Just One of the Guys

Plot

Terri Griffith (Joyce Hyser) is an aspiring teenage journalist living in Phoenix, Arizona who feels that her teachers don't take her school newspaper articles seriously because of her good looks. After failing to get her dream job as a newspaper intern, she comes to the conclusion that it is because she is a girl.

With her parents out of town on a two-week Caribbean vacation, Terri decides to remedy the situation. Enrolling at a rival high school, she enlists the help of her sex-obsessed loudmouth little brother, Buddy (Billy Jacoby) and her best friend Denise (Toni Hudson) to disguise herself as a boy. Her brother and friend also help to keep tabs on her throughout the experiment. Along the way she meets Rick Morehouse (Clayton Rohner), a gold-hearted nerd who becomes her pet project. After helping him through an image makeover and encouraging him to start talking to girls (which results in him taking the most popular girl in school to the prom), "Terri" starts to fall for him.

After many episodes in and out of school, including fending off a group of bullies led by bodybuilder Greg Tolan (William Zabka), dealing with her real college boyfriend Kevin (Leigh McCloskey) and being set up on a blind date with a potential new "girlfriend" named Sandy (Sherilyn Fenn), Terri manages to be accepted as "one of the guys". However, she is stunned when she turns in an article and her teacher still criticizes her work, making Terri realize her gender and looks were never the issue.

At the senior prom, a jealous Greg picks a fight with Rick, who ultimately trounces the bully in front of the entire class. When Terri's boyfriend shows up unexpectedly and discovers the ruse, Rick assumes that Terri's big secret was that she was a gay man. To prove otherwise, Terri opens her shirt and reveals her breasts to Rick. Although she admits to loving him, Rick angrily rejects her, prompting a desperate Terri to kiss him in front of everyone. To placate the awestruck students, Rick derisively announces that Terri "has tits" before leaving the prom and Terri behind.

Heartbroken and humiliated, Terri retreats to her room and writes a long article on what it is like to be a girl in boy's clothing, detailing all of her experiences, both good and bad.

In the end, Terri returns to her own school. When her article is printed in the newspaper, she receives high praise from her teachers and friends and finally earns her dream job at the newspaper office. Nevertheless, she still finds herself yearning for Rick, who has not spoken to her since the prom. One day during the summer, while hanging out with Buddy, Rick suddenly turns up after reading her article. Realizing their true feelings for each other, they reconcile and make plans for another date. They decide to go for a drive in Terri's car, but before Buddy can join them, an attractive blonde on a motorcycle rides up and beckons to him with a smile. Buddy then climbs onto the back of her motorcycle, and both couples happily drive away as the film closes.

Soundtrack

1. "Just One of the Guys" by Shalamar – 3:55
2. "Girls Got Something Boys Ain't Got" by Midnight Star – 3:56
3. "Tonight You're Mine, Baby" by Ronnie Spector – 4:57
4. "Prove It to You" by Dwight Twilley – 3:20
5. "Jealous" by Berlin – 4:23
6. "Way Down" by Billy Burnette – 3:34
7. "Burning" by Brock/Davis – 4:20
8. "Thrills" by Greg French – 3:15
9. "Hard Way" by Brock/Davis – 4:48
10. "Guy Talk" by Tom Scott – 2:29

The songs and music that were played in the film not on the soundtrack.

1. "Trouble" by Lindsey Buckingham
2. "Down on the Street" by The Stooges
3. "Turn Out Right" by Private Domain
4. "Comb My Hair" by Johnny Lyon
5. "Buns" by Bonedaddys
6. "Gone Too Far" by Neurotica