the fresh films reviews

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Foxes (1980)

Director:
Adrian Lyne
COUNTRY
USA

GENRE
Drama

NORWEGIAN TITLE
Nesten voksen

RUNNING TIME
106 minutes

RELEASED BY
United Artists
Producer:
David Puttnam
Gerald Ayres

Screenwriter:
Gerald Ayres


Cast includes:

CHARACTER ACTOR/ACTRESS RATING

Jeanie

Jodie Foster

Brad

Scott Baio ½

Jay

Randy Quaid

Mary

Sally Kellerman ½

Annie Mallick

Cherie Currie

½

Madge Axman

Marilyn Kagan ½

Deirdre Tompkins

Kandice Stroh ½

Mrs. Axman

Lois Smith

Debbie

Laura Dern

Scott

Robert Romanus

Bryan

Adam Faith

 

Review

In what is arguably Adrian Lyne's least erotic film (which doesn't say a lot), Jodie Foster tries to keep her gang of teenage friends afloat in suburban Los Angeles at the end of the 1970s. The four girls have their own disparate struggles, but their common denominator is an unsatisfactory home-life and, of course, their mutual friendship. Along the way, they encounter various people; kids their own age, unfulfilled parents and other odd characters, all of whom give us a glimpse and maybe even understanding of their world more than they tell a story. Lyne's best accomplishment here is how he follows these girls around and appears to have given the actresses lots of freedom to express themselves. He obviously wanted to catch some sort of atmospheric authenticity, which he does. Foxes feels like a film from the inside (even if I'm not so sure that it actually is), and Jodie Foster's dedicated, forceful performance demonstrates a great talent in bloom. Unfortunately, there is a clear disconnect between this atmospheric merit and the level of Lyne's work when he has to let the plot guide the way. There are a few less satisfactory threads and elements, such as the inclusion of the Randy Quaid character (bear in mind that Quaid and Marilyn Kagan are actually the same age), as well as most of the ending. Look for a very young Laura Dern in a scene-stealing cameo.

Copyright © 12.06.2020 Fredrik Gunerius Fevang

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