Kim Cattrall is fine, but the vehicle is not
13 May 2023
My review was written in May 1990 after a screening in Chelsea in Manhattan.

Dumped unceremoniously into the marketplace by Sony's Triumph label, "Honeymoon Academy" is an old-fashioned comedy that wastes the talents of Kim Cattrall in her first top billed role.

Depressing box office prospects are reflected in zero paying customers showing up for a 9:30 p.m. Opening night performance at the Manhattan thetare where it was reviewed, following no press screenings.

Pic's inappropriate title is an afterthought based on the success of executive producer Paul Maslansky's "Police Academy" films. Lensed in spring 1988 as "For Better or for Worse", pic ha no school for newlyweds.

Cattrall, styled as a thin blonde, is a State Department secret agent thrown together with Robert Hays in a library. It's love at first sight, and they marry and go off to Madrid for a honeymoon, a gift from her boss Leigh Taylor-Young.

Taylor-Young sends agent Charles Rocket to force Cattrall to work during the holiday as a courier of payoff money for counterfeiter Christopher Lee. Endless slapstick and an unsuccessful detour into "Romancing the Stone" territory pad out pointless footage.

Cattrall projects the appeal of Laraine Day but deserves better pics. Hays is a capable physical comedian, playing straight in the manner of his "Airplane" persona in a role originally cast for Paul Reiser. Supporting cast, notably Rocket, is hammy. Lee brightens up the film very briefly.

Technical credits are acceptable, except for poorly synched dialog set in a forest with waterfalls interfering with direct sound recording.
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