I haven’t watched this film since 1984. I remember laughing a lot, but also at 12 years old in the 80s, I didn’t get all the jokes. So I figured I might as well check in on this one, and see how it stands up. I’ll be honest, the first half of the film is funny, and fairly entertaining. But then things get problematic.

We meet Lewis (Robert Carradine) and Gilbert (Anthony Edwards), two stereotypical nerds who are headed to university. They have big plans, not the least of which is to meet girls. But with glasses, pocket protectors and high-waisted pants they have a lot of things holding them back.

They, and their fellow outcasts are able to refurbish a house, and submit to become a fraternity, Lambda Lambda Lambda, which is overseen by Jefferson (Bernie Casey).

But they’ll have to face off against the jock fraternity, headed by Stan (Ted McGinley) and Ogre (Donald Gibbs), not to mention the sexy, but aloof sorority nearby.

The gags and laughs come fast and furious, and the nerd characters are a lot more interesting than the jocks, and sorority girls, who are even more generic stereotypes. The nerds are all about diversity, inclusivity and acceptance. And they sometimes don’t understand why others can’t do the same.

From there, campus hijinx ensue, but when things escalate, the film becomes troubling in the modern era. The nerds install hidden cameras in the sorority, engage in panty raids, share nudes culled from the camera, and then there’s Lewis pretending to be Stan in order to have sex with Betty (Julia Montgomery).

These things were seen as silly, funny and acceptable, and watching them now, it’s pretty cringe-worthy, and suddenly turned me against the characters who for the first half of the film were relatable.

And the film spawned sequels. There was one theatrical and two television movies, and that is mind-boggling considering the series started with a hard R and then became a television joke.

It’s an interesting artifact of the 80s, and wouldn’t at all work today, for a number of reasons.

And I’m not going to lie, I enjoyed the first half, there’s some funny and silly stuff there. They just went too far in the second half.

And WOW! There’s James Cromwell and John Goodman in the supporting cast, and Cromwell was responsible for the iconic nerd laugh that Lewis uses throughout.

In fact, I like the nerds, they are fun, and brought to life incredibly well. It’s just disappointing seeing how the narrative plays out.