| Valley Girl | |
|---|---|
 Release poster | |
| Directed by | Rachel Lee Goldenberg |
| Screenplay by | Amy Talkington |
| Story by | |
| Based on | |
| Produced by |
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| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Adam Silver |
| Edited by | Julia Wong |
| Music by | Roger Neill |
Production companies |
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| Distributed by | United Artists Releasing |
Release date |
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Running time | 102 minutes[1] |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $7,671[2] |
Valley Girl is a 2020 Americanjukebox musicalromantic comedy film directed byRachel Lee Goldenberg, written byAmy Talkington from a story byWayne Crawford andAndrew Lane, and produced by Matt Smith andSteven J. Wolfe. It is a remake of the1983 film of the same name and starsJessica Rothe,Josh Whitehouse,Logan Paul, andJudy Greer. The film follows Julie Richman, aValley girl, who falls in love with Randy, a rebelliouspunk, during the early 1980s.
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer first announced a musical remake in February 2012, but it was halted until November 2016 when Goldenberg joined the project as director and Rothe was cast in the lead role. Casting announcements continued until May 2017 andprincipal photography began that same month, taking place in Los Angeles. Following the completion of filming, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer scheduled the film for release on June 29, 2018. However, the film was delayed followingcontroversies surrounding Logan Paul, who portrayed Mickey.[3]
Valley Girl was released simultaneously throughvideo on demand and inselectdrive-in theaters on May 8, 2020, byUnited Artists Releasing. It was initially set to receive a wide theatrical release on the same date, but these plans werecancelled because of theCOVID-19 pandemic. The film received mixed reviews from critics, with praise for the soundtrack, acting, and tone, though many deemed it to be inferior to the original film.
In present day, Ruby Richman arrives home, upset about breaking up with her boyfriend that night over her plans to participate in a study program in Japan. Her mother, Julie, sits her down and recounts to Ruby her own final semester of high school.
In the early 1980s, Julie is aValley girl who lives inEncino, Los Angeles, frequents shopping malls with her friends, Stacey, Karen and Loryn and dates Mickey, a popular but arrogant jock. However, she begins to feel disillusioned to her lifestyle and has second thoughts regarding her future with Mickey. She also aspires to attend theFashion Institute of Technology in New York City, rather thanCal State Northridge, as her parents and friends expect. At the beach, she comes across Randy, aHollywood punk and lead singer of the band Safety Recall. The two flirt briefly before she abruptly leaves. That night, Julie and her friends attend a costume party at Mickey's house. Randy and his bandmates, Sticky and Jack, arrive at the venue, but are promptly thrown out. Later, Randy insists Julie leaves the party with him. Accompanied by a reluctant Stacey, Julie joins Randy and his friends to attend the band's performance at a punk nightclub. After Stacey leaves and Safety Recall perform, Julie spends the rest of the night with Randy, culminating with the two sharing a kiss.
The next morning, Julie breaks up with Mickey, which frustrates her friends. She begins spending more time with Randy and changes her fashion style, while Karen begins dating Mickey. This causes further conflict between her and her friends, while the same rift occurs between Randy and his bandmates. One day, Julie invites Randy over for dinner on behest of her parents Diana and Steve. However, he overhears them talk about his lack of discipline and leaves. Later, at Stacey's birthday party, Mickey begins to antagonize Randy, resulting in the two getting into a physical fight that gets Randy thrown out. Stacey also gets upset at Julie for bringing him and forces her to leave too. Outside, Julie breaks up with Randy after the two argue over their clashing backgrounds and her friends' attitudes toward him.
Later, Julie reluctantly agrees to be Mickey's date to the prom, who has broken up with Karen. She apologizes to Stacey, who forgives her and reveals she has been accepted toDartmouth College. Meanwhile, Randy makes amends with his bandmates and decide to leave for New York before encouraging him to go after Julie. At the mall, Mickey reveals that Karen was not accepted to Northridge, unlike Loryn. On the night of the prom, Julie and Mickey are crowned prom king and queen. As the two dance, Julie breaks up with Mickey and begins to leave. Safety Recall arrive for a surprise performance, however, Mickey and his friends sabotage the equipment. Despite this, Julie and Randy share a duet and reunite. Later, Julie reconciles with Karen and Loryn is contacted to be a background dancer in an upcoming music video. As their friends dance, Julie and Randy leave the venue in Mickey's rented limousine.
In present day, Julie reveals that Safety Recall signed arecord deal in New York as she was finishing her degree at FIT and joined them on their first tour before eventually breaking up with Randy. She tells Ruby that while she did not end up with Randy, she enjoyed their time together and is happy with the life that she chose, with the principle of never having regrets. In the end, text appears on screen, revealing everyone's future successes, except for Mickey who received a restraining order from the producers ofThe Bachelor for repeatedly sending them his audition tape.
In February 2012,Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer andParamount Pictures announced a musical remake of 1983 filmValley Girl withClay Weiner directing.[4]
In November 2016,Rachel Lee Goldenberg joined the project as director, with Clay Weiner and Paramount Pictures dropping out of the project which will be distributed throughUnited Artists Releasing.[5] The same month,Jessica Rothe was cast in the starring role of Julie Richman.[6]
Josh Whitehouse was announced as the punk rock musician love interest in January 2017.[7] In April 2017,Chloe Bennet was cast as Karen, aqueen bee Valley girl,Ashleigh Murray as Loryn, a boy-crazy popular girl, Jessie Ennis as Stacey, Julie's loyal best friend, andLogan Paul as Mickey, a popular tennis star.[8] In May 2017,Mae Whitman joined the cast as Jack, Randy'slesbian best friend and bandmate, followed in June byPeyton List as Courtney, a cheerleader.[9][10]
Principal photography began in May 2017, inLos Angeles, California, and wrapped in June 2017.[8][10]
The soundtrack album for the film was released byInterscope Records on May 8, 2020. The song "We Got the Beat", performed byJessica Rothe,Chloe Bennet, Jessie Ennis, andAshleigh Murray, was released as a promotional single on April 24, 2020.[11]
The film was originally scheduled for release on June 29, 2018, but it was later pulled from the schedule followingcontroversies surrounding Logan Paul.[3]
Valley Girl was released simultaneously throughvideo on demand and inselectdrive-in theaters on May 8, 2020, byUnited Artists Releasing. The film was initially set to receive a wide theatrical release on the same date, but these plans were cancelled due to themovie theater closures since mid March because of theCOVID-19 pandemic.[12][13]
The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray on October 6, 2020, byWarner Bros. Home Entertainment (under license toMGM).
Onreview aggregator websiteRotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 59% based on 54 reviews, with an average of 5.9/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Valley Girl won't, like, make you forget the original or anything, but as a breezy jukebox musicals go, it's still fairly rad."[14] OnMetacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 53 out of 100, based on nine critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[15]
