''Valley Girl'' is a 2020 American

jukebox musical A jukebox musical is a stage musical or musical film in which a majority of the songs are well-known, pre-existing popular music songs, rather than original music composed for the musical. Some jukebox musicals use a wide variety of songs, while ...

romantic comedy Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a sub-genre of comedy and Romance novel, romance fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount all obstacles. Ro ...

film directed by

Rachel Lee Goldenberg Rachel Lee Goldenberg (born 1984/1985) is an American film director and screenwriter. She has directed a number of feature films and television episodes. She had her breakthrough after she was discovered by Will Ferrell, who gave her the opportu ...

, written by Amy Talkington from a story by

Wayne Crawford Wayne David Crawford (February 11, 1947 – April 30, 2016) was an American film and television actor, and film producer, director and screenwriter. Crawford appeared in nearly thirty films, produced fifteen, wrote nine, and directed seven. Cra ...

and Andrew Lane, and produced by Matt Smith and Steven J. Wolfe. It is a remake of the 1983 film of the same name and stars

Jessica Rothe Jessica Ann Rothenberg (born May 28, 1987), known professionally as Jessica Rothe (), is an American actress. After appearing in Independent film, independent films and on stage, her Breakthrough role, breakthrough came with playing Tree Gelbman i ...

Josh Whitehouse Joshua George Whitehouse (born 27 February 1990) is an English actor, musician and artist. His films include ''Northern Soul'' (2014), ''Modern Life Is Rubbish'' (2017), and ''Valley Girl'' (2020). On television, he is known for his roles in the ...

Logan Paul Logan Alexander Paul (born April 1, 1995) is an American influencer, professional wrestler, Entrepreneurship, entrepreneur, boxing, boxer, and actor. He has over 23 million subscribers on his YouTube channel ''Logan Paul Vlogs'' and has ranked ...

, and

Judy Greer Judith Therese Evans (born July 20, 1975), known professionally as Judy Greer, is an American actress. She is primarily known as a character actress who has appeared in Judy Greer filmography, a wide variety of films. She rose to prominence for ...

. The film follows Julie Richman, a

Valley girl A valley girl is a socioeconomic, linguistic, and youth subcultural stereotype and stock character originating during the 1980s: any materialistic upper-middle-class young woman, associated with unique vocal and California dialect features, f ...

, who falls in love with Randy, a rebellious

punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...

, during the early 1980s.

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, commonly shortened to MGM or MGM Studios) is an American Film production, film and television production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered ...

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 and

principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as the ...

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 following controversies surrounding Logan Paul, who portrayed Mickey. ''Valley Girl'' was released simultaneously through

video on demand Video on demand (VOD) is a media distribution system that allows users to access videos, television shows and films Digital distribution, digitally on request. These multimedia are accessed without a traditional video playback device and a typica ...

and in select

drive-in theater A drive-in theater/theatre or drive-in cinema is a form of movie theater, cinema structure consisting of a large outdoor movie screen, a projection booth, a concession stand, and a large parking area for automobiles. Within this enclosed area, c ...

s on May 8, 2020, by

United Artists Releasing United Artists Releasing, LLC (UAR) was an American film distribution joint venture between Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Annapurna Pictures and the successor to United Artists (UA) that operated from October 31, 2017 to March 4, 2023. Founded by form ...

. It was initially set to receive a wide theatrical release on the same date, but these plans were cancelled because of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. 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.

Plot

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 a

who lives in

Encino, Los Angeles Encino is a neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles, California. History Etymology The name Encino is the misspelling in masculine of Encina, the Spanish word for "holm oak” (Quercus ilex). The Spanish name reflects t ...

, 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 the

Fashion Institute of Technology The Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) is a public college under the State University of New York, in New York City. It focuses on art, business, design, mass communication, and technology connected to the fashion industry. It was founded in ...

in New York City, rather than Cal State Northridge, as her parents and friends expect. At the beach, she comes across Randy, a

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...

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 to

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College ( ) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, Dartmouth is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the America ...

. 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 a

record deal A recording contract (commonly called a record contract or record deal) is a legal agreement between a record label and a recording act (artist or group), where the act makes an audio recording (or series of recordings) for the label to sell and ...

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 of '' The Bachelor'' for repeatedly sending them his audition tape.

Cast

Production

In February 2012,

and

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation, commonly known as Paramount Pictures or simply Paramount, is an American film production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the flagship namesake subsidiary of Paramount ...

announced a musical remake of 1983 film ''

Valley Girl A valley girl is a socioeconomic, linguistic, and youth subcultural stereotype and stock character originating during the 1980s: any materialistic upper-middle-class young woman, associated with unique vocal and California dialect features, f ...

'' with Clay Weiner directing. In November 2016,

joined the project as director, with Clay Weiner and Paramount Pictures dropping out of the project which will be distributed through

. The same month,

was cast in the starring role of Julie Richman.

was announced as the punk rock musician love interest in January 2017. In April 2017,

Chloe Bennet Chloé Wang (; born April 18, 1992), known professionally as Chloe Bennet, is an American actress, model and singer. She starred as Daisy Johnson / Quake in the ABC superhero drama series '' Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.'' (2013–2020) and voiced Yi ...

was cast as Karen, a

queen bee A queen bee is typically an adult, mated female ( gyne) that lives in a colony or hive of honey bees. With fully developed reproductive organs, the queen is usually the mother of most, if not all, of the bees in the beehive. Queens are develope ...

Valley girl,

Ashleigh Murray Ashleigh Murray (born January 18, 1988) is an American actress and singer. She is best known for her breakthrough role as Josie McCoy, the lead singer of the fictional band Josie and the Pussycats, on The CW television series '' Riverdale'', whic ...

as Loryn, a boy-crazy popular girl, Jessie Ennis as Stacey, Julie's loyal best friend, and

as Mickey, a popular tennis star. In May 2017,

Mae Whitman Mae Margaret Whitman (born June 9, 1988) is an American actor. She began her career as a child actor, starring in the films '' When a Man Loves a Woman'' (1994), '' One Fine Day'' (1996), ''Independence Day'' (1996), and '' Hope Floats'' (1998), ...

joined the cast as Jack, Randy's

lesbian A lesbian is a homosexual woman or girl. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate nouns with female homosexu ...

best friend and bandmate, followed in June by Peyton List as Courtney, a cheerleader.

Filming

Principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as the ...

began in May 2017, in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, California, and wrapped in June 2017.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack album for the film was released by

Interscope Records Interscope Records is an American record label based in Santa Monica, California, owned by Universal Music Group through its Interscope Geffen A&M imprint. Founded in late 1990 by Jimmy Iovine and Ted Field as a $20 million joint venture ...

on May 8, 2020. The song "

We Got the Beat "We Got the Beat" is a song by the American all-female rock band the Go-Go's, written by the group's lead guitarist and keyboardist Charlotte Caffey. The band first recorded the song in early 1980 as a single on UK-based Stiff Records, and rerec ...

", performed by

, Jessie Ennis, and

, was released as a promotional single on April 24, 2020.

Release

The film was originally scheduled for release on June 29, 2018, but it was later pulled from the schedule following controversies surrounding Logan Paul. ''Valley Girl'' was released simultaneously through

and in select

s on May 8, 2020, by

. The film was initially set to receive a wide theatrical release on the same date, but these plans were cancelled due to the movie theater closures since mid March because of the

Home media

The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray on October 6, 2020, by

Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment, Inc. (doing business as Warner Bros. Home Entertainment; formerly known as Warner Home Video and WCI Home Video and sometimes credited as Warner Home Entertainment) is the American home video distribution ...

(under license to

MGM Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, commonly shortened to MGM or MGM Studios) is an American Film production, film and television production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered ...

Critical response

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews and ratings of products and services, such as films, books, video games, music, software, hardware, or cars. This system then stores the reviews to be used for supporting a website where user ...

website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

, the film holds an approval rating of based on reviews, with an average of . 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." On

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

, the film has a weighted average score of 53 out of 100, based on nine critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".

References

Note

External links

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