Old Enough

This movie had all the elements it would take to become one of the defining movies of a generation. It had the right characters, the right setting, and the right themes. Classism, racism, religion, coming of age (on multiple fronts), deep family dynamics, urban violence, and adultery were all touched on and even a minor plot turn could have explored any number of them. However . . .

it seems that the film makers deliberately missed out on this opportunity. The viewer can almost feel the hand wringing and pearl clutching amongst the powers that were as even the mildest of controversial themes was approached. The "bad girl" wasn't all that bad, and the "good girl" was naive almost to the point of imbecility. This is no fault of the performers - the acting was very good (with the possible exception of the brother (played by Neill Barry), who was a little wooden - hey, ya can't win 'em all). Even for the '80s it was just too mild.

I can see how the milquetoast WASP crowd might find this movie enjoyable, but for anyone with pulse it's a pretty dull exploration of a potentially deep movie. I think it could be remade today with a little more depth and a little more internal exploration of a great bunch of characters and people would rave.

This movie is such an underdog. It is such a great movie that will never be captured again. Innocence, growing, great acting for such young people. The eyes alone tell the story. I highly recommend this movie. And Danny Aiello Is great as usual. These are people that never went anywhere and should have. The director was 24 years old. It encompasses everything a naive young girl, or woman would see in the city being from a rich foundation. Her compadre is just as naive towards the rich. She doesn't even know what to do as far as opening or closing doors with a maid. Simply gratifying movie that has been left in the dust.

I could not remember the name of this movie. In 1984 I was 11 years old and I watched this movie every time it was on. This movie moved me. When I was 9 years old I was a lot like the innocent girl. A new girl moved across the street from me. She was from a city. I was from a very small town. She had me wanting to be like her. I even helped her steal a mini-skirt outfit for her school pictures. She was the one who told me about the "period". She used curse words, she wore makeup, and her mother used to drink vodka all day long. After she got into some trouble, her mother said I was a bad influence and we were no longer allowed to hang around anymore. She moved away 2 years later and I never saw her again. When this movie started showing on cable when I was 11 I was drawn in forever. This movie is wonderful and so real. This movie was able to show exactly what I had lived and that I was not the only one. Nobody knew then or knows now that these things had happened to me. Im glad I finally found the name and now I will look for its next showing on bravo or IFC. I will record it and have it for my daughter.

This is an excellent 'coming of age' adolescent film. Everytime I've caught it on cable over the years I've never been able to stop watching it. Yesterday on IFC it happened again for maybe the 8th time, I've lost count. It's great that a channel like IFC or BRAVO has recognized the worth of this film because in my video guide they gave it the worst score possible (a turkey), which is an abomination. This is one of the most truthful films about kids and in a wider sense Brooklyn or New York City attitudes in the '80s. The director has to be either very good or extremely lucky to get this much truth on film. 'Old Enough' is almost like an updated, early '80s adolescent version of Engel and Orkin's 'Little Fugitive,' or 'Lovers and Lollipops,' two pioneering cinema verite films of the '50s. It is cut directly from the fabric of life and needless to say, shot entirely on location. In fact, it is almost like walking into the lives of these quintessentially 'New York' people, you can almost smell the neighborhood. The two girls playing the leads are just fabulous; it's as if they're just living their real lives and you're eavesdropping on them; you hardly suspect you're watching a movie. In the end, friendship is shown to be stronger than class conflicts but not until the magical and forever vanished world of the 11 to 13 year old that once existed in every soul has been resurrected for re-evaluation and non-sentimental nostalgia.

This movie has a very very special quality to it. Yes, I understand it's dated. You don't have to tell me the dialogue is totally basic nearly throughout. This is a classic 1980's movie. This movie touches on something. The ending scene very nearly spells it out, but it keeps its message veiled, and leaves it for you to figure it out, like all good movies should.