Smooth Talk
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| Smooth Talk | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Joyce Chopra |
| Produced by | Martin Rosen |
| Written by | Tom Cole (screenplay) Joyce Carol Oates (original short story) |
| Starring | Laura Dern Treat Williams |
| Music by | Russ Kunkel Bill Payne |
| Cinematography | James Glennon |
| Editing by | Patrick Dodd |
| Distributed by | American Playhouse Goldcrest Films |
| Release date(s) | September 10, 1985 |
| Running time | 96 min. |
| Country |  United States |
| Language | English |
| Allmovie profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
Smooth Talk is a 1985 motion picture, loosely based on Joyce Carol Oates' 1966 short story "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?", which was in turn inspired by the Tucson murders committed by Charles Schmid. The protagonist and main character, Connie, is played by Laura Dern. The antagonist, Arnold Friend, is played by Treat Williams.
The film was produced by American Playhouse and Goldcrest Films, and originally released to movie theatres in 1985. The original music score was composed by Russ Kunkel and Bill Payne.
[edit] Synopsis
Connie Wyatt is a restless 15-year-old who is anxious to experiment the pleasures of her sexual awakening. Before she enters her sophomore year in high school, she spends the summer moping around her family cottage. She suffers her mother's put-downs while hearing nothing but praise for her older sister June. Her father somehow manages to float around the family tensions. She helps paint the cottage just as her mother constantly demands her to.
Connie passes the time cruising shopping malls with her friends and flirting with boys. When an actual date leads to heavy petting, however, she flees from his car. At a hamburger joint, an older man confides to her "I'm watching you!", and proves it soon after. One afternoon, her mother and June warn Connie to be careful with her flirting, and she is left alone in the cottage when her family goes to a barbecue.
After Connie is playing around the house, a man named Arnold Friend approaches her and identifies himself as "A. Friend". He dresses and acts like James Dean and name-drops several teeny bopper acts, even though he is much older than she is. She thinks about taking a ride with him, but after he persuades her into doing so, she does so out of fear, while his friend remains in the house.
When she returns home, Connie is bewildered and disheveled, but tells Arnold that she never wants to see him again. It is left ambiguous whether or not he raped her; it is implied that she isn't the same person we met at the beginning of the film. After her family returns home, her mother tearfully apologizes to her for slapping her, but Connie reassures her that everything is all right. At the end of the film, she never tells June about what happened, but dances with her to James Taylor's music.
[edit] Cast
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Laura Dern | Connie Wyatt |
| Treat Williams | Arnold Friend |
| Mary Kay Place | Katherine Wyatt |
| Levon Helm | Harry Wyatt |
| Elizabeth Berridge | June Wyatt |
| William Ragsdale | Jeff |
[edit] External links
| Awards | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Blood Simple |
Sundance Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic 1986 |
Succeeded by Waiting for the Moon |
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