative reviews.

jimmylee-1 "When you become our age, it's harder and harder to make friends" says Tipton as he loyally stands by Matt. Jeez, with friends like that, it's no wonder this lame movie got made - no one was brave enough to tell any of the cast how bad it was. Didn't any of them watch the dailies? So, maybe at some point in his career Andrew managed to rustle up major chemistry, but in this movie, he manages to deliver the eternal best friend chemistry instead of the lost in lust type. He's very likable, but I don't think that's what we were going for, and he is just miscast. And Molly delivered some of her lines like she was reading them for the first time from the teleprompter ("I'm used" she says in the same tone she would use to announce "pink is my color") instead of part innocent/part femme fatale. I don't think either of them was getting the coaching they needed.The tension between the college and the surroundings was interesting for a while, but difficult to fathom. There aren't many universities that I can think of (maybe it's a Midwest thing?) that are so close to the swamps of Deliverance.When this movie came out, I really wanted to see it, because I loved St. Elmo's Fire. I wasn't able to because of school and work. I'm glad I missed it and saw it on cable, although I wasted quite some time waiting for the good part...waiting, waiting, waiting. Maybe there was a good story there at some point, but it didn't show up on the screen.