Nice Girls Don't Explode
Encyclopedia
Nice Girls Don't Explode is a 1987
comedy
film in which April Flowers (Michelle Meyrink
) is kept away from boys by her overprotective mother (Barbara Harris
) because flames have a tendency to spontaneously erupt whenever her hormones are aroused. For April, "protection" on a dinner date is carrying a fire extinguisher. As mother explains, April is a "fire girl", whose very unstable body chemistry causes spontaneous combustion when she is aroused. As such, the only men April meets more than once are firefighters.
When April reconnects with Andy (William O'Leary
), a former neighbor boy who has moved back, he challenges this assumption and presses his luck to prove to her that her hormones are not, in fact, explosive. Hijinx result as Andy tries to prove his point and get the girl, thwarted at every step by April's mother. Further complications ensue when April befriends a lonely, obsessive pyromaniac named "Ellen" (Wallace Shawn
), who becomes incensed at the constant mishearing of his real name "Ellen" for "Helen"--after which he throws Bic-flicking snits and tries to set his tormentors on fire. But it turns out that Ellen has a secret connection with April's mother: a connection directly related to April's dating problems.
1987 in film
-Events:*January 31 - The Cure for Insomnia premieres at The School of the Art Institute in Chicago, Illinois, to officially become the world's longest film according to Guinness World Records....
comedy
Comedy
Comedy , as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse or work generally intended to amuse by creating laughter, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in...
film in which April Flowers (Michelle Meyrink
Michelle Meyrink
Michelle Meyrink is a Canadian actress; she performed roles during the 1980s in both television and in feature films, mostly playing roles as offbeat teen girls...
) is kept away from boys by her overprotective mother (Barbara Harris
Barbara Harris (actress)
Barbara Harris is an American actress who was a Broadway stage star and later became a film actress. She appeared in such films as A Thousand Clowns, Plaza Suite, Nashville, Family Plot, Freaky Friday, Peggy Sue Got Married, and Grosse Pointe Blank...
) because flames have a tendency to spontaneously erupt whenever her hormones are aroused. For April, "protection" on a dinner date is carrying a fire extinguisher. As mother explains, April is a "fire girl", whose very unstable body chemistry causes spontaneous combustion when she is aroused. As such, the only men April meets more than once are firefighters.
When April reconnects with Andy (William O'Leary
William O'Leary (actor)
William O'Leary is an American actor. Bill made his Broadway debut as "Art" in "Precious Sons" at the Longacre Theatre, starring Ed Harris and Judith Ivey....
), a former neighbor boy who has moved back, he challenges this assumption and presses his luck to prove to her that her hormones are not, in fact, explosive. Hijinx result as Andy tries to prove his point and get the girl, thwarted at every step by April's mother. Further complications ensue when April befriends a lonely, obsessive pyromaniac named "Ellen" (Wallace Shawn
Wallace Shawn
Wallace Michael Shawn , sometimes credited as Wally Shawn, is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, author, voice artist, and intellectual. His best-known film roles include Wally Shawn in My Dinner with Andre , Vizzini in The Princess Bride , and debate teacher Mr...
), who becomes incensed at the constant mishearing of his real name "Ellen" for "Helen"--after which he throws Bic-flicking snits and tries to set his tormentors on fire. But it turns out that Ellen has a secret connection with April's mother: a connection directly related to April's dating problems.