source: Foxes

Trailer—Foxes

Foxes

. . . who seems to be the weak link in the chain of events culminating with the doom of Jeanie's best friend Annie. Mary's so desperate to hook up with random men that she totally neglects and sometimes abandons her beleaguered daughter's broken circle of friends. Throughout FOXES every adult in sight seems eager to attack, abuse, marry, berate, browbeat, institutionalize, drug, booze up or incarcerate Jeanie's quartet of endangered 15- and 16-year-olds. Viewers realize at about 1:11:22 into this story that there's little or no hope for a happy ending here because self-centered Mary hates her hips. The only question remaining is how many young teens will have to die because of this 40-year-old harridan's thunder thighs?

Despite the presence of the always top flight Jodie Foster, Adrian Lyne's soaper about the desperate lives of four teenage girls living in sunny but suffocating Southern California is hampered by movie of the week cliches and a meandering storyline that never really goes anywhere. Divorces, absentee parents, easy access to alcohol and drugs, and a strong dose of hopelessness and ennui drive the foxes of the title to varying levels of destruction. Unless you were at a particularly impressionable age when you first saw the film, Foxes is likely to feel too deliberate and drawn out. It is fun, however, to take a peek at the performances of Scott Baio, Sally Kellerman, Randy Quaid, Lois Smith, and Cherie Currie (my favorite, though, is Marilyn Kagan as sexually maturing Madge) as well as the histrionics of glammy rockers Angel. Added bonus: Donna Summer sings the theme "On the Radio."

So this movie is about 16 year olds living alone, doing drugs, skipping class, and sleeping around. Nobody is someone you can root for and there's no plot, just little vignette. Not having been alive in the 70's I can't say if its true to life, but there's so much here that just seemed a little too far out. Like the part where the mom moves out so that the 16 year old Jodie Foster can live alone. Like uh, really? Who would do that? Also, I was cheering for Cherie Curie to die at the end because she was totally useless, a burnout at 15. Wow, great life there sister. Solid soundtrack and I guess an evocative time, but it';s hardly a movie about people you root for or want to spend any time with. The Angel cameo was neat though.

I can't imagine anyone referring to this as realistic. While some of the characterizations are believable (Scott Baio), most are melodramatic fodder. Even Jodie Foster can't deliver this dialogue convincingly, and she really tries. The Madge character looks as much like a high school student as Rizzo in Grease. As far as direction, the storyline wanders too much, and then the last scenes are packed in like the producers told Lyne he only had five minutes left. Not very good, but nice to see some young faces.

One of the best portrayals of being a teen in the late 70's early 80's. Jodie Foster is simply wonderful as the one who tries to hold all of her friends together through the difficult times of being a teen in Califirnia; actually this could have been set in any city. I lived this life of parties, concerts and excess during this same era. Being 44 and looking back it is like looking back into my own memories of kids I went to school with and the things we experienced. Though the look of this movie is dated, big hair, satin jackets etc, however it certainly is still relevant. Donna Summer's "On the Radio" is such a great song and is a vital part of the fabric of this move. This is movie is so much better than the teen sex farces that seemed to proliferate after this movie came out - because it is a pretty close portrayal of what being a teen at this time was like with absent parents and lots of free time.If you haven't seen it you should...