CheerupSilver Very Cool!!!

CrawlerChunky In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

ChampDavSlim The acting is good, and the firecracker script has some excellent ideas.

Darin One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

Galina Since I read Joyce Carol Oates' short story "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?" many years ago as a teenager myself (many Oates' works were translated to Russian - she was and I hope still is very popular there), I've been fascinated by it. I've read many Oates's stories and some of her novels but the 10 pages long story of 15 years old Connie, "shallow, vain, silly, hopeful, doomed— but capable nonetheless of an unexpected gesture of heroism at the story's end" has stuck in my memory and I could never forget it. When I found out that the story was adapted to the screen, I tried to find the movie, "Smooth Talk" (1985) directed by Joyce Chopra and I saw it finally last weekend. A disturbing coming of age drama, the winner of The Grand Jury Prize at 1986 features 18 years-old Laura Dern who appears innocent, gawky, and provocative all at once. Laura owns the film as a sultry woman-child who just began to realize the power of her sexual attractiveness during one long summer that would change her life forever. It does not surprise me a bit that Dern's next movie would be David Lynch's "Blue Velvet" where she played sweet and innocent Sandy and in a few years she would play her best role, Lula Fortune in his "Wild at Heart" (1990). The more I think of Laura, the more I see her as one of the most talented actresses of her generation. She is fearless in taking sometimes unflattering roles and she never lost that aura of innocence wrapped in irresistible sexuality that made her Connie in "Smooth Talk" so alive and unforgettable.The links to the full text of the story and to the Oates' article about adapting it to the film are posted on the movie's message board. I was shocked to find out what the real story behind the fictional was.

moonspinner55 Laura Dern is perfect as lanky lass in a small town sparring with her parents, estranged from her older sister, desperate to be liked and to be with boys. Opening moments of this adaptation of Joyce Carol Oates' story "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been"--with Dern and friends doing the mall--are realistic but nothing too original; second portion of the film, with Laura meeting smooth talking Treat Williams (who comes dressed like the James Dean poster on Dern's wall) is elongated and dry (you can almost feel the director's confidence slipping away). It's an encounter I didn't particularly care for, nor did I buy the rosy ending either. However, there are fine moments in "Smooth Talk", the most devastating of which lies in a conversation between Dern and indifferent sis Elizabeth Berridge (in a terrific performance): Dern recalls a vivid, lovely childhood memory between the two, but after listening and thinking it over, Berridge tells her, "I don't remember..." **1/2 from ****

Jeannot Such a cliche, I know. But it was better--much more powerful. I agree with those who say that the screenwriter shouldn't have monkeyed with the ending. As it is, the ending is a trite piece of moralistic crap.The original ending was powerful, indeterminate, and disturbing. The story, BTW, is based on the murderous career of Charles Starkweather (I think it was) back in 1950's Texas. The character of Arnold Friend (Treat Williams) is Oates' take on this serial killer. Except that now he's not a serial killer.I agree with those who say that the acting is very well done, particularly by Laura Dern and Treat Williams. And the screenplay sticks close to the story until the very end. God knows who is responsible for the change. It could be the screenwriter, or it could be the producer or director (or their girl/boyfriends). It seems, tho, that Oates, as co-screenwriter, went along with the change. Maybe she just didn't want to be difficult.The original story was both disturbing and subtle, with a lot of effective symbolism. I recommend it.

George Parker "Smooth Talk" spends the first half of its run time developing the Dern character, showing her to be a typically (more or less) rebellious, angst-filled, brittle teen who is just discovering boys and dating when an unexpected encounter with a smooth talker (Williams) forces her to take a quantum leap toward maturity. A simple little serious-minded indie with a thin story and not so thin message, "SM" is a slow starter with a solid performance by Dern which will likely be most appreciated by females. B-