Foxes (1980)

Thanks for the memories!

Nice effects though.

Better Late Then Never

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

I saw this when it came out at a Beaumont, Texas drive-in. I have always been a huge fan of The Runaways, so I couldn't wait to see it. All I really remember back then - other than it being on a double-bill with the Blue Lagoon - is it rained half way through it so I had to keep putting on the windshield wipers, LOL.It was so worth it then luckily I was able to record it off of cable a few years later so I got to really see it without interruptions.My favorite scene is when they are cruising down Hollywood Blvd. looking for Annie and we get a glimpse of all the oddball characters: the Mary Weirdo, the dog smoking a pipe, etc.I only wish that I could now get this on DVD. Great, great film.

Foxes is Adrian Lyne's debut movie after a successful stint in creating commercials in the 1970s.Just like Alan Parker in Bugsy Malone, he teams up Jodie Foster and Scott Baio taking a meandering look at the friendship of four teenage girls growing up in LA's San Fernando Valley in the late 1970s as they deal with sex, drink, drugs, partying, love and growing up. Jodie Foster tries to protect them all but some are hell bent on self destruction. Giorgio Moroder provides the tinny synth music and Donna Summer sings the infectious title song 'On the radio.'Looking at the film over three decades later it features a more grimy and seedier suburb, its still contained in the disco era where even the adult characters seem lost and screwed up. British actor Adam Faith has a cameo as Jodie's dad who is a tour manager. Despite the on-screen talent which contains several Oscar nominees this is a rather dull and plodding film with very little point to it. The music livens it up a little as Glam rockers Angel make an appearance.Lyne makes good use of lighting and establishes a visual look that will become popular in the 1980s.

I loved, and still love this movie. When it came out, I was 12, and living a rather sheltered existence in Sacramento, which was very much like a Northern Californian version of the SoCal's "The Valley".This movie does a very realistic job of portraying how different things were for teenagers back in that era. Today's teens have been raised by parents who've bought into the idea that they need to be around their kids 24/7--the whole attachment parenting thing. Young kids spend most of their time around their adult parents, and if they do hang out with other kids, they are highly supervised "play dates". They grow into teens who may have some online freedom, but most likely are regimented into structured "programs"--lessons, classes, teams or clubs with high degrees of adult supervision. Parents often try their hardest to be seen as "friends", with the hope that their teen will share every little last thing about their lives, so different from the generation gap I recall in the late 70s/early 80s when I was that age.And these parents have very little of an adult life outside of their precious darlings-- so unlike what I recall of my parents and their large circle of friends with their frequent dinner parties and kid-free vacations and camping trips. Today's parent would have a guilt trip of epic proportions if it was even suggested that they spend adult time away from the kiddies.They might just be turned in to CPS if they allowed their teenagers to have even the tiniest amount of freedom as the 4 "Foxes" did in this thoughtful and revealing movie. Teenage girls aimlessly driving around, taking buses by themselves down to Hollywood, and having a much older boyfriend with a cool adults-not-welcome party pad would simply never happen in today's helicopter-parented middle classes.My teenage years in the early 80s weren't quite as free as these girls had it, but I remember endless nights spent driving around in a car full of friends with a "suitcase" of cheap Shafer beer, often ending up at the party house belonging to a bunch of 20- something guys--with nary a parent in sight, and no constant texting or calling ones' parents every hour. There was plenty of beer and pot, and lots of kids were having sexual relationships. And yet somehow we all made it--my group of pals all went to university; no one got arrested, addicted or pregnant.Kids like Annie who overdid it were around--though not many suffered the same extreme fate as Cheri Currie's character did. Ironically, Annie was the one with the MOST parental involvement, albeit an abusive authoritarian jerk of a father, and yet she has the toughest road to follow.Jodie Foster is, unsurprisingly, excellent, playing yet another smart, capable and sophisticated-beyond-her-years teen, unflinchingly blasé about sex, booze, and 'ludes until she needs to be emotional about Annie's behavior that is getting her closer and closer to being involuntarily committed to a mental ward. Foster's sheer intelligence is so evident even in those early years; it's no surprise to me that she became such a huge success, and so well-respected for the depth and excellence of both her acting and directing.I really do love this movie, but boy howdy does it highlight how much society has changed in regards to its views of childhood, teenagerdom, and adults' roles. I must admit that I'm rather nostalgic for those freer times when there was more of a healthy boundary between teenagers and their parents position in their lives. "Foxes" is a stylish yet very realistic look at Valley girls before they were "Valley Girls".

..stopped laughing because the acting was so realistic, and heartfelt. And then realized how a well told story can be dressed in any era, as the human heart never changes. Young adults trying to make their first forays into the adult world, confused, stumbling, and learning by getting burnt, as always. This is no Little Darlings. LD is a cartoon compared to this. And Fast Times at Ridgemont High is like a sitcom(which it later actually became for a short spell) in comparison. Best of all, you get the first strong glimmering that something special will be in store for Jody Foster. She is only 18 here, with a baby face, but you can strongly sense something very much more would be in store for her down the line, after she wisely got her Yale degree. We are missing her in movies for almost the entire 80's, but she more than made up for it from "The Accused" on. One wonders what she might have done in her missing "20's" decade acting-wise, but good for her for what she considered more important at the time. Now she has a Yale degree AND two Oscars, and isn't even finished yet!