Review #458: 'Valley Girl' (1983)

In the early 1980's the teen sex comedy was a prevalent genre, producing such "risque" works as Porky's (1982), Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982), and The Last American Virgin (1982) - naming just a few of the many varying qualities of film. Despite Porky's being a more juvenile, and therefore lesser entry, it was the fifth top grossing film of 1982 (even though Fast Times is superior). Basically what these teen movies required was parties, booze and tits. And whilst Valley Girl has all of the ingredients, it is a far more mature film than the antics of a Screwballs, Spring Break, or Private School (all 1983), whose narratives involve the pursuit of sex, in what ever droll form that may take. I'm not suggesting these films are awful - they have their qualities - but the level of drama or realism of character is sorely missing.

Julie (Deborah Foreman), as the title highlights, is from the rich valleys of California. At a house party, she meets Randy (Nicolas Cage), who is a "punk" from the wrong side of the tracks (in this world Hollywood is that place). They hang out for a time and fall for each other. However, the pressures of rich, privileged life gets in the way, as the conformity of Julie's friends, suggests that she is required to get back with her previous, Jock boyfriend Tommy (Michael Bowen). In the high schools of the valley, the need to stay within the confines of your "class" is essential to keep your reputation in tact, and Randy does not fit in to the generic role of preppy boy.

The film does itself conform to romantic comedy tropes, but this does not matter. As with later teen comedies (Clueless (1995) or Mean Girls (2004) for example), Valley Girl highlights, to the mostly teen audience, that it is important not to conform to your peers ideals, fashions and product consumption. Julie's parents are seen by her as lame of course (it's a teenage thing), but Randy sees differently, as they are hippies of the Woodstock age, running a pseudo-fashionable health food shop, their own non-conformist attitude evident, but never pushed onto the daughter. It's a charming little film, that treats its teenage characters with maturity, and they are never simple box-tickers like so many of these comedies of vacuous, shallow, and stereotypical consumer teenagers.


Directed by: Martha Coolidge
Starring: Nicolas Cage, Deborah Foreman, Elizabeth Daily, Michael Bowen
Country: USA

Rating: ***

Marc Ivamy