gorgeous

Rating: 9/10 (16 June 2003)

in 1988, the world was a beautiful, terrifying place, where nothing made sense but everything was there for the taking -- if you were a teenager.
this movie is a surrealist love story set to probably the best late-80s sountrack (the movie opens to echo & the bunnymen's the killing moon, and features tears for fears, the church, joy division, and -- acceptable when used sparingly -- duran duran) i've yet heard. a plot synopsis won't do any good, as the commonly-used keywords such as "sci-fi" and "time travel" and "psychotic teen-ager" are as far off the mark as they are evocative.

while there are some problems -- drew barrymore is particularly jarring in a role as a highschool english teacher; noah wylie barely less so as a science teacher -- this movie is visual and emotional velvet.