Rewatching Valley Girl

Valley Girl is a 1983 movie about a young couple from different social groups in LA that fall in love. Nicholas Cage stars as Randy and Deborah Forman stars as Julie. As the movie starts Julie is tired of her boyfriend Tommy. Randy and Julie meet at a party and start to date. (Randy and his friend Fred weren’t invited to the party.)

Julie’s friends want her to get back together with Tommy. I guess some of them don’t know he is a jerk. At least one does even if she never tells the others. They think Randy’s so different. Julie gives in and dumps Randy and after a while Randy tries to win her back.

This is a fun movie. Cage might be at his most appealing in this film. Deborah Forman was likeable as Julie (even if some of her valley slang was silly) and there are some nice scenes with her parents, who are ex-hippies. The supporting cast of Julie’s friends are good and I like Cameron Dye as Fred, Randy’s friend.

The soundtrack is good. It includes “Melt with You” by Modern English, “Who Can It Be Now” by Men at Work, and “Love My Way” by the Psychodelic Furrs.

Roger Ebert likes this movie a lot. It was directed by Martha Coolidge, who later directed Real Genius and some other films. It is worth seeing again or seeing if you have never seen it.

The 2018 remake with Jessica Rothe seems to be locked in studio vaults for some reason.

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