Jeanies Clique

Story about four teenage girls growing up in California. Jeanie (Jodie Foster) is the most level-headed of the bunch--but wants to move out of her house where she lives with her divorced mother (Sally Kellerman). Annie (Cherie Currie) is addicted to drugs, alcohol and bad boys and is beaten up by her father. Madge (Marilyn Kagan) has overprotective parents. Deirde (Kandice Stroh) thinks she's more mature than the rest of them.

This is nothing new from what we've seen plenty of times before--but this one has one big difference--it's accurate. I graduated from high school in 1980 (when I first saw the film) and I was surprised at how realistic it was. They got the dialogue, clothes and attitudes down completely right. Even the main song of the movie ("On the Radio" by Donna Summer) was a big hit before this came out. This film hit me harder than any other teen film of the time because I could understand and relate to the characters. I knew girls in high school who were just like this! The film is (of course) dated but it captures a time we will never see again.

The acting is good on all counts with Foster giving the best performance. The relationship between her and Kellerman (who was excellent) was realistic and well-done. Even Scott Baio (who has a small role as a friend of the girls) more or less realistically played a teen boy.

A very good movie--essential viewing if you came of age in 1980. The film has a deserved R rating (plenty of drug use and swearing) but should be seen by all teens. I give it a 8.

Totally agree with the previous reviewer that screenwriter and co producer Gerry Ayres and director Adrian Lyne took a good, simple story of a difficult friendship between two teenage gals and inflated it to the point where the central conflict between Jeannie and Annie is lost amid a clutter of sub plots, added characters that contribute very little, like Madge and Jay, and a need for every messed up teen girl to have an equally messed up (or worse) parent. Consequently, when we come to the tragic denouement the impact, while not lost, is certainly lessened. Indeed, if it were not for the fine acting of Jodie Foster and Cheri Currie there would be little reason to watch the film at all other than some nice shots of LA in the early 80s, courtesy of cinematographers Leon Bijou and Michael Seresin, that make even Van Nuys appear painterly. Give it a C plus. PS...I like Donna Summer as much as the next guy (or gal) but if they played "On The Radio" one more time I was gonna toss my radio through the goddamn tv screen!

I adore this movie. It is one of the best teen movies ever! Jodie Foster, Cherie Currie, Marilyn Kagan, and Kandice Stroh were awesome! The whole movie seems realistic, and is very interesting and thoughtful. It concerns four teenage girls struggling with problems as they live their lives in the San Fernando Valley. Jeanie (Foster) is fighting with her divorced mother, Annie (Currie) is a teen runaway who drinks and pops pills, and runs away from her abusive father. Madge (Kagan) is a young girl who is overweight and mad that she is a virgin. Plus, her parents are overprotective and she has annoying younger siblings. Then there is Deirdre (Stroh) who is not as developed as the other characters, she is basically one of their friends who likes boys and has a lot of boy troubles. I like the music, the acting, and there were some scenes that were great...the party and the ending were standout scenes. The concert scenes were funny as well. The ending is a tearjerker, but I won't give it away. See for yourself and rent or buy this great film.

This is one of my all-time favorite films. Jodie Foster in 1980 once again showed in this film and the movie " Carny" in the year 1980 (when both films were released ) that she had a whole lot more of her " teen who has a huge heart and older than years approach to the world" persona especially in this film Foxes. She takes care of all of her friends including her own mother. She's the most stable of all the characters and she plays it off brilliantly. Cherie Currie, lead singer of the 70's jailbait all-girl band The Runaways stars in one of her few and most memorable roles as the charachter Annie a real drug abusive teen drinking machine who has an abusisve cop father and a mom who doesn't do anything about it. The other 2 girls are kinda forgettable as their basically in the film as either humorous charachters and to at least show that 1 of the 4 girls has to deal with losing her virginity to actor Randy Quaid in one of his first roles.Great concert scene with the late 70's early 80's band Angel and of course having Scott Baio in the film helped promote the film with his and Ms Foster being huge teen stars of this era. The ending doesn't come as a suprise even though it makes you feel bad that Jodie Foster's character couldn't help the teen girl more but if you've never seen this rent it or BUY IT!!! as this is a underlooked classic.***** out 5

Despite the presence of the always top flight Jodie Foster, Adrian Lyne's soaper about the desperate lives of four teenage girls living in sunny but suffocating Southern California is hampered by movie of the week cliches and a meandering storyline that never really goes anywhere. Divorces, absentee parents, easy access to alcohol and drugs, and a strong dose of hopelessness and ennui drive the foxes of the title to varying levels of destruction. Unless you were at a particularly impressionable age when you first saw the film, Foxes is likely to feel too deliberate and drawn out. It is fun, however, to take a peek at the performances of Scott Baio, Sally Kellerman, Randy Quaid, Lois Smith, and Cherie Currie (my favorite, though, is Marilyn Kagan as sexually maturing Madge) as well as the histrionics of glammy rockers Angel. Added bonus: Donna Summer sings the theme "On the Radio."