She's Out of Control

Widower Doug Simpson is a radio manager from California who lives with his two daughters, Katie and Bonnie. When Katie turns 15, she feels it's time to start looking more grown-up. She's been dating Richard, the boy next door, whom her father adores, since middle school. In addition, her unflattering wardrobe has been complemented by her thick glasses and full set of braces. When Doug leaves on a business trip, Katie transforms herself into a beauty with help from her father's girlfriend Janet Pearson.

When Doug returns, he is shocked to find boys from every walk of life interested in dating Katie. When his obsession with Katie and her boyfriends reaches extreme limits, Janet suggests that Doug needs psychiatric help and he seeks out an expert who gives him advice that goes wrong whenever it is applied. Through the latter half of the film, Katie has three boyfriends, two of whom she eventually stops dating. At the film's ending, Katie takes a class trip to Europe and reunites with Richard again – at which point Bonnie, her younger tomboy sister, begins her own dating spree. Doug also finds out the "expert" was anything but, as he never had a daughter himself.

Based on 19 reviews, Rotten Tomatoes gave the film a rating of 11%.[3]

Chicago film critic Roger Ebert gave the film the rare zero stars rating on his written review of the film,[4] saying:

What planet did the makers of this film come from? What assumptions do they have about the purpose and quality of life? I ask because She's Out of Control is simultaneously so bizarre and so banal that it's a first: the first movie fabricated entirely from sitcom cliches and plastic lifestyles, without reference to any known plane of reality.

Chicago film critic Gene Siskel also gave the film zero stars, calling it "a lame comedy that barely resembles a real movie."[5] During his TV review he reported that "when I saw She's Out of Control, I became so depressed I actually thought about quitting my job as a film critic." Only after seeing Say Anything... was his faith restored.[6] Michael Wilmington of the Los Angeles Times called it "a sometimes funny, mostly media-referential movie without much real life; a high-tech, high-pro job that has a glamor-robot feel."[7] Variety said that the film "picks up some wit and steam when Danza begins consulting a shrink ... For too much of its 95-minute running time, though, the film is loud, broad, and panders to the filmmakers' condescending conception of teenage tastes."[8] Caryn James of The New York Times wrote, "Anyone who has watched television for even a night will be able to predict every scene in 'She's Out of Control' with total accuracy. It is an extended version of familiar, bland sitcom situations, with Mr. Danza playing a smoother-edged version of his character on the endlessly running hit 'Who's the Boss?'"[9] Leonard Maltin's film guide gave it 1.5 stars out of 4, stating that it was a "superficial expanded sitcom with Danza offering a one-note performance," concluding with "this one seems as if it was spit out of a computer."[10]

The soundtrack, distributed by MCA Records in April 1989, was released on vinyl, cassette tape and compact disc. The track listing includes:

1. "Where's the Fire" – Troy Hinton
2. "You Should Be Loving Me" – Brenda K. Starr
3. "Concentration" – Phil Thornalley
4. "The Loneliest Heart" – Boys Club
5. "Hunger of Love" – Harold Faltermeyer
6. "KHEY-FM Radio Sweeper" – Jim Ladd
7. "Winning Side" – Oingo Boingo
8. "Daddy's Little Girl" – Brian Wilson
9. "Venus" – Frankie Avalon
10. "You Really Got Me" – The Kinks
11. "Feel the Shake" – Jetboy

Other songs featured in the film that did not appear on the soundtrack:

• Angel Baby – Beth Anderson
• Secret Agent Man – Johnny Rivers
• Oh Yeah – Yello[11]

• She's Out of Control at IMDb
• She's Out of Control at AllMovie
• She's Out of Control at Rotten Tomatoes
• She's Out of Control at Box Office Mojo