Dennis (All I Wanna Do)



"Come on. Don't give up."

- Dennis to Odette

Dennis is a hero from the 1998 Canadian-American teen comedy film titled All I Wanna Do in the United States, titled Strike! in Canada, and titled The Hairy Bird in Australia. He is the only hope Odette holds onto to survive her tormentors at Miss Godard's Preparatory School for Girls. He inspires Odette to work towards higher future aspirations such as building a professional career in politics instead of her original ambitions of having sex with a guy. Also, he tries to protect Odette from the lecherous teacher Mr. Dewey. He attends Chancery while Odette attends Miss Godard's.

Dennis is a white teenage clean-shaven male. He has dark brown hair and dark brown eyes. His personality can be described as smart and curious. He has two main outfits for most of the film - uniform for Chancery & uniform for Saint Ambrose. Each uniform is basically a necktie and a jacket with the school's crest. Chancery's jacket is dark green. Saint Ambrose's jacket is black. The rest of Dennis' outfit consists of a white dress shirt, black buckled belt, slacks, and brown shoes. Dennis also wears a white undershirt and blue patterned boxer shorts.

Dennis is portrayed by Matthew Lawrence.

When Odette first attends Miss Godard's she is already being bullied by her new roommates - Tinka Parker and Verena Von Stefan. Without her permission or presence, Tinka and Verena snoop through all of Odette's belongings. They start playing her vinyl records and wave around a picture of Dennis. When Odette confronts them about their transgressions they believe they are entitled because roommates are supposed to share everything. Odette turns off the record player, grabs the picture of Dennis, and tells them 'Up your ziggie with a wah-wah brush'. Tinka and Verena laugh at the insult and later on in the movie use it on others at the school. During the community dinner at the cafeteria, Odette meets more of the girls attending Miss Godard's - mainly Momo and Tweety. The girls are relentless at making Odette's life awful. They ask her very personal questions such as her sex life. Odette rebuffs their intrusive attacks. During that night, Odette is tormented further by Tinka and Verena. As they are all saying good night to each other Verena says good night to Dennis. After hearing Dennis' name, Tinka makes sounds as if she herself is having sexual intercourse with Dennis at that moment. Odette gives both of them a look of derision. The next day, Odette thinks about Dennis to get her through her "demented" roommates psychological warfare. In a voice over during the next day's morning, Odette thinks about Dennis. It is revealed to the audience that Dennis provides the only glimmer of hope that life will eventually get better for Odette.

On the day of the school dance, Dennis provides heroic life-changing inspiration to Odette. Through some sneaky tactics, Odette is able to give Dennis a Saint Ambrose uniform and directions to her secret hiding place. As explained earlier in the film, Odette plans to finally fulfill her lifelong wish of having sex with Dennis. Her wish was the reason Odette was sent to Miss Godard's. Her parents found a diaphragm Odette bought and did not want her to have sexual intercourse with Dennis, especially at her age. When Dennis sees Odette at the hiding place they exchange pleasantries. They hug and kiss for a while and eventually end up in their underwear. When Odette asks Dennis for the birth control tools he gives her a can of contraceptive foam and applicator. They both have trouble getting the foam into the applicator. Odette gives up on using the foam but Dennis keeps trying but eventually the abandons it when the canister sprays foam all over them. When the foam is gone Dennis and Odette begin talking about their future lives including marriage. During the conversation, Odette gets inspired by Dennis to pursue a career in politics maybe as a speechwriter and working her way up. Dennis says he will be there for her no matter what happens. He even points out that he was willing to have sex with her to fulfill her previous wish. The two continue to fool around on the bed.

As Dennis and Odette are enjoying each other's bodies, Mr. Dewey suddenly interrupts them. Mr. Dewey has found the secret hiding place while he was outside smoking a cigarette. Dennis and Odette look up and are surprised by Mr. Dewey. Dennis willingly sacrifices himself to save Odette by taking responsibility for the indiscretions. Nevertheless, Mr. Dewey does not believe Dennis is at fault. Mr. Dewey says Odette obviously lured him into the hiding place and placed him in a state of arousal. Mr. Dewey warns that Odette is in a lot of trouble. Dennis gets up and confronts Mr. Dewey face-to-face. Odette asks Dennis not to leave. However, it is too late. Mr. Dewey overpowers Dennis and kicks him out of the hiding place. Dennis tries to go back in Mr. Dewey locked the door. Dennis runs out to find others to help him. He sees Tinka and the Flat Critters and signals them that Odette is in trouble at the hiding place. With the help of Tinka and the Flat Critters, Odette is rescued from Mr. Dewey before she is harmed.