It’s 1989 and “Wallie’s Big Deals” isn’t doing too well due to competition, so the employees, affectionately called “Wallie’s Gals,” use their unique personalities to get more business. Fast forward 30 years, Maxine, the store’s manager, needs them back.
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Review by Julie C. Sheppard:
Wallie’s Gals is a zany romp of a film with lively remembrances from the iconic 1980’s. Anyone who was once a youngster from this era can recognize a whole series of familiar elements of the time period – – from boomboxes, to pleather, to hair scrunchies, to synth melodies of the day. The production designer deserves much praise for the vast collection of props and costumes of the era assembled for this piece. In addition, brightly-coloured titles hark back to the credits of many popular TV shows of the 1980’s, as do the decorated split screens.
The flashback scenes when the characters are young are hilarious. It is entertaining to recognize traditional archetypes: the brainiac, the keener, the less-than-sporty, the flirt and the one that, back then, seemed to have it all together. Of course, in amongst these archetypal females is the hot guy that everyone admires.
The past interactions are innocent and endearing, and it is highly satisfying to see how their young lives influence their choices later when they are united again, much like what is often witnessed at a high school reunion. Despite their varied life choices, the four protagonists are able to once more connect with the fondness they once had for each other.
The cast members are having the time of their lives playing these characters with countless amusing innuendos in the fabulous screenplay. The introduction of the infomercial couple also adds a humorous touch. The fact that the gals reunite to create a store selling used items brings them back, once again, to the period they once so prized.
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