Lucas

I saw Lucas for the first time today... more than 20 years since it first came out. I have to admit, I'm a huge 80's fan and even though I was just a kid during the 80's I consider myself to be pretty familiar with the pop culture of the time. However, for some odd reason, I never got around to seeing Lucas. I have to say that, despite the fact that this movie is so old and I've seen movies with similar plots since, this movie still made me teary-eyed. I absolutely adored Corey Haim when I was a young girl and his role as the sweet, vulnerable, yet highly intelligent nerd gave me the fuzzies... the same way he used to when I was young. He, along with the rest of the cast (including Kerri Green, Winona Ryder, and Charlie Sheen), gave a great performance... typical of the 80's teen flicks (with an over-abundance of clichés), but, nonetheless, touching. It's definitely up there with the all time classics: Sixteen Candles, Pretty in Pink... and any of the flicks including the Brat Pack. Definitely worth seeing if you're in a nostalgic mood and want to revisit the old days of knee-high tube socks and head bands.

What ever happened to the adorable female co-star of this film? She's quite lovely in this film, but she seems to have disappeared. Anyway, this is a fun teenage comedy-romance that features Corey Haim, before he got annoying, in a role where he showed great potential as an actor. My guess, he didn't know Corey Feldman yet? Charlie Sheen mumbles his way through the role of the jock with a heart. Winona Ryder, Jeremy Piven, Courtney-Thorne Smith also co-star in this...a cute film.

Lucas was released with little fanfare in 1986, and many think it is one of the greatest "teen" movies ever made. I would agree, for the simple reason that this particular film has realistic, sympathetic and likeable characters and, with the exception of all the football heroic antics towards the end, it's just full of sweetness and charm.

Looking back, it's one of those films with a very interesting cast...

Corey Haim (Lucas Blye) - this was Haim's finest hour, giving a really excellent performance as the title character, a misfit who listens to classical music and collects bugs in lieu of rock 'n' roll and partying. He followed this up with The Lost Boys the following year, but then WHAT happened?!!?...

Kerri Green (Maggie) - everyone loved this sweetly appealing, auburn haired actress in The Goonies (1985) and Lucas - she was lovely in both films. However, Kerri sadly chose not to persue an active film career, which is a disappointment as she would certainly have become a big movie star had she wanted to be...

Winona Ryder (Rena) - even in such a small supporting role, not to mention a debut performance, Winona indicated that she had an extraordinary acting talent. Even though her Lucas co-stars had the bigger roles, it was Winona who has become a major movie star with a huge array of films to her credit, plus two Oscar nominations for her work in The Age of Innocence (1993) and Little Women (1994)...

Charlie Sheen (Cappie) - 1986 was a great year for Martin Sheen's son. In Lucas and Platoon, Sheen did some great work. But like Corey Haim, what on earth went wrong?!...

Courtney Thorne-Smith (Alise) - who would have thought over a decade later this actress would do such a good job as Georgia Thomas in the hugely successful TV series Ally McBeal?!...

Despite its almost universal acclaim and brilliant young cast, Lucas is not as well-known to movie lovers as, say, Pretty in Pink or any other teen movie of that era. Well, all I can say is that those who have not seen Lucas are sadly missing out on something incredibly special.

...and "Lucas" is still a charming and sentimental little high school campus comedy with a message about what's important in life (and it ain't football). Telling of a goggle-eyed "shrimp" (Haim) with little going for him, save his indomitable spirit, who tries desperately to win the affection of a pretty cheerleader (Green), "Lucas" is a crowd pleasing blast from the past with its priorities in order. In this day when movies with messages are rare, "Lucas" is a good family flick (for 13 and up) worth revisiting.

Haim gives his overall best performance as the 14-year-old title character who has a crush on new girl Green and they bond during the summer, but by the time school begins, he gets teased by the jocks and Green leaves him out in the cold and has eyes for football hunk Sheen, who has become Lucas's bodyguard. Fraught with rejection and neglect, Lucas attempts to prove himself worthy by trying out for the football team, which he knows is no easy task for a boy his age. Unlike many other teen movies, LUCAS gives us a character that we can actually relate to, and the other characters fit in perfectly. One of the best teen movies of the 80's.

4 out of 5