The British Wish You Were Here served as the auspicious film debut for 16-year-old Emily Lloyd. The scene is a British seaside community of the 1950s, where the local adults are shocked and embarrassed by the libertine Lynda (Lloyd), who dresses provocatively, behaves outrageously, and swears like a sailor (her favorite epithet is "Up your bum"). Lynda's mother is dead, and her father has given up trying to do anything with her. She attempts to hold down several jobs, but messes them all up
through insolence and carelessness. Excessively promiscuous, Lynda has an affair with a middle-aged friend of her father's. She becomes pregnant, only to use her "fallen" state to gleefully shock and annoy her elders even more. Despite her bravado, there's an underlying sadness about Lynda: the title Wish You Were Here refers to her feelings concerning her late mother. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
Lloyd is so fresh, so filled with fun and rebellion, that she carries us past the tricky parts on the strength of personality alone. It's one of the great debut roles for a young actress.
At times tremendously funny, but never humorous at the expense of its emotional core, Wish You Were Here is simultaneously nostalgic and in direct opposition to the way that nostalgia tends to coat the past with a layer of sugary sweetness.
I saw this one a long time ago, and I can't remember much about it except that it was one of those nostalgic but sexy kinds of movies about a high school girl who keeps getting into trouble or something. Anyway, I want to see it again.
No quotes approved yet for Wish You Were Here (Too Much). Logged in users can submit quotes.
Submit a Quote from 'Wish You Were Here (Too Much)'
A quote can be a single line from one character or a memorable dialog between several characters. Please make your quotes accurate. Quotes will be submitted for approval by the RT staff.
Example:
Luke: Alright. I'll give it a try. Yoda: No. Try not. Do or do not. There is no try.
Top Critic
