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Smooth Talk (1985)

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Top Critics

Average Rating: 6.6/10
Reviews Counted: 9
Fresh: 7 | Rotten: 2

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Average Rating: N/A
Critic Reviews: 2
Fresh: 1 | Rotten: 1

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Average Rating: 3.1/5
User Ratings: 949

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Movie Info

Produced for PBS's American Playhouse series, Smooth Talk was given a brief theatrical release before its "official" February 9, 1987 TV debut. Laura Dern plays a teenager anxious to experience the pleasures of sexual contact. Left alone in the family summer cottage when her mother (Mary Kay Place), father (Levon Helm) and sister (Elizabeth Berridge) go shopping, Dern decides to wander into town for male companionship. She makes the acquaintance of Treat Williams, a handsome if mildly psychotic

PG-13, 1 hr. 35 min.

Drama

Directed By: Joyce Chopra

In Theaters: Jan 1, 1985 Wide

On DVD: Dec 7, 2004

Live Home Video

Smooth Talk Trailer & Photos

Cast

Treat Williams
Arnold Friend
Laura Dern
Connie
Mary Kay Place
Katherine
Levon Helm
Harry
Sarah Inglis
Jill
Elizabeth Berridge
June
Joy Carlin
Laura's Mother
Cab Covay
Pickup Driver
Michael Bryan French
Stan
Geoff Hoyle
Ellie
Mark McKay
Bobby King
David Michael O'Neill
Mall Boy
William Ragsdale
Jeff
Sally Schuab
Saleslady
Margaret Welsh
Laura
Darian Alioto
Mall Creep
David Berridge
Eddie
Rob Blair
Beach Boy
Craig Caddell
Mall Boy
Gary Harris
Mall Creep
Edgar Kahn
Beach Boy
Spenser Mains
Eddie's Friend
Carl Mueller
Mall Boy
Michael Vaughn
Leroy
William Desmond
Laura's Dad

Critic Reviews for Smooth Talk

All Critics (13) | Top Critics (3) | Fresh (7) | Rotten (2) | DVD (5)

The movie is almost uncanny in its self-assurance, in the way it knows that the first hour, where 'nothing' happens, is necessary if the payoff is to be tragic, instead of merely sensational.

January 1, 2000 Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times

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Roger Ebert

Chicago Sun-Times

Top Critic

Plays uncomfortably like two movies jammed into one.

January 1, 2000 Full Review Source: Chicago Reader

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Dave Kehr

Chicago Reader

Top Critic

Disregard the incoherent ending, which violates the source material (Joyce Carol Oates story): in her debut, Chopra has made a disturbing tale of sexual awakening set against the 1980s new context of shopping malls; Laura Dern is extraordinary as the lead

February 8, 2007 Full Review Source: EmanuelLevy.Com

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Emanuel Levy

EmanuelLevy.Com Source: EmanuelLevy.Com

Despite the less-than-riveting vibe, it's impossible to deny Dern's amazing performance.

December 7, 2004 Full Review Source: Reel Film Reviews

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David Nusair

Reel Film Reviews

Offers ample and telling observations on adolescence, mother-daughter relationships, familial tensions, and the erotic yearnings of youth.

August 18, 2004 Full Review Source: Spirituality and Practice

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Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat

Spirituality and Practice

An unheralded gem of a motion picture, and one of the more vibrant and authentic depictions of teenage life in memory.

January 1, 2000 Full Review Source: DustinPutman.com

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Dustin Putman

DustinPutman.com

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Audience Reviews for Smooth Talk

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I was expecting this to be a fun 80's teen movie, so I got a bit of a shock by the turn it actually took. One of the most chilling and believable films I have seen about being a teenager. The silly girls in this really rang true to some of the girls I grew up with in the 80's and I was really impressed with Laura

March 11, 2009