Valley Girl (1983)

User Rating:

6.0/10   

Director:

Martha Coolidge

Writers:

Wayne Crawford (writer)
Andrew Lane (writer)

Release Date:

8 April 1983 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Romance

Tagline:

When punk meets prom the fun begins! [Video Australia]

Plot:

Julie, a girl from the valley, meets Randy, a punk from the city. They are from different worlds and find love...

Plot Keywords:

Love | Punk | Party | Delivery Boy | Valley Girl

Cast

Nicolas Cage	...	Randy
Deborah Foreman	...	Julie Richman
Elizabeth Daily	...	Loryn
Michael Bowen	...	Tommy
Cameron Dye	...	Fred Bailey
Heidi Holicker	...	Stacey
Michelle Meyrink	...	Suzi Brent
Tina Theberge	...	Samantha
Lee Purcell	...	Beth Brent
Richard Sanders	...	Drivers' Ed Teacher
Colleen Camp	...	Sarah Richman
Frederic Forrest	...	Steve Richman
David Ensor	...	Skip
Joanne Baron	...	Prom Teacher
Tony Plana	...	Low Rider

Also Known As:

Bad Boyz
College Lovers (Philippines: English title)
Rebel Dreams (video title)

Runtime:

99 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Australia:M | Iceland:12 | Netherlands:12 | Canada:14A | USA:R | West Germany:16

Filming Locations:

Del Amo Fashion Center - Hawthorne Boulevard & Carson Street, Torrance, California, USA

Company:

Valley 9000

Trivia:

This dialogue between Nicolas Cage and Deborah Foreman in Valley Girl - -"Let's go." "Where?" "I don't care." "What will we do?" "Anything." - -is virtually identical to an exchange between Nicolas Cage and 'Ryan, Meg' in City of Angels (1998).

Goofs:

Continuity: When the teacher is giving the speech for Prom Queen, she takes her glasses off, but when Randy and Tommy are fighting you can see her in the background and her glasses are on again. Later in the scene it happens again.

Quotes:

Randy: [warily surveying party food] What's that?
Suzi Brent: It's like sushi, don't ya know? Like this here is tuna...
[a guest takes a huge bite]
Randy: [looking disgusted] Dig in, Fred.

Movie Connections:

References The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)

Soundtrack:

Girls Like Me

Specific time--yet timeless

Valley Girl will always hold a special place in my heart: I would say this is certainly the best of the 80's teen-sex-comedies, but that is a back-handed compliment. This is a good movie, period. It is very specific in time and place--nearly twenty years later this is a marvelous snapshot--yet its story remains timeless. (This is just Romeo and Juliet, minus the death, after all!) Nicolas Cage is wonderful, showing all the early promise that, it turns out, he has squandered on overblown action crapola. Deborah Foreman is the revelation of this movie, and I can't believe she didn't go on to have a bigger career; someone rediscover her QUICK. This is sweeter and gentler than most films of the genre--the requisite nudity seems thrown in by contractual obligation--and, while not groundbreaking, it certainly is nice to see this kind of movie that respects its characters and doesn't crucify its shallow young girls for having fun--even Foreman's crew of best friends, misguided by peer pressure, are never presented as villains. (Indeed, her friend Stacy, forced to doubledate w/ Cage's friend Fred, has a good time despite her protests, and makes out w/ Fred in the backseat.) This will take you back to the early 80's if you were there, but it holds up quite well today. Warning to those unfamiliar with the movie: do NOT watch one of VH1's seemingly continual showings of it--go rent it in its unedited glory. Otherwise, you are missing some of the movies' most potent, time-specific dialogue. And one can't write about Valley Girl and not mention the fabu soundtrack of great 80's tunes--most of them by one-hit wonders, which are not only integral to the sense of time and place in this movie, but thematically well-chosen. See it--awesome little flick! Fer shur!!