Part of what I do in my IMDb reviews is look for hi-quality films that, for whatever reason, are not getting their due. That this film makes the list is a no-brainer. For reasons which have more to do with human nature than common sense, John Hughes' productions from the same period have become iconic and cool, but this John Sayle gem (what another IMDb member correctly described as unforgettable) has been lost in the shuffle. It deserves much more. As I keep saying in my reviews, the key to entertainment is viewer connection, engagement. The late Roger Ebert nailed it when he revealed the "watch test" to the audience. The more times you check your watch, the less the connection, the lower the entertainment value. (Hollywood does not get this and never will. As this is written, the Oscars, one of the most brilliant and deceptive self-promotions in the sordid history of advertising, is all about what actors and directors think about EACH other, not about the audience!) This could be Spano's best performance, pitch perfect, makes Travolta (from the same era) look like an amateur. And Rosanna Arquette has not been treated kindly by the critics in retrospect. She was not merely eye candy. She knew how to sell a character. One of the best "love stories" (not merely teen movies) ever, and deserving of a higher rating.

Although I would have thought that this coming-of-age story had universal truths, I see enough negative comments that perhaps you've got to be a Baby-Boomer to love this film.The dialog is spot-on, and the lead characters beautifully personify pre-Kennedy assassination America... an innocence that comes into conflict with the hippie-era political activism, drug exploration, and general upheaval of middle American values. There are actually so many interesting layers to this film, though, I can hardly go into all of them here.Highly sensitive acting by all, one of Sayles' best.

Unlike other viewers, I didn't really connect with this on any major level. And I don't think their longing for each other was anything more than adolescent infatuation (hey, we've all been there!), made all the more desperate by separation anxiety. A couple of 18-year-olds struggling to find themselves in the world. OK as a romantic comedy drama, but no great shakes. Performances were all solid. Interesting to see Matthew Modine pop up briefly as the college boyfriend. And it looked great -- nice and moody -- seemed like something out of the 1960s. One thing bothered me: The use of Bruce Springsteen songs from the 1970s in a movie that was to have taken place in 1967 (not 1965, as another reviewer said -- the signs at Rosanna Arquette's prom clearly said, "Class of 1967"). Anyway, those Springsteen songs from the soundtrack wouldn't have been out yet. But I guess it was done to add a "Jersey feel" to the movie.

I echo the comments of the other review posted here. The movie seems very uneven, and that adds to its lure. The interaction of Spano and Arquette seems all at once real and surreal. Any movie which makes me think of it into the next day, must have significant substance. It is rare to consider "uneven" a positive quality to a movie, but somehow this one pulls it off..