There Goes My Baby (1994)

Graduates of a Los Angeles high school in 1965 see America's culture and politics gradually change.

Director:

Floyd Mutrux

Writer:

Floyd Mutrux

Stars:

Dermot Mulroney, Ricky Schroder, Kelli Williams

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Dermot Mulroney	...	Pirate
Ricky Schroder	...	Stick (as Rick Schroder)
Kelli Williams	...	Sunshine
Noah Wyle	...	Finnegan
Jill Schoelen	...	Babette
Kristin Minter	...	Tracy
Lucy Deakins	...	Mary Beth
Kenneth Ransom	...	Calvin (as Kenny Ransom)
Seymour Cassel	...	Pop
Paul Gleason	...	Mr. Burton (as Paul Xavier Gleason)
Frederick Coffin	...	Mr. Maran
Janet MacLachlan	...	Lottie
Andrew Robinson	...	Frank
Humble Harve Miller	...	The Beard
Shon Greenblatt	...	Morrisey

Storyline

In the final few days of Pop's Paradise - a hamburger joint that's been a second home to Westwood High's senior class - and a group of friends must face the biggest decisions of their lives. There's Stick, a surfer headed for Vietnam, Pirate, who wants to discover America along Route 66, and Michael, whose political activism may destroy his Harvard-bound future. Little do any of them realize that their final carefree days will also mark the end of their - and all of America's - innocence.

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Plot Keywords:

high school | police | surfer | love | showdown | 

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Taglines:

It was a summer they would never forget.

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

2 September 1994 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Last Days of Paradise

Filming Locations:

Edwards Drive-in Theatre, 4469 East Live Oak Avenue, Arcadia, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$10,500,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$84,137, 5 September 1994, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$123,509

Company Credits

Production Co:

Nelson Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

99 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

Jill Schoelen and Paul Gleason previously worked together on Rich Girl 1991. They played Father and daughter, in this film they play to opposites that hardly interact.

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Goofs

At one point the narrator in talking about the Watts Riot speaks of the assassination of President Kennedy happening the year before. The Watts riots happened in August 1965 and the JFK assassination happened in November 1963, which would place it almost two years earlier, not one as stated.

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Connections

References I Love Lucy (1951)

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Soundtracks

Joey's Club
Written by Mitch Dalton
Courtesy of Associated Production Music

User Reviews

Facile, one-dimensional music video about the 1960's.

I try not to comment on films that have so little merit, but this one caught my attention. There were many enthusiastic comments, but the overall rating was low, though not low enough.

This is a facile, one-dimensional music video about the 1960's. It would be hard to gather from this lighter than air treatment that those issues made the 60's the most important decade of the 20th century. Oh, there's Watts, Berkeley and Viet Nam stirred together in a sickly sweet soufflé', but it was a waste to film this movie in color, since everything comes off so black and white. The teachers, representing the Establishment, are all stupid and wicked. The students are all on their way to Harvard or Princeton, to underscore how much smarter they are than everyone else. And everyone proceeds in a straight line toward their destiny, without any of the internal conflict that makes for good fiction.

Dermot Mulroney is pitifully wasted as Pirate, the Free Spirit. Noah Wyle shows the promise of one day rising to mediocrity, with a lot of hard work. And poor little Rickey, or Rick, or Rikki or whatever it is now Shroder. Maybe one day he'll be Richard, fulfilling his potential of becoming as bad an actor in adulthood as he was in childhood. The only thing that made this movie bearable was the great soundtrack provided by rock DJ The Beard, serving as a sort of Greek Chorus to keep this limp litany pumped up as much as possible.

If you want a good movie about this era, dust off American Graffiti. If you want a lighter look, you'd probably like Hairspray or Shag. Unless you were in this stinker and wanted to show off to your friends, and even then I'd think twice, don't waste your time on this one.