After the disastrous release of Big Gus, What’s the Fuss?, Lloyd Kaufman was in a tight jam. With his business partner Michael Herz, Lloyd founded Troma Entertainment in 1974, where they could produce their movies. Around this time, Kaufman directed a series of adult films under the pseudonyms H.V. Spyder, Louis Su, and David Stitt. In the 70s, the industry took celluloid sex seriously, and mixing sex with other genres was unheard of. With this in mind, Kaufman and Herz thought it would be a good idea to make a sex comedy film. The Women’s Liberation Movement was in full swing, so Kaufman and Herz decided to incorporate that into their movie. Lloyd’s brother Charles worked with screenwriter Haim Pekelis to churn out a 75-page script while Lloyd accumulated a $300,000 budget. While the film premiered in New York in 1979, Squeeze Play wouldn’t be released nationwide until 1980.
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Synopsis
Wes (Jim Harris) is captain of the local men’s softball team, The Beavers, and is the talk of the town. However, his fiance, Samantha (Jennifer Hetrick), isn’t happy about how he spends more time with the guys than her. She wants him to quit softball next year so he can spend more time with her, but he’s reluctant. Soon, the girlfriends and wives of the other team members share the same sentiment as Samantha and have had it. One night, the girls meet runaway Mary Lou (Melissa Michaels), who has a wicked throwing arm and can play softball. Suddenly, Samantha gets an idea: she and the girls will form their softball team to teach the boys a lesson. Naturally, the guys don’t take them seriously, so the girls train hard and start getting good. Who will win this epic battle of the sexes, and who will make the squeeze play?
Review
While not as good as comedies like Animal House or Meatballs, Squeeze Play is still an enjoyably silly sex comedy. Admittedly, most of the movie’s humor is dated and relies heavily on slapstick, but plenty of the gags do land. The most famous joke in the film is when a player catches the ball between his buttcheeks. Aside from the dumb jokes, the plot is an excuse to add double entendres and get women naked. This movie is from a bygone era where a Wet T-Shirt Contest, gender stereotypes, and politically incorrect humor were acceptable. The pro-women message, though it lacks subtlety, is weirdly relevant even today and helps it stand out. While it’s easy to hate the men for being gross and rude, the women make plenty of mistakes. It’s interesting how a 70s sex comedy depicted feminism better than today’s crop of movies.
The cast, mainly made up of relatively unknown actors, does their jobs well and plays into the comedy. There are some notable cast members, including Jennifer Hetrick from Star Trek: The Next Generation and Al Corley from Dynasty. The most memorable actor here is Mike Starr, who later starred in Uncle Buck, Ed Wood, and Dumb and Dumber. Admittedly, the movie does follow plenty of sports movie tropes, but this was well before those tropes became a thing. As with every sports movie, everything culminates in a final game, though this one has some nudity. At slightly over 90 minutes long, it won’t take up too much of your time and goes by fast. Diehard Troma fans might get a kick out of this, but general audiences will probably dismiss this. Overall, Squeeze Play is a product of its time, for better or for worse, though it has its moments.
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