Where to watch Meatballs III: Summer Job
2 Stars
A dead porno movie star returns from the beyond to help a nerdy teen to score with the beautiful wife of the owner of the camp he is spending the summer working at. Wow.
This second sequel to 1979’s Bill Murry hit Meatballs is the first to carry a Roman numeral in its title. The first two films in the series take place at a woodsy summer camp. By comparison, Meatballs III, lest we forget that Roman numeral, is the story of horny schenanigans at a summer burger joint and bar. But apparently the filmmakers decided to place the film in an era where teenagers have 1980’s attitudes, drive 1950’s automobiles, and hang out at soda fountains. Oh, and our hero is a preverbal 98-pound weakling straight out of a Charles Atlas ad.
I was positive that I had never seen this movie. But as it played out and scenes began to reveal themselves, it dawned on me that not only had I watched it before, I’d seen it many times in my adolescence. Meatballs III is a horny version of No Retreat, No Surrender, but instead of the ghost of Bruce Lee teaching a bullied kid martial arts, it has a reincarnated porn star helping a nerdy teen lose his virginity. Shakespeare, this aint. Meatballs III is in the low-brow tradition of movies like Hot Dog, One Crazy Summer, and a dozen others that also premiered in the 1980s.
Of the four movies in the Meatballs series, I prefer the (absurdly plotted) second film the best. Meatballs III would be my second favorite because of the bizarre story, Patrick Dempsey and Sally Kellerman’s chemistry, and Maury Chaykin’s portrayal of a biker gang leader. There are a few laughs scattered throughout the movie, but it’s mostly enjoyable as a raunchy relic of a time before woke culture killed teen comedy.
Directed by: George Mendeluk
Written by: Chuck Workman, Michael Paseornek, Bradley Kesden
Starring: Sally Kellerman, Patrick Dempsey, Al Waxman