"I'll never be sorry"

Rating: 10/10 (13 April 2014)

OK, I'll stick my neck out, this is one of the top 500 or top 600 movies in American cinematography. The proof is that you recognize the title, and you know what it means. My focus goes deeper than the "ugly duckling/Prince Charming/red hot final dance" story—for me, a couple highlights of the film are Baby's naiveté, and Baby's ingenuous embrace of the very hot Johnny, and her eager awareness of her rising woman's heat. In 1987 many moviegoers would have been more than slightly discomfited by the matter-of-fact abortion episode, and perhaps nonplussed by Baby's casual deception to come up with the $250 to pay for it. Wowee. It's great to help out a friend of a friend and all, but that seems like an unbelievable and baffling stretch for a timorous young girl of Baby's obvious unworldliness. On the other hand, Baby's hormones are ready to pop. Alone with Johnny, in the prelude to intimacy scene, Baby suddenly opens up: "I'm scared of everythingI'm scared of who I am, and most of all I'm scared of walking out of this room and never feeling the rest of my whole life the way I feel when I'm with you." That's a heartbeat. You felt it, too. I hope you've had a moment, an embrace, a volcanic new feeling of desire that you feared you would never feel the rest of your whole life. I have. And now I know I didn't have to be afraid. Hope it turned out the same way for Baby.
More on my blogs: Barley Literate History: Bottom Lines