Funny how perspective can change so much over time. In 1983’s Valley Girl, a hot mom played by Lee Purcell puts the moves on a high school boy who’s interested in her daughter. The scene is kind of funny, as she quotes lines from The Graduate and he has no idea what she’s talking about. You can tell he’s trying to leave gracefully.
I know that, if I had seen this when I was younger, I would have been going, “Dude! Go for it!” Now I see something like this and I’m appalled any adult would want to socialize with a high school student, let alone try to sex them up.
Overall, this is a sweet little romantic comedy, as well as a time capsule of the early 80s. Nicholas Cage plays a guy from the wrong side of the tracks who falls in love with a well-to-do popular girl played by Deborah Foreman. A telling moment has them hanging off each other while a marquee behind them advertises Romeo & Juliet. I guess this movie is a bit like that, only with 100% fewer suicides.
This movie was directed by Martha Coolidge, and it is refreshing to see a movie of that era directed by a woman. Also, I was surprised it was directed by a woman, given the extent of the boobage on display. One of the top-billed actresses is Elizabeth (E.G.) Daily, who was Dottie in Pee Wee’s Big Adventure. Odd, but I was seriously uncomfortable seeing Dottie topless and she is for longer here than I ever would have expected.
I don’t know anything about Coolidge, but I have no doubts she was familiar with the punk and alternative scene in LA at the time. Maybe it was studio interference, but I was surprised the “crazy” club Cage and his best friend (Cameron Dye) take Foreman and her friend to has The Plimsouls as the house band. No knock about this group, but it isn’t like they went to go see X. The Plimsouls do their signature tune, “A Million Miles Away” twice. Funny but, that second time we hear it, I felt the movie had been treading water when I suddenly thought, “Didn’t we hear this song already?”
Speaking of the soundtrack, it is very solid. In addition to The Plimsouls, there’s choice tracks by Psychedelic Furs, Modern English, Men At Work and Sparks. There are also some one-hit-wonders like “Johnny, Are You Queer?” by Josie Cotton and “Jukebox (Don’t Put Another Dime)” by The Flirts, and now I can’t get that latter track out of my goddamn head.
I was wondering how that Josie Cotton track might be regarded nowadays and that started me thinking about how some elements of this movie haven’t aged well. Some of these may have been off-putting even then. My biggest grievance is how Cage hides in the shower during a party he just got thrown out of, waiting for Foreman to appear so they can talk. Hiding in the bathroom while different people come and go, doing their thing, oblivious to the fact he’s there—really?! And Foreman’s character seemed a bit too fickle and lacking to confidence to warrant the trouble Cage eventually goes through. She is very easily swayed by her friends.
I’m not sure if it was the director’s intention, but the ending of Cage and Foreman in the back of the limo seemed to me to be similar to the final shot of The Graduate. At least the tone of Valley Girl is more upbeat at the end than the one for that film. And I found this 80’s teen comedy more enjoyable than, and free from the pretentions of, that earlier picture. But where this really shines is the soundtrack. As Cage jokes to Foreman’s friend, when she is too scared to get out of the car at the “punk” club, “If they attack the car, save the radio.” Amen, brother.
Dir: Martha Coolidge
Starring Nicholas Cage, Deborah Foreman, Elizabeth (E.G.) Daily, Cameron Dye
Watched on Shout Factory blu-ray