Smooth Talk

PG-13

11/17/19851h 31m

Theatrical (limited) Release (US)

Overview:

Connie, the fifteen-year-old black sheep of her family, finds her summertime idyll of beach trips, mall hangouts, and innocent flirtations shattered by an encounter with a mysterious stranger.

Director:

Joyce Chopra

Status:

Released

Language:

English

Buget:

$0.00

Revenue:

$0.00

Key words:

coming of age
teenage girl
summer
sexual awakening
woman director
female sexuality
loss of innocence

Cast

Laura Dern

~ as ~

Connie Wyatt

Treat Williams

~ as ~

Arnold Friend

Mary Kay Place

~ as ~

Katherine Wyatt

Levon Helm

~ as ~

Harry Wyatt

Elizabeth Berridge

~ as ~

June Wyatt

Margaret Welsh

~ as ~

Laura Condon

Sara Inglis

~ as ~

Jill O'Mara

William Ragsdale

~ as ~

Jeff

Geoff Hoyle

~ as ~

Ellie Oscar

David Berridge

~ as ~

Eddie Hunter

View full cast & crew

Reviews (1)

c
clipper314
Written 10 year(s) ago
8
Based on a short story by Joyce Carol Oates called "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?", "Smooth Talk" stars Laura Dern as a bored and restless adolescent who thinks she's more in control of her sexual allure, and more capable of handling the attention she receives for it, than she is. In a deeply unsettling and slightly surreal scene, a hunky stranger (Treat Williams) comes calling for her, and she realizes that she's not as mature as she thinks. The film captures the same other-worldly quality of the short story (the scene with Treat Williams plays out almost like a feverish dream), while ably adapting it to the very different needs of a feature length film. Dern gives a wonderful performance, one of many given by this underrated actress.