A satiric romantic comedy, Martha Coolidge's
Valley Girl
is a testimony to the short-lived Southern California '80s craze. Julie (Deborah Foreman) is a good-natured teenager following a swarm of pastel pink valley girls, who utter "gag me" at every opportunity. To her friends' dismay , Julie breaks up with her egotistical boyfriend, Tommy (Michael Bowen), while shopping at the mall. All the valley kids go to a party that night, and Tommy immediately tries to bed one of Julie's friends. Randy (Nicolas Cage), a bad boy from Hollywood, shows up and crashes the party. Open-minded Julie flirts with him before he is literally thrown out, presumably just for looking different. Smitten with Julie, Randy sneaks back into the party to talk to her again. Julie drags a whimpering valley friend with her to spend the night cruising with Randy in Hollywood. After an extended courtship, Randy is in love with Julie, and she must choose between him and Tommy, who wants her back. Her friends refuse to accept Randy, who makes many exaggerated attempts to win back her love. Finally, after she has a heartfelt talk with her dad (Frederic Forrest), love triumphs at the prom.