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‘Just One of the Guys’ With Bill Simmons, Kyle Brandt, and Joanna Robinson

January 20, 2026 · Just One of the Guys (1985) · Comedy · Romance · 2:02:27 · ▶ Listen on Spotify

IMDb ↗Letterboxd ↗

Categories

Dion Waiters Award

Bill Simmons▶ 16:20Billy Jayne — Billy Jacoby - agreed with the comparison to '14 year old Bill Murray' and praised his commitment, comparing his approach to Chevy Chase in Fletch
Kyle Brandt▶ 15:55Billy Jayne — Billy Jacoby - struggled with the category because he gets significant screen time and is awesome in every scene, mentioned planning to use him for another category

Watch Party

Bill Simmons▶ 34:30Family viewing with his son and wife, mentions having 'peanut gallery' as a pregame option
Joanna Robinson▶ 34:14Peanut gallery ladies night
Kyle Brandt▶ 34:19Dudes in a basement, like a grown up sleepover with four buddies, root beer, and video games

Most Rewatchable Scene

Bill Simmons▶ 35:34Buddy's first scene, which includes lines like 'I've had lots of sex. It's just now I'd like to try with a partner' and 'horny will kick embarrassment's ass anytime'
Kyle Brandt▶ 36:42Buddy teaches Terry to act like a guy scene

What's Aged the Best

Bill Simmons▶ 56:22Parents being gone for the entire movie - this was half the plots in the 80s but wouldn't happen now due to technology and helicopter parenting
Joanna Robinson▶ 55:27Women-directed sex comedies of the 80s like this one are more soulful and haven't aged poorly like other 80s sex comedies such as Revenge of the Nerds
Kyle Brandt▶ 53:17Having an older sibling whose friends come over as an all-time adolescent experience, and outdoor high schools with outdoor lockers and outdoor proms

Butch's Girlfriend Award

Bill Simmons▶ 1:10:32Cindy Lauper - they didn't do a second take
Joanna Robinson▶ 1:10:38Rick as a character needs more work - James Brown is not enough of a draw for the leading lady

What's Aged the Worst

Bill Simmons▶ 1:13:00Sherrilyn Fenn's 90s rise tying into the legend of the movie - she doesn't have the same oomph now as she did during the Twin Peaks era
Joanna Robinson▶ 1:15:09Trans jokes and gender commentary in the movie that haven't aged well
Kyle Brandt▶ 1:13:41Shirts and skins in gym class - it doesn't exist anymore and would be unfathomable for youth sports coaches today

Stephen A. Smith Hottest Take Award

Bill Simmons▶ 1:25:24Billy Jacoby gives an all-time 80s comedy performance in this movie with a 90+ percent batting average, comparable to Eddie Murphy and Chevy Chase
Joanna Robinson▶ 1:23:47Joyce Hyser should have had a bigger career and Debbie Mazar took Joyce Hyser's career
Kyle Brandt▶ 1:22:44Paul Thomas Anderson ripped off this movie for Boogie Nights - the whole structure of a character hiding something with a big reveal at the end, and PTA was inspired by the Terry reveal for Dirk Diggler's reveal

Casting What-Ifs

Bill Simmons▶ 1:29:56Patrick Dempsey — Patrick Dempsey as Rick - someone more nerdy for a believable rags to riches transformation instead of Clayton Rohner
Joanna Robinson▶ 1:30:32Sandra Bullock — Sandra Bullock as Joyce - she was 19 when the movie came out and has the tomboy nature for the role
Kyle Brandt▶ 1:29:39David Fincher — David Fincher as director - would make the movie darker and more disturbing

Apex Mountain

Bill Simmons▶ 1:33:41Martin Scorsese — Not Sherrilyn Fenn for actors. Yes for funny teenage boy characters in 80s movies (Buddy). Dave Jacobi over other Jacobis. Tom Cruise over Tom Hanks. Scorsese over Spielberg.
Joanna Robinson▶ 1:33:55Martin Scorsese — Agrees the no-name cast helps the movie's legacy. Wouldn't put Buddy at Apex Mountain for funniest 80s teen. Dave Jacobi. Scorsese over Spielberg.
Kyle Brandt▶ 1:33:47Martin Scorsese — Agrees most actors are no-names which helps the movie. Buddy is funnier than Ferris Bueller. Jacobi Jones or Cruz as Zabka/Hanks as Buddy. Scorsese over Spielberg due to sexual content.

Picking Nits

Bill Simmons▶ 1:43:14Nobody from the other high school knowing Terry ('a kind of a good nit' -- she's not in Phoenix, people at her own school would wonder where she went), plus her own school never asking where she disappeared to for two weeks.
Joanna Robinson▶ 1:42:44Agrees and adds: Hemingway wouldn't even be Terry's idol -- she idolizes Woodward and Bernstein, so it should have been a Woodward and Bernstein poster.
Kyle Brandt▶ 1:42:22No high school senior girl has a giant poster of an old, bald, pissed-off Ernest Hemingway on her wall -- a terrible poster in the apex-mountain era of cool high school posters (Ferris's Simple Minds poster).

Is This Movie Better With

Bill Simmons▶ 1:46:53Suggested Tony Romo doing football commentary but didn't commit to a specific pick
Kyle Brandt▶ 1:46:09Fergie the Florist as the newspaper editor who threatens Terry to write another article

Probably Unanswerable Questions

Bill Simmons▶ 1:47:54How does Terry going back to her original high school work -- how do they just let her make up all her missed work?
Joanna Robinson▶ 1:48:00Answered Bill's question rather than posing her own: as far as she can tell the only class Terry attended was PE, and she's smart enough ('a really good journalist') to crush the make-up work.
Kyle Brandt▶ 1:48:12Riffed rather than posing a question: Terry's article lede 'Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be a boy?' is a horrific lead for a supposedly great journalist -- 'Carrie Bradshaw would never.'

Coach Finstock Life Lesson

Bill Simmons▶ 1:49:11It's okay to transfer schools, dress up like a boy and ruin multiple lives just to win a newspaper contest
Joanna Robinson▶ 1:50:27All Balls itch. It's a fact.
Kyle Brandt▶ 1:50:18Horny will kick Embarrassing's ass anytime - from the gym coach's advice

Who Won the Movie

Bill Simmons▶ 1:56:24Billy Jayne — Billy Jacoby
Kyle Brandt▶ 1:56:25Billy Jayne — Billy Jacoby and Warren Beatty

Movies Referenced (49)

She's the Man (2006)

8 mentions · Bill Simmons, Craig Horlbeck, Kyle Brandt▶ 27:14IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Can't Buy Me Love (1987)

5 mentions · Bill Simmons, Kyle Brandt▶ 4:20IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Weird Science (1985)

5 mentions · Bill Simmons, Kyle Brandt▶ 7:23IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Regarding Henry (1991)

4 mentions · Bill Simmons▶ 1:54:18IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Star Trek (2009)

4 mentions · Bill Simmons, Kyle Brandt, Joanna Robinson▶ 1:08:23IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Summer School (1987)

4 mentions · Joanna Robinson▶ 1:52:39IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Blown Away (1994)

3 mentions · Bill Simmons, Kyle Brandt▶ 1:44:25IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Jagged Edge (1985)

3 mentions · Bill Simmons▶ 1:47:18IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Superbad (2007)

3 mentions · Bill Simmons, Joanna Robinson▶ 26:46IMDb ↗Lb ↗

What Lies Beneath (2000)

3 mentions · Kyle Brandt▶ 1:22:23IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Boogie Nights (1997)

2 mentions · Kyle Brandt▶ 1:22:44IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Can't Hardly Wait (1998)

2 mentions · Joanna Robinson▶ 25:19IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Directors Referenced (15)

Warren Beatty

11 mentions · Bill Simmons, Kyle Brandt, Joanna Robinson · Known for Reds, Heaven Can Wait▶ 20:14IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Lisa Gottlieb

10 mentions · Bill Simmons, Kyle Brandt, Joanna Robinson · Known for The Blues Brothers▶ 8:40IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Iyi Tubi

6 mentions · Bill Simmons, Kyle Brandt · Known for Ex Machina, World War Z▶ 27:43IMDb ↗Lb ↗

John Hughes

6 mentions · Bill Simmons, Kyle Brandt, Joanna Robinson · Known for Planes, Trains & Automobiles, Uncle Buck, The Breakfast Club▶ 5:51IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Brit Manor

5 mentions · Bill Simmons, Craig Horlbeck, Joanna Robinson▶ 17:08IMDb ↗Lb ↗

David Fincher

4 mentions · Kyle Brandt, Joanna Robinson · Known for Se7en, Gone Girl, Zodiac▶ 1:29:39IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Martin Scorsese

4 mentions · Joanna Robinson, Bill Simmons, Kyle Brandt · Known for Taxi Driver, Killers of the Flower Moon, Mean Streets▶ 1:00:43IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Paul Thomas Anderson

3 mentions · Kyle Brandt · Known for Punch-Drunk Love, Licorice Pizza, There Will Be Blood▶ 1:22:44IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Martha Coolidge

2 mentions · Joanna Robinson · Known for Real Genius, Beverly Hills Cop III▶ 21:41IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Benoit Legros

1 mentions · Kyle Brandt · Known for Edge of Tomorrow, No Time to Die, Solo: A Star Wars Story▶ 1:27:43IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Brian De Palma

1 mentions · Joanna Robinson · Known for Body Double, Dressed to Kill, The Bonfire of the Vanities▶ 1:24:28IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Cameron Crowe

1 mentions · Bill Simmons · Known for Almost Famous, Jerry Maguire, Vanilla Sky▶ 1:22:26IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Actors Referenced (93)

Bill Murray

24 mentions · Bill Simmons, Kyle Brandt, Craig Horlbeck · Known for Lost in Translation, Rushmore, Moonrise Kingdom▶ 2:38IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Sherilyn Fenn

14 mentions · Bill Simmons, Joanna Robinson · Known for Of Mice and Men, Wild at Heart▶ 37:47IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Cyndi Lauper

11 mentions · Kyle Brandt, Bill Simmons, Joanna Robinson · Known for The Goonies▶ 43:50IMDb ↗Lb ↗

James Brown

11 mentions · Bill Simmons, Kyle Brandt, Joanna Robinson · Known for The Blues Brothers, Django Unchained▶ 1:02:56IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Kevin Bacon

10 mentions · Kyle Brandt, Joanna Robinson, Bill Simmons · Known for Footloose, Hollow Man▶ 24:30IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Kid Cudi

9 mentions · Bill Simmons, Kyle Brandt, Joanna Robinson · Known for The Harder They Fall, Don't Look Up, Need for Speed▶ 4:15IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Nicole Eggert

7 mentions · Bill Simmons, Joanna Robinson▶ 1:44:06IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Rosanna Arquette

6 mentions · Joanna Robinson, Bill Simmons · Known for Pulp Fiction, After Hours▶ 1:00:58IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Chevy Chase

5 mentions · Bill Simmons, Kyle Brandt, Joanna Robinson · Known for Memoirs of an Invisible Man, Caddyshack, National Lampoon's Vacation▶ 18:42IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Corey Haim

5 mentions · Joanna Robinson, Bill Simmons · Known for The Lost Boys▶ 1:44:06IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Lorraine Bracco

5 mentions · Kyle Brandt, Bill Simmons · Known for Goodfellas, Medicine Man▶ 21:07IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Michael Jackson

5 mentions · Craig Horlbeck▶ 1:59:02IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Writers Referenced (6)

Bruce Springsteen

12 mentions · Bill Simmons, Kyle Brandt, Joanna Robinson · Known for Blinded by the Light, The Wrestler, Philadelphia▶ 19:35IMDb ↗Lb ↗

William Shakespeare

6 mentions · Kyle Brandt, Joanna Robinson, Bill Simmons · Known for The Tragedy of Macbeth▶ 10:57IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Ernest Hemingway

3 mentions · Kyle Brandt · Known for To Have and Have Not, For Whom the Bell Tolls▶ 1:42:26IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Jeff Franklin

3 mentions · Bill Simmons, Joanna Robinson▶ 29:41IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Dennis Feldman

1 mentions · Bill Simmons · Known for Species, Species II, The Golden Child▶ 29:41IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Kurt Warner

1 mentions · Joanna Robinson▶ 1:24:12IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Cinematographers Referenced (1)

Kevin Cadwallader

1 mentions · Bill Simmons · Known for Real Steel, The Dark Tower▶ 46:20IMDb ↗Lb ↗