Six Pack (1982)

Directed by Daniel Petrie
My rating: 2.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Anchor Bay Entertainment)

I wanted to dislike this film, by all appearances a dreadful "family comedy" starring Kenny Rogers of all people. He is a poor actor and his character an unlikable womanizer. I wanted to hate all six kids, including a foul-mouthed little brat right out of the Bad News Bears and the cute youngest kid with a lisp. The plot centers around stock car racing, which I find about as exciting as watching paint dry. Many scenes take place in trendy country bars with line dancing. There is a hit song, "Love Will Turn You Around", repeated ad nauseum throughout the film. Somehow, against all of these negatives, I was won over. Perhaps it was the time period, the early 80s, which is when I was in high school myself. Perhaps it was the setting, the South, where I grew up, including some scenes in Biloxi, Mississippi. But probably it was Diane Lane, who at 18 was exactly my age in 1982, and the stuff of teenage fantasy.