Valley Girl (1983)

the audience applauded

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

Julie Richman (Deborah Foreman) is out at the mall with her friends Loryn (Elizabeth Daily), Stacey (Heidi Holicker) and Suzi (Michelle Meyrink). She breaks up with her boyfriend Tommy who later makes the moves on Loryn. Randy (Nicolas Cage) reluctantly follows Fred (Cameron Dye) to a party where he catches Julie's eye. Tommy gets jealous and throws out the two outsiders. Randy and Fred drive valley girls Julie and Stacey into the city.I love the specific moment in time with the kids serving sushi. This movie occupies an odd place. It's similar to some John Hughes movies but Martha Coolidge doesn't have the same midwest sensibilities. This has more edge but doesn't have the same charm. Cage shows his fascinating personality and Foreman is absolutely beautiful. I wish the boys brought Suzi instead of Stacey. Meyrink would have been more fun. Also it's got like bitchin' tunes.

I watched this film after reading the plethora of positive IMDb reviews, touting it as Romeo and Juliette for the eighties and, while it does share with the bard's masterpiece the theme of forbidden teenage love, all similarities begin and end there. Filled with pointless story lines, characters on both sides of the divide who are sorely lacking in intellect, depth and purpose, and an ending that is pathetically lazy and neither intriguing nor romantic, this sorry excuse for a film brings absolutely nothing new to the table and fails miserably at even adding anything interesting, let alone insightful, to a familiar, seemingly straightforward topic. For a truly brilliant take on the complications of love among the young, rich and shallow, watch Amy Heckerling's Clueless, itself based much more faithfully on another work of classic literature, yet adapted to not only appeal to but actually shape the culture of its time. What a shameful insult to William Shakespeare it is, having his timeless work of poetic style and substance compared to this vacuous garbage.

I remember reading a review by Roger Ebert who liked this movie as well as hearing other people who agreed. I think it was dreadful, I knew it was gonna be a high school romance flick, but unlike the successful hughes films like sixteen candles, pretty in pink and some kind of wonderful, or the raunchier ones like Porky's and fast times at ridgemont high, Valley Girl is boring, unfunny and poorly made. There's nothing original about the story or any of the characters, the production wallows in it's own low budget trappings, and man is the acting bad. What a dud. I've seen porn with more entertaining dialogue, how can this movie have entertained anyone.

One word:PlasticsValley girl, Julie(Deborah Foreman) finds herself attracted to Punker Randy(Nicholas Cage) in this simple "opposites attract" tale about what happens when social circles are tainted and friendships are tested. Foreman's friends wonder why she'd even think about dating someone from Hollywood High when she could have Tommy(Michael Bowen, most might know him as the orderly who allows men to screw a comatose Uma Thurman in KILL BILL, while also being the owner of the notorious PUSSY WAGON), the popular, although smug, stud of Valley High. Yet, she finds Randy to be so much fun. Love is there, but can she choose Randy over her best friends. The film embraces..and pokes fun at..the artificial, manicured lives of the wealthy while also being non-judgmental towards the opposite Hollywood side where the undesirables hang.The film's ultimate success, besides the truly marvelous casting of Frederic Forrest and Colleen Camp as Foreman's hippie parents, is the great chemistry between the two leads. Startling enough, the film is quite adult on one side while also lovingly portraying what it's like to be a teenager in love while also facing the pressure of remaining part of your collective group when the choice of who your partner is may not be accepted by the friends you spend time with. Profanity and nudity does appear in increments so the film tries to be as accurate about high school life as possible. The highlights for me, as many who watch this flick, are the songs, styles, and dialogue of these characters. And, Foreman, who I just fell right in love with..she has that smile which really melts you. If you don't fall head-over-heels for Foreman then your heart is encased in steel. It's also cool seeing a young Cage as a punk with the wavy colored hair. Perhaps, one thing going against it, the flick doesn't have much of a story other than the conflict presented to Foreman. This flick depends heavily on the leads for it's charm.