The defence The Sentimental Softie
“Sincerity is not manipulation.”
The film risks embarrassment to make emotion communal, and that openness is harder than fashionable detachment.
Back to trending 
Valley Girl
Comedy · Romance · 1983
Julie, a girl from the valley, meets Randy, a punk from the city. They are from different worlds and find love. Somehow they need to stay together in spite of her trendy, shallow friends.
Movie details
Valley Girl
“She's cool. He's hot. She's from the Valley. He's not.”
1983 Comedy · Romance 1h 39m
Critical arithmetic
The consensus, allegedly.
Scores change. Arguments endure.
IMDb
6.4 / 10
21.6K votes
Metacritic
66 / 100
Metascore
TMDB
6.0 / 10
Community rating
External scores via OMDb · CC BY-NC 4.0. Values normalized for display; availability varies by title.
Julie, a girl from the valley, meets Randy, a punk from the city. They are from different worlds and find love. Somehow they need to stay together in spite of her trendy, shallow friends.
CriticWise case file
What this film says about your taste.
Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.
The archetype split
Who fights over Valley Girl?
For the defence
The Sentimental Softie
“You came to feel something, and you will.”
Read their case For the prosecution
The Cool Ironist
“Feeling things is a little embarrassing.”
Read their objectionThe split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.
Taste neighbourhood
Nearby on the taste map.
TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.
Trojan War
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Someone Like You...
Comedy · 2001
Jane Goodale has everything going for her. She's a producer on a popular daytime talk show, and is in a hot romance with the show's dashing executive producer Ray. But when the relationship goes terribly awry, Jane begins an extensive study of the male animal, including her womanizing roommate Eddie. Jane puts her studies and romantic misadventure to use as a pseudonymous sex columnist -- and becomes a sensation.
Desperados
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Players
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New York sportswriter Mack has spent years devising successful hook-up "plays" with her friends, but when she unexpectedly falls for one of her targets, she must learn what it takes to go from simply scoring to playing for keeps.
Bye Bye Love
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With varying degrees of success, recently divorced friends Dave, Vic and Donny are trying to move on with their lives. Vic feels vilified by his ex-wife's parents, while Donny has a shaky bond with his teen daughter, Emma. Dave, meanwhile, has an enviable problem -- he has more dates than he can handle. As they confront their post-marital challenges, the men take solace in one another's plights.
Cuban Fury
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Beneath Bruce Garrett's under-confident, overweight exterior, the passionate heart of a salsa king lies dormant. Now, one woman is about to reignite his Latin fire.
The 4:30 Movie
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In the summer of 1986, three sixteen year old friends spend their Saturdays sneaking into movies at the local multiplex. But when one of the guys also invites the girl of his dreams to see the latest comedy, each of the teens learn more about life and love.
A Nice Girl Like You
Comedy · 2020
Lucy Neal is thrown for a loop when she is accused of being too inhibited by her ex-boyfriend. In an effort to prove him wrong, Lucy creates a rather wild to-do list that sends her on a whirlwind and surprising journey of self-discovery, friendship, and new love.
Someone Great
Comedy · 2019
An aspiring music journalist lands her dream job and is about to move to San Francisco when her boyfriend of nine years decides to call it quits. To nurse her broken heart, she and her two best friends spend one outrageous last adventure in New York City.
Sex Appeal
Comedy · 2022
Avery, a teenager with a tendency towards perfectionism, enlists her friend Larson to help her prepare for her first time with her long-distance boyfriend.
Where it lives
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Names above the title
The people responsible.
Cast & crew
Directed by
Martha Coolidge
Written by
Andrew Lane · Wayne Crawford
Nicolas Cage
Randy
Deborah Foreman
Julie Richman
E. G. Daily
Loryn
Michael Bowen
Tommy
Cameron Dye
Fred Bailey
H
Heidi Holicker
Stacey
Michelle Meyrink
Suzi Brent
Court is in session
Put Valley Girl on trial.
Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.
The prosecution The Cool Ironist
“The strings are showing.”
Every cue tells you exactly what to feel and when, leaving sentiment to do the work character should have done.