California Girls

I guess getting old is putting holes in my memory. I thought it was called "California Dreaming" or similar. I see on the art it also says "California Dreams", maybe it was called something else when it aired. Anyway. I was an impressionable 19 year old in 1985, living in a small town in Kansas. I saw this show and it inspired me to join the Air Force the very next day, as a way to get out of my routine. I'm sure I don't recall production quality or acting, but it did have an impact on my life as motivation to make a change.

I'm surprised nobody has reviewed this one. First post, I'll try to make it good. (Brief Story Line) Robbie Benson plays a young kid in search of a better life and better weather in California. Before his flight he falls asleep and dreams the perfect California dream. When he finally arrives, he finds the West coast a lot colder than in his dreams. Not the weather, the people. Near the end a tiny bright spot appears in that he sees a girl who appeared in his dream previously. A nice all around good film. Doesn't seem to be available anywhere but if it pops up on TV, give it a look. As Always, Martin Mull is fabulous as the selfish con-man. This film makes you really feel for the "nice guy".

The complete movie is available on YouTube in fairly decent quality picture and sound come although there are some YouTube channels showing the whole movie in really old crappy VHS quality and sound, which goes along with one of them that included all the commercials of all the crappy cars that were being sold in this country in the mid 1980s. That one's a real time capsule; watch the movie on old 12 inch CRT TV.

Besides the light comedy, there's a deeper message of the idyllic image of Southern California sold to all of us during the 1960s, with the bikini cloud girls on the beach and the beach boys singing surfing songs against the reality of it being a tough place to make it. That was captured in songs like "do you know the way to San Jose" by Dionne Warwick and" they say it never rains in southern California"

Overall this is a really enjoyable movie made in better times as opposed to television in streaming services today which focus almost entirely on bad people committing crimes and doing really bad things.

This film essentially begins with a young auto mechanic named "Nathan Bowzer" (Robby Benson) telling his good friend "Ernie" (Ernie Hudson) about one day going to California in order to escape the harsh winter there in New Jersey. Having heard him say this many times before, Ernie simply nods his head and tries to keep things positive. Even so, thanks in large part to a television commercial featuring a beautiful model basking in the California sunshine, Nathan continues to dream about moving there one day. Then, as fate would have it, after enduring yet another family squabble at the dinner table the night before, Nathan actually books a one-way ticket to California where he hopes to start a brand-new life. Not only that, but he also happens to meet the exact same model from the television commercial and soon falls madly in love with her. What he doesn't count on, however, is how difficult it will be for a naïve young man from New Jersey to actually adapt to the California lifestyle. Now, rather than reveal any more, I will just say that, even though this film is billed as a comedy, there really isn't that much humor to be found here. It does, however, have an endearing quality due in large part to the acting of both Robby Benson and, to a lesser extent, Ernie Hudson. Likewise, I thought that Martha Longley (as the fashion model named "Heather") was a perfect fit for her part as well. Be that as it may, while I don't consider this to be a great film by any means, I suppose it had its moments and I have rated it accordingly. Average.

It's been almost 30 years, hard to believe, but for some reason the movie and plot really stuck with me since I saw it on TV at the age of 12. I was just entering puberty then, so maybe my fond and some distinct memories of it probably have something to do with that.

First - the official synopsis here and on Wiki is not what I remember of the movie. For example, I don't recall that the main character was looking for a particular girl in California, nor do I remember him having a girlfriend back home. But the other two reviewers before me describe what I remember. Here's what I can add:

The main character arrives in California in search of a better life and shortly after leaving the airport, he gets into an accident with a very attractive and glamorous California girl, the kind that inspired the song. The girl is distraught over the body damage -- maybe it wasn't her car -- and because the guy is a mechanic, he offers to come over to her place to fix it over the course of the days that followed. From that chance encounter, a relationship ensues. I don't recall the various other subplots.

Near the end of the movie, he wakes up and it is revealed to viewers that it was all his dream. He gets out of bed to catch his flight and arrives in California, but this time it's raining and dreary out and nothing is as glamorous as they were in his dream. The movie ends right after he crosses paths with a less glamorous but otherwise attractive and more likable girl he had met in his dream version of his California trip. He says hello, and the movie ends, leaving the rest to everyone's imagination.

Pretty silly plot, I gave it a 6, but I'd love to catch it again for the nostalgia.