Movie #1: Animal House
If I was a young actor, I'd be pretty happy to be involved in something like this as my first movie so Kevin Bacon has nothing to complain about. Not only that, he was an actual character (Chip Diller) instead of an unnamed extra, in many scenes (including the first scene) and had several lines. He's also involved in the pivotal "switching of the exam answers" plotline...not too shabby, Mr. Bacon.
Movie #2: Starting Over
Not available on Netflix so I don't have to watch it per my clearly stated rules in my previous post.
Movie #3: Hero at Large
What is Hero at Large, you ask? Well, let me tell you. John Ritter stars as an actor who foils a robbery while wearing the Captain Avenger costume from his movie theater premier gig. Word gets out that Captain Avenger is standing up for what is right in the city and the search is on to find out just who Captain Avenger really is. Anne Archer is his crush from the apartment across the hall and Burt Convy is a hairy PR agent who tries to use Captain Avenger to save the mayor in the upcoming election. Ritter gets evicted by a borderline creepy landlady, remains cheerful (even though he can't get into his apartment to feed his fish ) and bunks with Archer for a couple of days. It's completely ridiculous.
As for Kevin Bacon in Hero at Large, he is billed as Teenager #2 and nowhere near the top of the cast list. His one and only scene is within the first 15 minutes: Ritter, dressed as Captain Avenger, is at a movie theater and Bacon swaggers up in all of his jean jacket glory and harasses him in front of his punk-ass friends. If you're able to tear your eyes away from Ritter's safety glasses, Kevin is behind the punk-ass in the red jacket to the right in the picture below:
If that isn't enough to convince you to put Hero at Large at the very tippy-top of your Netflix queue as I recently did, take a look at this:
It's just like The Greatest American Hero only without the fantastic theme song. Damn, I'm suddenly thirsty for a Coke, but I digress.
I'm not saying that you should watch this movie but I'm not saying you shouldn't, either. My favorite scene was definitely Kevin's scene so this is a good example of how a movie can be better with Bacon. Apparently, Netflix agrees because in their movie description on the envelope they make a point to say, "...and Kevin Bacon, in an early role, makes a very brief appearance." It's not every day you see Netflix bringing special attention to the role of Teenager #2.
Also worth mentioning: The DVD came out of the Netflix envelope completely scratch-free and pristine. You won't have any of those frustrating skipping moments to ruin your movie watching experience with Hero at Large.
