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Smooth Talk
Smooth Talk is a 1985 film directed by Joyce Chopra, loosely based on Joyce Carol Oates' short story "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?" (1966), which was in turn inspired by the Tucson murders committed by Charles Schmid. The protagonist, Connie Wyatt, is played by Laura Dern. The antagonist, Arnold Friend, is played by Treat Williams.
The film was produced by American Playhouse and Goldcrest Films, and originally released to movie theaters in 1985. The original music score was composed by Russ Kunkel and Bill Payne. The film won the Grand Jury Prize Dramatic at the 1986 Sundance Film Festival.
Connie Wyatt is a restless 15-year-old who is anxious to explore the pleasures of her sexual awakening. Before she enters her sophomore year in high school, she spends the summer moping around her family farmhouse. She suffers from the put-downs of her mother, Katherine, while hearing nothing but praise for her older sister, June. Her father, Harry, somehow manages to float around the family tensions. Connie also helps paint the farmhouse, just as her mother constantly demands.
Connie passes the time cruising the local shopping mall with her friends and flirting with boys. When an actual date leads to heavy petting, she escapes from the boy's car. She visits a hamburger drive-in popular with locals, where without her knowledge, an older man observes her with interest. One night as she leaves, the man playfully informs Connie "I'm watching you!" and proves this soon after. Connie and her mother get into an argument about her going out at night and being careful with whom she flirts, which results in Katherine slapping Connie when she brings up how Katherine became a young mother. Connie declines to attend a barbecue with her family that afternoon and is abandoned in the house, while she sunbathes and listens to music.
Later, the same man who was watching Connie approaches the house in a 1960s convertible. The side of his car is painted with the name "Arnold Friend" which he claims is his real name. Besides dressing and behaving like James Dean, he also name-drops several teenybopper acts, even though he appears to be in his thirties. Although he initially comes off as kind and friendly, he gradually adopts a sinister demeanor, alternating between speaking to Connie in a warm, seductive voice and shouting insults to his fellow car passenger when he inquires about a phone. Arnold informs Connie about how he has been watching her and that he knows all about her, recounting the details of her family's barbecue plans with startling accuracy. He then begins speaking about how he could be her lover. Connie orders him to leave, but he coerces her into going on a drive with him by threatening to burn down the house. His friend remains behind, supposedly watching the house as they being moving away into his car.
When Connie returns home, she is bewildered and disheveled and informs Arnold that she never wants to see him again. When Connie's family returns from the barbecue, her mother tearfully apologizes to her for slapping her earlier that day, but Connie reassures her that everything is all right. She discreetly does not inform June about what happened, but dances with her to James Taylor's recording of the song "Handy Man".
In addition, Connie's friends are played by Margaret Welsh as Laura and Sara Inglis as Jill.
The short story "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?" by Joyce Carol Oates was adapted by playwright Tom Cole, Joyce Chopra's husband. Among the contributions Cole and Chopra added to the story was a fleshing out of the family relationships between Connie, her parents, and her sister. Laura Dern was not cast until two weeks before filming. Filming of Smooth Talk took place in northern California in the cities of Sebastopol and Santa Rosa.
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Smooth Talk
Smooth Talk is a 1985 film directed by Joyce Chopra, loosely based on Joyce Carol Oates' short story "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?" (1966), which was in turn inspired by the Tucson murders committed by Charles Schmid. The protagonist, Connie Wyatt, is played by Laura Dern. The antagonist, Arnold Friend, is played by Treat Williams.
The film was produced by American Playhouse and Goldcrest Films, and originally released to movie theaters in 1985. The original music score was composed by Russ Kunkel and Bill Payne. The film won the Grand Jury Prize Dramatic at the 1986 Sundance Film Festival.
Connie Wyatt is a restless 15-year-old who is anxious to explore the pleasures of her sexual awakening. Before she enters her sophomore year in high school, she spends the summer moping around her family farmhouse. She suffers from the put-downs of her mother, Katherine, while hearing nothing but praise for her older sister, June. Her father, Harry, somehow manages to float around the family tensions. Connie also helps paint the farmhouse, just as her mother constantly demands.
Connie passes the time cruising the local shopping mall with her friends and flirting with boys. When an actual date leads to heavy petting, she escapes from the boy's car. She visits a hamburger drive-in popular with locals, where without her knowledge, an older man observes her with interest. One night as she leaves, the man playfully informs Connie "I'm watching you!" and proves this soon after. Connie and her mother get into an argument about her going out at night and being careful with whom she flirts, which results in Katherine slapping Connie when she brings up how Katherine became a young mother. Connie declines to attend a barbecue with her family that afternoon and is abandoned in the house, while she sunbathes and listens to music.
Later, the same man who was watching Connie approaches the house in a 1960s convertible. The side of his car is painted with the name "Arnold Friend" which he claims is his real name. Besides dressing and behaving like James Dean, he also name-drops several teenybopper acts, even though he appears to be in his thirties. Although he initially comes off as kind and friendly, he gradually adopts a sinister demeanor, alternating between speaking to Connie in a warm, seductive voice and shouting insults to his fellow car passenger when he inquires about a phone. Arnold informs Connie about how he has been watching her and that he knows all about her, recounting the details of her family's barbecue plans with startling accuracy. He then begins speaking about how he could be her lover. Connie orders him to leave, but he coerces her into going on a drive with him by threatening to burn down the house. His friend remains behind, supposedly watching the house as they being moving away into his car.
When Connie returns home, she is bewildered and disheveled and informs Arnold that she never wants to see him again. When Connie's family returns from the barbecue, her mother tearfully apologizes to her for slapping her earlier that day, but Connie reassures her that everything is all right. She discreetly does not inform June about what happened, but dances with her to James Taylor's recording of the song "Handy Man".
In addition, Connie's friends are played by Margaret Welsh as Laura and Sara Inglis as Jill.
The short story "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?" by Joyce Carol Oates was adapted by playwright Tom Cole, Joyce Chopra's husband. Among the contributions Cole and Chopra added to the story was a fleshing out of the family relationships between Connie, her parents, and her sister. Laura Dern was not cast until two weeks before filming. Filming of Smooth Talk took place in northern California in the cities of Sebastopol and Santa Rosa.