Humaira Grant
It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.
Keeley Coleman
The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;
Aneesa Wardle
The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.
Walter Sloane
Mostly, the movie is committed to the value of a good time.
Eddie_weinbauer
Read some of the reviews in here,and I keep wonderin if we're all talking bout the same movie. Cause this is absolutely garbage. Poorly edited,poorly directed,poorly performed,decent soundtrack,but it can't save the movie.The story is all over the place,but the gist of it is: Two girls running away.One from the law, the other from her preacher politician dad.Who seem to be intended on proving that there's something wrong with his daughter. They runaway together and hole up in different abandoned buildings.Without any real plan There was supposedly some lesbian love in the picture,but it got dropped.. The one running from the law is clearly really mental ill.Though they don't really dare touch into the subject,too deeply. The biggest problem is that the scenes are so poorly put together,and acted.You don't really understand what's going on,or what drives the character.All of a Sudden they have a band and fans. A radio dj. who've been tracking them.And that has received leathers,from the politician's daughter, they all of a sudden turn on,even though he done nothing but helping them.There are a lot of scenes that don't make sense.Like the two of them going around dropping TV-sets from rooftops,you never get why,or what point they are trying to makeI got the impression the director was trying for something that never quite got made.I can see some parallels to a later 80s movie that was called certain fury(Every other 80s movie, had the name fury in it) Which has much of the same storyline,but in a more raw realistic way.I can also see some similarities to the fab,stains,with diane lane And I can definitely see Pump up the volume in it.Maybe that was the movie he was trying to make.All in all this was a terrible movie
Thorkell A Ottarsson
This was a huge favorite of mine as a teenager. I have been looking for a copy of the film for the longest time and finally found one in Germany. It's strange that it's so hard to get a copy of a big cult film like this one.The film captures well the essence of punk. It is about Nicky and Pamela, two teenage NYC girls. Nicky is from the streets with a dark past and from a broken home. She has serious anger issues but is street smart and has artistic talents. Pamela is from a rich (political) family, with the security that Nicky never had but suffers because her father does not understand her. She is a great poet and full of empathy but has never dared to live her life or take a chance. They meet at a hospital and run away. Together they start a mini punk renaissance in New York CIty.Into this mix comes a radio host called Johnny LaGuardia (played by Tim Curry) who got a letter from Pamela before she ran away. When he finds out that Pamela is living on the streets he decides to use it to get a small scoop but also to fight against the politics Pamela's father stands for. Johnny LaGuardia wants NYC to stay as it is while Pamela's father wants to clean up the streets. Tim Curry is the weakest link in this film. It's hard to tell if it is because of the script or because he or the director did not understand Johnny LaGuardiahe. Tim Curry plays him as some kind of prophet while everything points to him being a self serving, fame seeking egocentric megalomaniac. Tim Curry is at least never a convincing prophet and we never get the feeling that Tim Curry is playing him sarcastically either. Not every scene works in this film and it does not hold perfectly together but it has a very rich soul and a desire for sincerity which is very contagious. It also captures well the culture of NYC in the late 70s/early 80s and the reason why punk spoke to the youths. And it has one of the best sound track ever (including The Ramones, The Cure, XTC, Lou Reed, Gary Numan, Talking Heads, Garland Jeffreys, Joe Jackson, Suzi Quatro, Roxy Music, Patti Smith and The Pretenders.) and a lot of wonderful poetry, like this one:"Dear Daddy, I am not kidnapped. I am me-napped, I am soul-napped, I am Nicky-napped, I am happy-napped.We are having our own renaissance."
jfgibson73
This was a fun story about two teenage girls who came from very different backgrounds, but formed a special friendship in which each had something very important to offer the other.Pammy had always lived a sheltered life, the daughter of a prominent politician. It is just as her dad is gearing up for an important campaign that she has a breakdown that leads to her sharing a hospital room with a homeless punk rocker, Nicky. Pam is immediately drawn to the uninhibited Nicky, and together they steal an ambulance and flee.Over the course of the movie, Nicky helps Pam build confidence by encouraging her to do things she never would have on her own, such as dropping TV sets off of rooftops. Pammy seems to provide a sort of stability for Nicky that allows her to finally utilize her creativity in a positive fashion.Because the story of the politician's daughter makes the news, the girls gain a reputation throughout the city, which is helped along by encouraging words from a DJ, played by Tim Curry. At first, he only speaks to the girls on the air, giving them words of support. Eventually, he allows them to perform on-air and spreads word of their deeds, creating a cult following. Calling themselves "The Sleaze Sisters," the teens build a cult following. Yet, with all the resources of his position of power, Pam's father is unable to find where the girls are hiding.The important parts of this movie are the girls' friendship, the setting, and the soundtrack. I didn't like Tim Curry's performance that much, but I think that's just because I don't like him in general. I found his broadcaster more annoying than anything.The movie ends with Nicky disappearing into a crowd after a successful performance on top of a movie theater marquee. It is left open as to whether she and Pam keep in touch, and where their lives go from here. It seems to be suggested that they will both be healthier and more successful because of the friendship they shared. They helped each other learn to deal with things they couldn't before, taught each other valuable life skills.Suggested double feature: watch this movie back to back with Liquid Sky. Both look at life in early-80's Manhattan and place a large emphasis on creating their atmosphere through their soundtracks. But whereas Liquid Sky focuses on death and sex, Times Square shows lives full of joy and hope.
shango7200
Everyone seems to LOVE this BOMB movie!I was going to school in NYC when the movie opened. The poster looked cool....then I saw it on HBO in 1983, or thereabouts. It was *NOT* a punk movie at all. Parts made no sense at all. All I remember was Tim Curry telling teenagers (on the air) "They treat you like criminals so wear masks; they treat you like garbage--so wear garbage bags" (or something like that). Then all these teenagers emerge in the "big scene" at the end wearing "bandit" masks and black Hefty bags, and I was like "What the F--k is going on?". A real "wrong time/wrong place" movie, that MAY have been altered a little bit, a few years later, into a Molly Ringwald "Brat Pack" vehicle. Maybe. The double LP soundtrack was a cut-out bin STAPLE till the mid-1980's. Stigwood & co. should have learned their piggish little lesson with the Bee Gees "Sgt. Pepper" movie. There are better "new wave" girly movies than this ("Starstruck" , "Breaking Glass" perhaps?). Overall, this movie was a corporate plan to sanitize punk rock for Mall Girl Consumption by the greedy Grease people! Nothing more. But hey, I'm a 40 year old guy (now), so maybe if I was a 15 year old budding lesbian in 1980, this would have been my "Citizen Kane"?