Old Enough (1984)

Director:

Marisa Silver

Writer:

Marisa Silver (written by)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

The 12 years old well-bred Lonnie meets the impudent Karen on the street. They spend some time together...

Plot Keywords:

New York City | 1980s | Class Differences | Teenage Girl | Shoplifting

Cast

Sarah Boyd	...	Lonnie
Rainbow Harvest	...	Karen
Neill Barry	...	Johnny
Alyssa Milano	...	Diane
Danny Aiello	...	Mr. Bruckner
Susan Kingsley	...	Mrs. Bruckner
Roxanne Hart	...	Carla
Fran Brill	...	Mrs. Sloan
Gerry Bamman	...	Mr. Sloan
Anne Pitoniak	...	Katherine
Charlie Willenger	...	Danny
Michael Monetti	...	Mikey
Manny Jacobs	...	Jimmy
Gina Battist	...	Marlene (as Gina Batiste)
Paul Butler	...	Security guard

Also Known As:

Jackals (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

92 min | Netherlands:91 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:L | USA:PG

Company:

Silver Films

Trivia:

Alyssa Milano's film debut.

Excellent and very underrated film

This is an excellent 'coming of age' adolescent film. Everytime I've caught it on cable over the years I've never been able to stop watching it. Yesterday on IFC it happened again for maybe the 8th time, I've lost count. It's great that a channel like IFC or BRAVO has recognized the worth of this film because in my video guide they gave it the worst score possible (a turkey), which is an abomination. This is one of the most truthful films about kids and in a wider sense Brooklyn or New York City attitudes in the '80s. The director has to be either very good or extremely lucky to get this much truth on film. 'Old Enough' is almost like an updated, early '80s adolescent version of Engel and Orkin's 'Little Fugitive,' or 'Lovers and Lollipops,' two pioneering cinema verite films of the '50s. It is cut directly from the fabric of life and needless to say, shot entirely on location. In fact, it is almost like walking into the lives of these quintessentially 'New York' people, you can almost smell the neighborhood. The two girls playing the leads are just fabulous; it's as if they're just living their real lives and you're eavesdropping on them; you hardly suspect you're watching a movie. In the end, friendship is shown to be stronger than class conflicts but not until the magical and forever vanished world of the 11 to 13 year old that once existed in every soul has been resurrected for re-evaluation and non-sentimental nostalgia.