The Survival of Dana (1979)
High school student Dana moves to the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles after her North Dakota parents get divorced and falls in with the wrong crowd.
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Too much of everything
This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.
By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.
It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties. It's a feast for the eyes. But what really makes this dramedy work is the acting.
I get the feeling now and then of having to stay up wide awake late at night, watching these forgotten little movies. SURVIVAL OF DANA is noted for Judge "VICE VERSA" Reinhold's first movie appearance. That doesn't mean anything, because what this little lost made-for-TV movie tells is the story of a girl named Dana, who wants to make the figure skating team. Things suddenly go downhill for Dana, and the movie to go along with it. Without keeping up with the point of the story, it becomes ordinary juvenile delinquent fodder. I'm sitting through some events deemed too unnecessary, just to find an ending that would solve all of its problems. It may call for some reliable entertainment during the sleepless hours, but all it needed was some sticking to the point on Dana. A reasonable acting job is a crying shame for a potentially good effort thrown into the wastebasket. I can't blame a single soul who is looking for late-night matinees on a tight budget, but this'll do. Any movie with a well-known actor's debut is right on the money during a clearance sale. After that, you wished you hadn't felt so disappointed.