Valley Girl (1983)

Julie, a girl from the valley, meets Randy, a punk from the city. They are from different worlds and find love. Somehow they need to stay together in spite of her trendy, shallow friends.

Director:

Martha Coolidge

Writers:

Andrew Lane, Wayne Crawford

Stars:

Nicolas Cage, Deborah Foreman, Elizabeth Daily

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Nicolas Cage	...	Randy
Deborah Foreman	...	Julie Richman
Elizabeth Daily	...	Loryn
Michael Bowen	...	Tommy
Cameron Dye	...	Fred Bailey
Heidi Holicker	...	Stacey
Michelle Meyrink	...	Suzi Brent
Tina Theberge	...	Samantha
Lee Purcell	...	Beth Brent
Richard Sanders	...	Drivers' Ed Teacher
Colleen Camp	...	Sarah Richman
Frederic Forrest	...	Steve Richman
David Ensor	...	Skip
Joanne Baron	...	Prom Teacher
Tony Plana	...	Low Rider

Storyline

Julie, a girl from the valley, meets Randy, a punk from the city. They are from different worlds and find love. Somehow they need to stay together in spite of her trendy, shallow friends.

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Plot Keywords:

valley girl | delivery boy | teen comedy | kiss | talking while driving | 

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Taglines:

She's cool. He's hot. She's from the Valley. He's not.

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Genres:

Comedy | Romance

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

29 April 1983 (USA)

Also Known As:

Bad Boyz

Filming Locations:

Du-Par's Restaurant - 17921 Chatsworth Street - Granada Hills, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$500,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$1,856,780, 1 May 1983, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$16,797,122, 23 October 1983

Company Credits

Production Co:

Valley 9000 Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

99 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Julie's parents are played by Colleen Camp and Frederic Forrest. The two also appeared together in Apocalypse Now (1979) where Forrest was a soldier and Camp (who was friends with real life Playboy playmate Dorothy Stratten) was a Playmate sent to entertain the troops.

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Goofs

When Julie and Tommy are at Du-par's, he puts his bracelet on her wrist, but because he does not properly fasten the clasp, one end of the bracelet clearly falls open on the table. Deborah Foreman has to obviously keep her wrist rigid on the table for the rest of the scene in order to keep the bracelet from slipping any further.

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Quotes

Julie Richman: [to her friends] Man, he's like tripendicular, ya know?

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Alternate Versions

Originally, Men At Work's "Who Can It Be Now?" was played during the scene where Randy climbs into the upstairs bathroom through the window and hides in the shower, hoping that Julie will eventually come into the bathroom. In the Special Edition DVD, "Shelley's Boyfriend" by Bonnie Hayes and the Wild Combo continues playing from the previous scene, replacing the Men At Work tune.

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Connections

References Jungle Book (1942)

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Soundtracks

Shelley's Boyfriend
Performed by Bonnie Hayes with the Wild Combo
Written by Bonnie Hayes (as B. Hayes), Steven Savage (as S. Savage)
Almo Music Corp. / Puntoons ASCAP

User Reviews

Specific time--yet timeless

Valley Girl will always hold a special place in my heart: I would say this is certainly the best of the 80's teen-sex-comedies, but that is a back-handed compliment. This is a good movie, period. It is very specific in time and place--nearly twenty years later this is a marvelous snapshot--yet its story remains timeless. (This is just Romeo and Juliet, minus the death, after all!) Nicolas Cage is wonderful, showing all the early promise that, it turns out, he has squandered on overblown action crapola. Deborah Foreman is the revelation of this movie, and I can't believe she didn't go on to have a bigger career; someone rediscover her QUICK. This is sweeter and gentler than most films of the genre--the requisite nudity seems thrown in by contractual obligation--and, while not groundbreaking, it certainly is nice to see this kind of movie that respects its characters and doesn't crucify its shallow young girls for having fun--even Foreman's crew of best friends, misguided by peer pressure, are never presented as villains. (Indeed, her friend Stacy, forced to doubledate w/ Cage's friend Fred, has a good time despite her protests, and makes out w/ Fred in the backseat.) This will take you back to the early 80's if you were there, but it holds up quite well today. Warning to those unfamiliar with the movie: do NOT watch one of VH1's seemingly continual showings of it--go rent it in its unedited glory. Otherwise, you are missing some of the movies' most potent, time-specific dialogue. And one can't write about Valley Girl and not mention the fabu soundtrack of great 80's tunes--most of them by one-hit wonders, which are not only integral to the sense of time and place in this movie, but thematically well-chosen. See it--awesome little flick! Fer shur!!