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A teenage girl from the heart of the San Fernando Valley expands her horizons in Valley Girl, a, like, totally fun high school-set rom-com musical.
I suppose I should stipulate that I haven’t seen the 1983 Nicholas Cage-fronted Valley Girl. This musical adaptation of that is so spot-on I don’t think I want to.
This tale of a sunbaked suburbia, the afternoons at the Galleria and the scary unknown that is “the other side of the hills” (downtown Hollywood) is actually told in flashback by a present-day mom (Alicia Silverstone in a brilliant bit of casting) telling her teenage daughter (Camila Morrone) about her big high school romance. Back in the 1980s day, Encino native Julie (Jessica Rothe, star of the Happy Death Day movies and once again giving out just the right energy) is dating the “perfect” guy, tennis star Mickey (Logan Paul), and spends her free time hanging out with her buddies at the mall. But she wants to find new adventure, maybe even go into Hollywood, that haven of vice that the Valley children have clearly been made to fear.
It takes a beach outing to bring the MTV-loving crowd of the Valley into the path of the punk crowd from Hollywood. Julie has a brief meeting with Randy (Josh Whitehouse), who, along with his rocker friends, later shows up at a Valley party. They hit it off and he brings her to Hollywood to hang out at a club where his band plays.
Julie quickly dumps Mickey and revels in this new relationship, one without the pressures of high school popularity and that even reawakens her interest in fashion design and following a different path than the one her parents (an excellent Judy Greer and Rob Huebel) set out for her. But Randy isn’t as interested in bending to experience her world as she is to experience his, so, like, friction.
Look, if I say “pastel plaids on characters singing the Go-Gos’ ‘We Got the Beat’ while dancing around a fountain at a thriving 1980s mall” and you say “blech, no thank you” then you already know where you stand on this movie. I, watching this by myself, clapped and said, out loud, “delightful!” at that early scene and my opinion did not change. There is a fight scene (featuring a character who feels like he’s doing “Johnny from The Karate Kid” cosplay for the whole movie) scored to Duran Duran’s “Rio” after a tension-filled scene scored to “Safety Dance.” “Kids in America” is used to underline a character’s ennui and “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” helps demonstrate her longing for Something More. I said “yay!” at more than one song cue and could not keep from occasionally singing along (which is a thing you don’t have to suppress watching movies on the couch). And having Alicia Silverstone, queen of a 1990s glossy California teenager movie, as the mom is just a chef’s kiss touch of perfection. This movie, this mix tape of 1980s music and visuals and vibe, knows what it is and delivers its tone and blend of high-school-drama romance, self-conscious nostalgia and genuine coming of age story beats (Judy Greer saying “au revoir” actually made me tear up) perfectly. A-
Rated PG-13 for teen partying, language, some suggestive material, and brief nudity, according to the MPA. Directed by Rachel Lee Goldberg with a screenplay by Amy Talkington, Valley Girl is an hour and 42 minutes long and distributed by MGM. Available for rent.