This ’80s coming-of-age tale, while thoroughly entertaining, is a movie of somewhat lost or unrealized opportunities. Unlike other 80s teen movies, this one lacks substance or really any admirable characters. Julie’s (the female protagonist) ex-hippie parents are the closest thing to ‘role models’ because they want their daughter to make her own decisions uninfluenced by social pressures.
It’s your typical “boy meets girl” movie plot, but more along the lines of a disjointed Romeo & Juliet. The movie starts with the Julie and her close friends at the mall (the mall was the old Sherman Oaks Galleria for those who recall that long gone Icon to 80’s retail therapy), shopping. Then Julie breaks up with her egotistical boyfriend, Tommy, on the escalators as she’s exiting the mall. Julie seems almost cruel when she breaks up with him. The break seems to mean nothing to her, and even less to her friends.
The girls head to the beach, where Julie first encounters Randy, the hot...
