The material world of “Valley Girl,” a fizzy and fun remake of the 1983 cult rom-com, sprawls across contrasting ’80s neighborhoods. Julie (Jessica Rothe) and her posse live in the San Fernando Valley, where they shop and shriek in a luridly glowing mall. But over the hill, the grimier world of Hollywood is home to her soon-to-be boyfriend Randy (Josh Whitehouse), whose pierced and tatted pals prefer moshing at punk shows.
The original movie, starring a hunky Nicolas Cage, cast this fantasy of Los Angeles as the backdrop for Julie and Randy’s star-crossed romance: Suburban fashionista meets downtown rebel. The remake (available on demand) amplifies the couple’s divide by reimagining their affair as a jukebox musical. Encino-based mall rats harmonize to “We Got the Beat”; wild children of the strip belt “Bad Reputation.” With teasing self-awareness, the director Rachel Lee Goldenberg flattens the characters into cultural touchstones. Through fashion, lingo and the pop hits they perform, Randy, Julie and their friends become Halloween costume archetypes of their milieus. They ooze the ’80s.
Some sequences gel more than others. An aerobics class mash-up of songs including “Tainted Love” and “Material World” is nearly atonal. But a beachy performance of “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” — which slows to a mournful lament during the verse about boys hiding girls away — toggles pleasingly between pep and melodrama. Later, in a stagy aside, Julie glides through a party in slow motion, crooning a downtempo rendition of “Kids in America.”
This good-natured hokiness is what ultimately makes “Valley Girl” so entertaining. It helps that the story is framed by an adult Julie (Alicia Silverstone) recalling her halcyon days to her daughter (Camila Morrone). With perspective, Julie can admire her teen years while appreciating their ridiculousness. Fortunately, Goldenberg follows Julie’s lead; nostalgia might be the movie’s melody, but it sings sweetly in the key of irony.
Valley Girl
Rated PG-13. Running time: 1 hour 42 minutes. Rent or buy on Amazon, Google Play and other streaming platforms and pay TV operators.
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May 08, 2020 at 11:06AM
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‘Valley Girl’ Review: A Jukebox Musical in the Key of Irony - The New York Times
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