Valley Girl: Das Mädchen und der heiße Typ

"Valley Girl" is one of those rare films that's much better today, nearly 40 years later, than when it was released. In its time, it was just another romantic teen comedy, lost in a sea of many during that time period, but today it's a fascinating time capsule of early 1980s Los Angeles - the people, the places, the accents (even if much of it is stylized and over the top). By taking us to a place and culture now mostly gone and forgotten, something about "Valley Girl" gets elevated a notch or two, and it becomes an absolutely fascinating thing to watch.

You can tell by watching "Valley Girl" why Nicolas Cage became a star. He is eminently watchable. The camera just eats him up, and so do we. His female co-star, Deborah Foreman, never amounted to much, but is also highly watchable at the height of her beauty in this film. Together, they succeed in carrying this film and you want to see what happens to them, even if it's silly at times.

Everything today is so heavy and moody, exhibit A being the curmudgeonly reviewers here crapping all over "Valley Girl" because it isn't "high art" or something. Yes, "Valley Girl" is a light-hearted romantic film. That's all it ever set out to be, and it's a fun and nostalgic film to watch (if you have the right attitude...)

In the tradition of "Romeo and Juliet," a punker named Randy (Nicholas Cage) begins a relationship with shallow teenage girl named Julie (Deborah Foreman), but peer pressure from her equally shallow friends forces her to break up and go back to her ex-boyfriend (Michael Bowen). Randy refuses to take this lying down and tries to get Julie back. Will he succeed?

Fine performances by Cage, Foreman, Frederick Forrest and Colleen Camp (as Julie's hippie parents), sensitive directing by Martha Coolidge, and totally tubular soundtrack by Modern English, The Plimsouls, and Men at Work (to name a few) makes this fun sleeper one of the best 80's teen comedies (fer shure).

My evaluation: *** out of ****

I'm glad Cage changed his name from Coppolla and got this part on his own. Light-hearted, no deep thought needed, but a cute piece about opposites attracting- though her parents are still hippies.... Captures the voice of the early 80's- the whine of the valley and the funk of the other side. One can see the beginning of Cage's talent.

I was born a year after this movie came out, so I couldn't relate to it right when it came out.

I just recently saw Valley Girl a few days ago on the WE channel. I thought it was an interesting movie... Many people say the slang is outdated, but I don't know how many times I've heard someone say that something was "rad" or "awesome" or if someone was "getting laid."

Sure, the characters are vapid and shallow. They're like, from the valley, like, you know? I loved the characters of Fred and Randy, especially. I know many boys that have the attitude Fred has.

Nicholas Cage was SUPERB as Randy. I just wish there were more guys like that character: a rough-and-tumble punk with a dopey grin.

I've got to say, any movie that makes me giggle from the style and makes even Nicholas Cage adorable (Keep in mind that I come from his "action movie only era") rocks.

Everyone has a great list of cinematic guilty pleasures, and "Valley Girl" has been on mine from the first time I saw it. It was clear from the first "valley view" of the San Fernando that it was several cuts above your average teen-aimed movie. Obviously, Nicolas Cage was pretty impressive, even if I had no idea of his heritage or his future. I liked Deborah Foreman, too, and the supporting cast was well-chosen. If the plot was trifling, it was at least clever and certainly not pretentious. And the music, from the opening by Foremen and her friends to the closing shot of the limo ride to Modern English's "I Melt With You," is a big plus. Overall, an very entertaining take on love across the valley of cultural differences from Martha Coolidge, who is one of our most underrated directors.