by Frank Calvillo
It’s no mystery why teen movies have a reputation for being one of the more low-brow genres around. Most filmmakers telling stories which deal with individuals in their teens typically feel compelled to pile on large amounts of sex and gross-out humor in an effort to hold onto the interest and attention of the very group they’re portraying. As a result, very few are able to point to such movies as films of quality and depth. Yet once in a long while comes a film such as Smooth Talk, which so soulfully encompasses what its like to be a teenager and helps to add some luster to a genre so easily written off.
In Smooth Talk Laura Dern plays Connie, a young teenage girl from a small suburban California town. Like most girls her age, Connie is quick to grow up, slapping on loads of makeup, dressing provocatively, and flirting with boys far more older than her. No one is more fed up with Connie’s behavior than her mother Katherine (Mary Kay Place), with whom she constantly fights. Connie’s free-spirited attitude comes to a halt though when she encounters Arnold Friend (Treat Williams), a 20-something year old drifter who mixes charm and danger to get what he wants.
Although Smooth Talk deceptively starts out like a traditional teen movie, it very quickly becomes obvious that the film is an extremely insightful character piece, rather than a plot-driven mash-up of past cliches. This is a film about deep human behavior and changing sensibilities in what is one the few great cinematic examinations of a teenage girl’s turbulent psyche. As a character, Connie is definitely like a wild stallion, yet there is also a side to her that’s both tender and emotional, which she’s afraid to fully embrace. Ultimately, what makes Connie so fascinating to watch is the fact that she’s straddling between the two sides: the longing of who she used to be and the intoxicating danger of the grown-up world where she is wild and free. None of this would have come across as powerful or as interesting as it does had director Joyce Chopra not infused her film with a definite fly-on-the-wall feel throughout.
Smooth Talk beautifully plays out like a classic piece of an Oates work. The film is so rich in character and atmosphere while at the same time feeling like no other previous work in terms of story and motif. So many moments stand out as undeniably poetic such as the scene when Connie and a girlfriend are listening to a record she’s just put on, which makes the former slowly dance and sing along dreamily to the tune as her mother, in the next room sweeping the kitchen floor, unaware of what Connie is doing, stops and does the same. It’s a beautiful scene and says a lot about the universal experiences both have had.
When Arnold Friend enters the picture, Smooth Talk takes a different and even more involving turn. With her family gone to a BBQ, Connie is faced with this dark and mysterious, yet highly intriguing individual who is dangerously insistent that she take a ride with him. The whole sequence (practically one long extended scene) gives Smooth Talk an almost otherworldly quality as we see Connie struggle with what to do. Scared, yet curious, Connie is literally at the crossroads, with Arnold acting as an entrance into another world for her, from which she will never return.
There’s a deep richness to Dern’s character, which the actress so effortlessly matches in terms of performance. Connie proves such an excellent early showcase for Dern and truly shows what a strong and perceptive actress she was, even at that age. She’s equally matched by Williams, who is amazing as a charming boogeyman. He’s literally the monster girls must face when it comes to abandoning girlhood. Finally, Place is fantastic as the harried Katherine, making sure her character doesn’t come across as a screaming cliche, but rather a frustrated and loving mother.
Smooth Talk’s open-ended conclusion is certainly maddening considering how easy it is to become so emotionally invested in Connie and her journey. Yet the more I think about it, the more I realize how fitting of an ending it actually is. The lack of a crystal clear resolution essentially becomes irrelevant because it isn’t what Smooth Talk is about. In the end, its an stellar exploration about the end of childhood and the beginning of growing up.
Smooth Talk is now available on Blu-ray from Olive Films.
