Guilty pleasures: Kelly Lynch

She appeared in two of the 80s most derided flicks -- Roadhouse and Cocktail -- before turning her reputation around in Drugstore Cowboy. And she even had a co-starring role in one of John Hughes' last directing efforts, Curly Sue.

And like the films she acted in, Kelly Lynch -- who turns 48 today -- is one of the 80s truest guilty pleasures. The Minneapolis-born, former model was reportedly discovered on an elevator, which might explain her career's ups and downs. She appears in eight movies in the 80s, but probably was first recognized as the bikini-clad, morally ambiguous wife of "Douglas Couglin" (Bryan Brown) in "Cocktail" (1988). Her next appearance -- opposite Matt Dillon in 1989's "Drugstore Cowboy" -- won her a nomination for an American Independent Spirit award.

But her role as Dr. Elizabeth Clay, the love interest of Patrick Swayze, in 1989's campy "Roadhouse" has to be her signature 80s role. The film itself is an icon among B-movies of the era with critics evenly divided as fans or foes. Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times  called Roadhouse "the kind of movie that leaves reality so far behind that you have to accept it on its own  terms. Was it intended as a parody? I have no idea, but I laughed more during this movie than during any of the so-called comedies I saw during the same week."

As for Lynch's performance, the Washington Post review at the time summed it up this way: "Though cast as a doctor, Lynch can't work up the brainpower to change expressions -- her features move in glacial time." Ouch.

Want to talk about lack of brainpower? Lynch passed up the leading role in Basic Instinct, leaving Sharon Stone to make an entire career out of crossing and uncrossing her legs.

Lynch is still acting today, with steady work on cable's "The L Word" and two films in the hopper for 2007.

Top 5 favorite Kelly Lynch lines:
5. "Do you always carry your medical record around with you?" (Roadhouse)
4. "Sometimes complications are interesting." (Homegrown)
3. "So I'm supposed to sleep with the same man day in and day out for the rest of my life?" (Cocktail)
2. "Bob's like a rabbit, in and out and no nonsense." (Drugstore Cowboy)
1. "Never send a man to do a woman's job." (Charlie's Angels)

[Sources: IMDB.com, Askmen.com]

Comments

[chase]

Drugstore Cowboy ... one of the most underrated, and best, movies of the '80s.

'Nuff said.