Review of Little Darlings (1980) by Jennifer A — 31 Mar 2006

A bunch of 80's teen movies.

[b]Fast Times at Ridgemont High[/b], directed by Amy Heckerling, help usher in the new wave of teen comedies, and it remains one of the best. The script, written by Cameron Crowe, is much smarter than most teen fare. Sure it has it's silly moments (it's a comedy at heart) but it's also one of the more realistic high school comedies. For example it not only explores teenagers longing for sex, but also it's potential consequences when 15 year old Stacy Hamiltion (Jennifer Jason Leigh) gets pregnant and opts for an abortion. This film is also notable for it's impressive young cast which includes Sean Penn, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Judge Reinhold, Phoebe Cates, Forest Whitaker, Eric Stoltz, Robert Romanus and Brian Backer. It's still a fun flick!

[b]Heathers[/b], directed by Michael Lehman, is a dark comedy about a clique of snobbishly popular girls all named Heather. The only non-Heather in the group, Veronica (Winona Ryder) eventually becomes sick of the clique, and she is persuaded by her boyfriend J.D. (Christian Slater) to seek revenge. What follows is a string of murders staged as suicides. Ryder and Slater are good in this film, and the cleverly dark script elevates this over most teen fare. At times it dips into some of the same tired jokes that sink most teen films, but overall it's highly enertaining. Probably the film that most inspired the more recent [i]Mean Girls[/i].

[b]Suburbia[/b], directed by Penelope Spheeris, takes a look at street punks, and other young social outcasts. Spheeris cast real street kids instead of actors in order to create more realism. Most of these kids can't act, but it's fairly interesting nonetheless. The biggest name in the film is Flea. Great early 80's punk music soundtrack.

[b]Vision Quest[/b], directed by Harold Becker, stars Matthew Modine as a high school wrestler on a spiritual journey. He falls in love with a a 21 year old Linda Fiorentino. It's a predictable "underdog" story roled into a teen film. Not as bad as many teen films of this era, but not particularly memorable either.

In [b]Little Darlings[/b], who will lose their virginity first, Tatum O'Neal or Kristy McNichol?