Michael Vaughn Movies
Produced for PBS' American Playhouse series, Smooth Talk was given a brief theatrical release before its "official" February 9, 1987 TV debut. Laura Dern plays a teenager anxious to experience the pleasures of sexual contact. Left alone in the family summer cottage when her mother (Mary Kay Place), father (Levon Helm) and sister (Elizabeth Berridge) go shopping, Dern decides to wander into town for male companionship. She makes the acquaintance of Treat Williams, a handsome if mildly psychotic type who identifies himself as "A. Friend" and behaves like James Dean. When she returns home, Dern is bewildered and dishevelled. We can only speculate as to whether or not she was raped by Williams; we do know that she isn't the same person we met at the beginning of the film. Smooth Talk was based on a 1970 short story by Joyce Carol Oates entitled "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?" ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Treat Williams, Laura Dern, (more)
This run-of-the-mill teen romantic comedy's main attraction is 22-year-old Demi Moore as Laura Victor, an aspiring rock singer. The slightly younger Jon Cryer is Charles Cummings, a dedicated photographer who meets Laura, falls in love, and decides that a dedication to furthering her career might further his own amorous designs. Charles is essentially a loser when it comes to women -- and just about anything else except photography. One day Charles captures Laura on film along a San Francisco seashore and is shocked but excited to run into her later while at a North Beach nightclub where she is a performer. Unable to just let her go, he finally convinces her to pose for him, and as a result of that session he comes up with one good photo which he then puts on nearly 200 San Francisco cabs -- using up all his savings in the process. The result consists of offers that have nothing to do with singing -- until one exception occurs. Another new face in the crowd in this conventional movie is Jennifer Tilly (younger sister of Meg Tilly and Oscar-nominated for her role in Bullets Over Broadway), working in her first film. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jon Cryer, Demi Moore, (more)
