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Smooth Talk

62 votes

Connie, the fifteen-year-old black sheep of her family, finds her summertime idyll of beach trips, mall hangouts, and innocent flirtations shattered by an encounter with a mysterious stranger.

Status: Released

Released Date: 1985-09-21

Runtime: 91 mins

Director: Joyce Chopra

Spoken language: English

Genres: Drama, Thriller

Original title: Smooth Talk

Production Companies: Palmyra Films, American Playhouse, Goldcrest, Nepenthe Productions

Production Countries: United States of America, United Kingdom

Cast

Laura Dern

Treat Williams

Mary Kay Place

Levon Helm

Elizabeth Berridge

Margaret Welsh

Sara Inglis

William Ragsdale

Geoff Hoyle

David Berridge

Cab Covay

Joy Carlin

Mark McKay

Carl Mueller

Reviews

clipper314

Based on a short story by Joyce Carol Oates called "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?", "Smooth Talk" stars Laura Dern as a bored and restless adolescent who thinks she's more in control of her sexual allure, and more capable of handling the attention she receives for it, than she is. In a deeply unsettling and slightly surreal scene, a hunky stranger (Treat Williams) comes calling for her, and she realizes that she's not as mature as she thinks. The film captures the same other-worldly quality of the short story (the scene with Treat Williams plays out almost like a feverish dream), while ably adapting it to the very different needs of a feature length film. Dern gives a wonderful performance, one of many given by this underrated actress.

2014-08-16

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