In 1983, a romantic teen comedy known as Valley Girl came out to positive critical reception and huge box office returns (mainly given its low budget). Known as being one of the earliest entries into Nicholas Cage and Deborah Foreman's acting careers, the film has often been regarded as a strong staple of cult coming of age rom coms from the 1980s, especially given how much its San Fernando Valley setting would be mocked and embraced throughout pop culture for years onward. But looking back on the film more than 40 years since its release, how much does it hold up in today's day and age?
Loosely based on Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, the film centers on the romance between Julie, a privileged valley girl and Randy, a Hollywood city punk, and the two's relationship dwindling based on societal expectations. By establishing Julie as the more empathetic protagonist, the filmmakers appropriately highlighted how much her surroundings and climate make and break her, down to her own group of friends practically punching her around. In contrast, Randy's disdain for the higher class status of San Fernando makes him a frenatically erratic figure in Julie's eyes, thus leading to strong chemistry between the two aided by the factor of Cage and Foreman dating during the film's production. Another cast member who nearly steals the show is E. G. Daily as Julie's spunky friend Loryn, whose witty comments on romance and stereotypical expectations make her arguably the funniest character in the whole movie. As a hysterical take on a familiar story set in a time period we now make fun of, it's cute to see an unconventional romance blossom between two unlikely characters.
That being said, while the romantic elements practically write themselves, the film does admittedly struggle in figuring out what else to include around it. Although Julie ends up becoming conflicted between choosing Randy or her former high school sweetheart Tommy, he hardly poses much of a threat outside of Randy's introduction and the admittedly ridiculous ending. On top of that, many of the side characters don't leave much of an impression outside of Loryn and her reluctant friend Stacey. Any scenes with Julie's third friend Suzi that don't feature the former feel like she and her family belong in a completely different movie, and even her parents are hardly worth taking seriously enough to wonder if they even care that their daughter is going out with a strange guy. Also, some moments of betrayal between Julie and Randy feel too repetitive for their own good, almost like the film is beating us over the head of what we know will happen by the end. In watching this film, it feels like the filmmakers had all the right key plot elements in place yet had no idea how to tie them in an interesting way.
Now if there is one element that actually makes the film more fun to watch than the cast themselves, it would have to be the new wave soundtrack featuring songs that would become hits in their own time. In keeping with the spirited nature of what early 80s teenagers lived by, songs such as Girls Like Me, School Is In, Everywhere At Once and Johnny Are you Queer encapsulate the kind of adolescent endearment not often embraced as much in the media anymore. Many of these songs can also be used as transitional pieces as Julie and Randy go from one LA setting to another, breathing life into their surroundings just as much as the glimmering media encompassing it, if not more. As much as the film subverts and celebrates the cheerful superficiality of teen comedies, part of this comes a lot from how these songs make or break the spirit of the characters throughout the storyline, and had the soundtrack not been as upbeat as it is, it's hard to tell how much of an impact this film would have left on the minds of the exact audience it was aiming towards in the first place.
So while Valley Girl may not be as timeless in its themes or perfectly structured as it was once seen as, it is still a delightfully charming romance elevated by its engaging leads, fully embraced pop culture aesthetic and jamming soundtrack. Perhaps it's best to look at this movie more as a time capsule rather than a timelessly subversive gem, but it wouldn't hurt to look back on this now during the month of love just to see how much director Martha Coolidge embraced with the kind of subject matter she would be known for at that time. This story of the valley girl meeting the city punk is still worth some admiration.
Loosely based on Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, the film centers on the romance between Julie, a privileged valley girl and Randy, a Hollywood city punk, and the two's relationship dwindling based on societal expectations. By establishing Julie as the more empathetic protagonist, the filmmakers appropriately highlighted how much her surroundings and climate make and break her, down to her own group of friends practically punching her around. In contrast, Randy's disdain for the higher class status of San Fernando makes him a frenatically erratic figure in Julie's eyes, thus leading to strong chemistry between the two aided by the factor of Cage and Foreman dating during the film's production. Another cast member who nearly steals the show is E. G. Daily as Julie's spunky friend Loryn, whose witty comments on romance and stereotypical expectations make her arguably the funniest character in the whole movie. As a hysterical take on a familiar story set in a time period we now make fun of, it's cute to see an unconventional romance blossom between two unlikely characters.
That being said, while the romantic elements practically write themselves, the film does admittedly struggle in figuring out what else to include around it. Although Julie ends up becoming conflicted between choosing Randy or her former high school sweetheart Tommy, he hardly poses much of a threat outside of Randy's introduction and the admittedly ridiculous ending. On top of that, many of the side characters don't leave much of an impression outside of Loryn and her reluctant friend Stacey. Any scenes with Julie's third friend Suzi that don't feature the former feel like she and her family belong in a completely different movie, and even her parents are hardly worth taking seriously enough to wonder if they even care that their daughter is going out with a strange guy. Also, some moments of betrayal between Julie and Randy feel too repetitive for their own good, almost like the film is beating us over the head of what we know will happen by the end. In watching this film, it feels like the filmmakers had all the right key plot elements in place yet had no idea how to tie them in an interesting way.
Now if there is one element that actually makes the film more fun to watch than the cast themselves, it would have to be the new wave soundtrack featuring songs that would become hits in their own time. In keeping with the spirited nature of what early 80s teenagers lived by, songs such as Girls Like Me, School Is In, Everywhere At Once and Johnny Are you Queer encapsulate the kind of adolescent endearment not often embraced as much in the media anymore. Many of these songs can also be used as transitional pieces as Julie and Randy go from one LA setting to another, breathing life into their surroundings just as much as the glimmering media encompassing it, if not more. As much as the film subverts and celebrates the cheerful superficiality of teen comedies, part of this comes a lot from how these songs make or break the spirit of the characters throughout the storyline, and had the soundtrack not been as upbeat as it is, it's hard to tell how much of an impact this film would have left on the minds of the exact audience it was aiming towards in the first place.
So while Valley Girl may not be as timeless in its themes or perfectly structured as it was once seen as, it is still a delightfully charming romance elevated by its engaging leads, fully embraced pop culture aesthetic and jamming soundtrack. Perhaps it's best to look at this movie more as a time capsule rather than a timelessly subversive gem, but it wouldn't hurt to look back on this now during the month of love just to see how much director Martha Coolidge embraced with the kind of subject matter she would be known for at that time. This story of the valley girl meeting the city punk is still worth some admiration.