The Joyce Carol Oates story this movie is based on, "Where Are You Going, Where Have You been" would have made an excellent thirty minute short. But to make it into a feature length film a lot of padding was necessary, and the sort of padding used was of the banal, coming of age sort you've probably seen in dozens of television programs and movies already.
Laura Dern is well cast as the blonde, leggy teen-aged Connie, a typical teenaged girl who is neither particularly likable nor unlikable when she and her gaggle of female friends tentatively strut and giggle around boys at a local mall (the drive-in sixties of Joyce's story is updated easily enough to the shopping mall eighties). Later, when she is home alone with Arnold Friend, the very bad character all that flirting has inadvertently attracted (Oates based him on an actual serial killer, Charles Howard Schmid, who murdered several teens in Tucson, Arizona in the mid sixties) she is very convincing when she is shaking and crying for her mother. Oates' story ends with a terrorized Connie departing with Arnold--her fate is unknown, but going by Arnold's threats and crude, brutal banter it seems more likely than not that Connie will be raped and killed. However, in the movie, Connie is brought back home by Arnold a few hours later, a bit shaken but not particularly the worse for wear--in fact she is more thoughtful and kind than she was before towards her nattering mother (well played by Mary Kay Place) and frumpy older sister. In other words, we have gone from Oates to Degrassi High and the horror that characterized the second half of Oates' text (and that the first half was leading up to) has been pretty much bled out of the story.
"Smooth Talk" is worth checking out for the strong performance of Laura Dern in an early role but don't expect Oates.
Laura Dern is well cast as the blonde, leggy teen-aged Connie, a typical teenaged girl who is neither particularly likable nor unlikable when she and her gaggle of female friends tentatively strut and giggle around boys at a local mall (the drive-in sixties of Joyce's story is updated easily enough to the shopping mall eighties). Later, when she is home alone with Arnold Friend, the very bad character all that flirting has inadvertently attracted (Oates based him on an actual serial killer, Charles Howard Schmid, who murdered several teens in Tucson, Arizona in the mid sixties) she is very convincing when she is shaking and crying for her mother. Oates' story ends with a terrorized Connie departing with Arnold--her fate is unknown, but going by Arnold's threats and crude, brutal banter it seems more likely than not that Connie will be raped and killed. However, in the movie, Connie is brought back home by Arnold a few hours later, a bit shaken but not particularly the worse for wear--in fact she is more thoughtful and kind than she was before towards her nattering mother (well played by Mary Kay Place) and frumpy older sister. In other words, we have gone from Oates to Degrassi High and the horror that characterized the second half of Oates' text (and that the first half was leading up to) has been pretty much bled out of the story.
"Smooth Talk" is worth checking out for the strong performance of Laura Dern in an early role but don't expect Oates.