There Goes My Baby

I look at this movie, which tries to collect all of this rebel youth spirit and embody it within a six or seven characters, as most movies about the 60s often seem to do. The result is often clichéd and I'm wondering whether, in the end, these movies are encouraging a sort of myth. Yes, there was the civil strife that lasted at least twenty years, starting with the culmination of the civil rights movement in the mid fifties and continuing to the end of the Vietnam War. That's a long time for a lot of anger, confusion, and energy to come out. And, of course, it did. But how much of it was done in this sort of way, this almost ritual arrangement of characters and themes? This movie made it look like, first, that all of the youth (at least in this town) were in favor of simply one side of questioning their parents or teachers (or other's) judgments and rebelling non-stop against that. Is that the way things went on after being saturated in this struggle for change on so many fronts (civil rights, the war, the feminist movement, etc)? Movies like this tend to be less realistic in their efforts to mark a particular decade, or a particular era, with this desired representation. And "There Goes My Baby" does with particularly little, if any, relent.

This is the story of six friends on the eve of their high school graduation in 1965. Post high-school plans for one involves going into the Army, after having enlisted. For two others, it means hitting the road and "discovering this Country" and sort of getting lost in that hippie culture (at least as embraced by the character, Sunshine). For two of them, it's off to college. And for yet another, it means trying to get famous (an odd one out in this particular mix of characters). But, things suddenly change when, in such a short span of time, they each seem to have their little flirtations with the bigger restlessness of the decade (riots, protests, and so forth) that cause them to rethink things (although, some already realize what's what). It just seems to easily, and done with an abundance of corniness that should have been held at bay if this movie was to be as effective as the filmmakers anticipated. There are far too many ultra-patriotic speeches that seem more laughable than dramatic. And as such, it makes the entire film even more ridiculous.

As others may be attracted to the film for the same reason I was, you do get to see a number of well-known actors in their early days. Look for then-unknown Mark Ruffalo talking to "Stick" (Ricky Schroeder) in one scene where he talks about having found someone to buy Stick's Woody (yeah, that sounds funny).

Although it might not seem, it's a picture of what happens, at least once, in our lives... As the countdown begins for the demolition of Pop's Paradise, great friends get closer and closer to separation, as they will start heading for their own lives, following their "objectives", their dreams, after finishing high school. It all happens in the mid 60s, among social and political tension, which characterized the problems in the U.S.A. during those times. Full of spirit, it will show you courage, friend and leadership, and make you feel somehow nostalgic. The soundtrack couldn't be better, as it gathers some of the greatest hits of that decade, like The Drifters or Beach Boys.

It's the summer of 1965 in Los Angeles. And a group of photogenic high school students contemplate their lives and their futures in this nostalgia flick aimed mostly at baby boomers. Teenage angst, emotional turmoil, and general confusion comprise the fuel for a plot that centers largely around a colorful burger joint called "Pops Paradise".

Hollywood has been down this cinematic road before, many times. The screenplay here is conventional. Characters tend toward stereotypes. The kids are idealistic; the school principal is unrealistically belligerent and unsympathetic; and Pops has the requisite cool jiving disc jockey. The script's dialogue is fairly poor in that there is very little subtext.

Even so, the film has terrific 1960's production design. One of the main characters drives a black 1957 Chevy, the vehicle icon of that era. And, many scenes occur at Pops wherein a parade of old cars slowly encircles the front entrance. Clothes and hairstyles are typical for that era. Overall quality of acting for the ensemble cast is acceptable. Kelli Williams, in particular, gives a nice performance as a budding flower child.

Arguably, the best element of the film is the rock'n roll music. "One Fine Day", "California Dreaming", "Mama Said", "Barbara Ann", "Loco-Motion", and The Diamonds' "Little Darlin" are among the great songs, together with the title song by The Drifters.

Although the film's screenplay is sub-par, elaborate production design and some great oldies but goodies give "There Goes My Baby" great 60's atmosphere and the realistic feel of a turbulent era that now seems far off and illusory, in retrospect.

I was a junior in high school in 1965. This movie brought back so many wonderful memories of that time. I saw this movie for the first time this year (2003) on HBO. As soon as the movie concluded, I went to Amazon.Com and ordered the DVD of this movie. I loved the entire movie. The music was great and the story was good with wonderful characters. I actually 'knew' some of those folks way back in 1965. I was one of them myself. I will watch this DVD many times and I am sure to enjoy it each time. I do think you needed to be high school age in 1965 to TRULY enjoy and appreciate this movie!!

"There Goes My Baby" (title of a 1965 song) is one of the many movies that deals with the end of an era in this case: the American innocence established between the end of WWII and the murder of President Kennedy. The movie shows us the last day and evening of the class of '65 where the boys and girls are together before they take off to the real world i.c. college, tour of duty in Vietnam, discovering the real America by car, becoming a music-star or a member of the flower-power movement in San Francisco... Each of these students have their hopes and dreams. Each character represents a different aspect of the American society. At the end of the movie not many dreams have come true. The difficulty of this kind of movie is that there are several students that are being followed so each story is very thin spread during the course of the movie. There is no real depth of caracter or background. The movie never explains why these students act the way they act or what their motive is to do something. Nevertheless the performance and drive of each actor is superb especially Dermot Mulroney, Rick Schroder and pre-E.R. Noah Wyle. They are all very convincing in their role and they glue very well together. A great asset of this film is the use of the music from 1965. Dialogue is not needed because the songs of that era say it with more passion and determination than any scripted dialogue could ever do. This movie is a-must-see for everyone who wants to know how it was in 1965 when America lost her innocence. After seeing this movie it seems that the golden sixties were never that golden and the youth had as much trouble as they have today! Highly recommended.