Connie, the fifteen-year-old black sheep of her family, finds her summertime idyll of beach trips, mall hangouts, and innocent flirtations shattered by an encounter with a mysterious stranger.
| Tagline | |
| Release Date: | Sep 21, 1985 |
| Genres: | Drama, Thriller |
| Production Company: | Palmyra Films, American Playhouse, Goldcrest, Nepenthe Productions |
| Production Countries: | United States of America, United Kingdom |
| Casts: | Laura Dern, Treat Williams, Mary Kay Place, Levon Helm, Elizabeth Berridge, Margaret Welsh, Sara Inglis, William Ragsdale, Geoff Hoyle, David Berridge, Cab Covay |
| Status: | Released |
| Budget: | $0 |
| Revenue: | 0 |
Based on a short story by Joyce Carol Oates called "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?", "Smooth Talk" stars Laura Dern as a bored and restless adolescent who thinks she's more in control of her sexual allure, and more capable of handling the attention she receives for it, than she is. In a deeply unsettling and slightly surreal scene, a hunky stranger (Treat Williams) comes calling for her, and she realizes that she's not as mature as she thinks. The film captures the same other-worldly quality of the short story (the scene with Treat Williams plays out almost like a feverish dream), while ably adapting it to the very different needs of a feature length film. Dern gives a wonderful performance, one of many given by this underrated actress.
