Modern Girls
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''Modern Girls'' is a 1986 American
comedy film The comedy film is a film genre that emphasizes humor. These films are designed to amuse audiences and make them laugh. Films in this genre typically have a happy ending, with dark comedy being an exception to this rule. Comedy is one of the o ...
directed by Jerry Kramer, starring Virginia Madsen, Daphne Zuniga, and
Cynthia Gibb Cynthia Gibb (born December 14, 1963) is an American actress and former model who has starred in film and on television. She began her career as a cast member on the musical television drama '' Fame'', based on the movie of the same name. She ...
. Set during a single night in Los Angeles, it follows two young women who, while venturing through the city's nightclub scene, befriend their roommate's blind date.


Plot

Three women in their early twenties, Margo, Kelly, and Cece, are roommates living in Los Angeles working menial jobs by day, and by night they enjoy the vibrant and decadent nightlife of the city. Margo has a boring job in telemarketing, Cece gets fired from her job at a department store, while Kelly works in a pet store and is very good at selling pets, mainly thanks to her looks. It is Friday night and the women are getting ready for a night out on the town. However, Margo and Cece soon discover that Kelly has taken Margo's car to go meet a DJ she is infatuated with in
downtown Los Angeles Downtown Los Angeles (DTLA) is the central business district of the city of Los Angeles. It is part of the Central Los Angeles region and covers a area. As of 2020, it contains over 500,000 jobs and has a population of roughly 85,000 residents ...
. Luckily, Kelly's blind date for the night, the bookish Clifford—one of her many infatuated customers—arrives to pick her up, so Margo and Cece hitch a ride with him to the club where the DJ is working. Cliffie (as Cece calls him) reluctantly tags along a rollercoaster ride with them and learns how the women usually spend their nights out. While at the club, popular rock star and
MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...
sensation Bruno X arrives, and Cece desperately manages to get his attention. A police raid on the club interrupts the two's encounter, forcing Cece and Margo to leave with Clifford. The three decide to stop at an after hours goth bar for drinks. Cece uses a hotel matchbook Bruno had to surmise where he is staying, and convinces Clifford, who bears a striking resemblance to Bruno, to impersonate him, resulting in Clifford being forced into shooting a music video on the street. Meanwhile, Kelly has drinks at Sharkey's bar, where another DJ named Milo offers her drugs. Cece, Margo, and Clifford go there to retrieve her, and find her inebriated and surrounded by a group of lecherous men, but manage to save her from what appears to be an impending
gang rape In scholarly literature and criminology, gang rape, also called serial gang rape, party rape, group rape, or multiple perpetrator rape,Ullman, S. E. (2013). 11 Multiple perpetrator rape victimization. Handbook on the Study of Multiple Perpetrato ...
. When a rainstorm begins, Clifford stops to close the top of his convertible and accidentally blows out his tires on traffic spikes in a parking lot. The group embark on foot along
Hollywood Boulevard Hollywood Boulevard is a major east–west street in Los Angeles, California. It runs through the Hollywood, East Hollywood, Little Armenia, Thai Town, and Los Feliz districts. Its western terminus is at Sunset Plaza Drive in the Hollyw ...
. A disenchanted Clifford is surprised to learn through conversation that Margo majored in
comparative literature Comparative literature studies is an academic field dealing with the study of literature and cultural expression across language, linguistic, national, geographic, and discipline, disciplinary boundaries. Comparative literature "performs a role ...
in college. Clifford borrows a car from a driving school where he works as a driving instructor, and the group visit the exclusive Club VooDoo, which Clifford manages to infiltrate with the women after the bouncers assume him to be Bruno X. In the bathroom, a now sober Kelly tells Margo that she will tend to Clifford, to which Margo responds evasively. While Kelly dances with an inebriated Clifford, Cece learns from Marsalis, an acquaintance of Bruno X, that he is obsessed with her and has been searching for her since the club raid earlier that night. Marsalis tells Cece that Bruno has a 7:00 a.m. flight booked at the
Santa Monica Airport Santa Monica Airport (Santa Monica Municipal Airport) is a general aviation airport largely in Santa Monica, California, United States, in the Greater Los Angeles area. It opened on April 15, 1923, making it one of the United States' oldest a ...
. A food fight breaks out in Club VooDoo when Clifford attempts to stop Kelly from leaving with Ray, one of her admirers. Kelly flees with Ray, leaving Cece, Margo, and Clifford on their own again. The three chase after Ray's
Jeep Jeep is an American automobile brand, now owned by multi-national corporation Stellantis. Jeep has been part of Chrysler since 1987, when Chrysler acquired the Jeep brand, along with other assets, from its previous owner, American Motors Co ...
and attack him when he becomes physically violent with Kelly. The four visit the police station after, where Kelly files a police report against him. After, Clifford teases Margo, and the two kiss. The group drive Cece to the airport as dawn approaches, and she is reunited with Bruno, who asks her to accompany him on tour. A flattered Cece tells him that she would miss her friends too much, and instead offers him her phone number. As Bruno leaves, Clifford asks the three women what their plans are for the evening, and they playfully attack him.


Cast


Production

Principal photography of ''Modern Girls'' began in Los Angeles on April 1, 1986.


Soundtrack

A soundtrack album to the film was released in 1986 with
Depeche Mode Depeche Mode are an English electronic music, electronic band formed in Basildon, Essex in 1980. Originally formed with the line-up of Dave Gahan, Martin Gore, Andy Fletcher (musician), Andy Fletcher and Vince Clarke, the band currently consists ...
's " But Not Tonight" as the first track. The song was released as a promo single in February 1986 and later as a 12″ single in the United States only, accompanied by a music video featuring footage from ''Modern Girls'' to help promote the movie. This video was included on the second DVD included in the 2002 UK version of Depeche Mode's ''
The Videos 86–98 ''The Videos 86>98'' is a music video compilation by the English electronic music band Depeche Mode, featuring almost two dozen music videos directed by a variety of directors, released in 1998 on VHS and DVD. It coincides with ''The Singles 8 ...
''. A number of other songs used in the film did not appear on the soundtrack album.


Release

''Modern Girls'' opened theatrically in New York City and Los Angeles on December 5, 1986.


Critical response

On
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the film holds a 40% rating based on 5 reviews. Rosemary Breslin of the ''
New York Daily News The ''Daily News'' is an American newspaper based in Jersey City, New Jersey. It was founded in 1919 by Joseph Medill Patterson in New York City as the ''Illustrated Daily News''. It was the first U.S. daily printed in Tabloid (newspaper format ...
'' panned the film, awarding it zero stars and describing it as a dull replicate of '' After Hours'' (1985).


Home media

On April 2, 2012, ''Modern Girls'' was brought to DVD, as part of the MGM Limited Edition Collection series.
Kino Lorber Kino Lorber is an international film distribution company based in New York City. Founded in 1977, it was originally known as Kino International until it was acquired by and merged into Lorber HT Digital in 2009. It specializes in art film, art ho ...
released a
Blu-ray Blu-ray (Blu-ray Disc or BD) is a digital optical disc data storage format designed to supersede the DVD format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released worldwide on June 20, 2006, capable of storing several hours of high-defin ...
edition in October 2015.


See also

* List of American films of 1986


References


External links

* {{IMDb title, 0091534 1986 films 1986 comedy films 1986 directorial debut films 1980s buddy comedy films 1980s English-language films 1980s female buddy films American buddy comedy films American female buddy films American independent films Atlantic Entertainment Group films Films produced by Gary Goetzman Films set in Los Angeles Films shot in Los Angeles 1980s teen comedy films American teen comedy films 1980s American films English-language buddy comedy films