A must-watch for Cage obsessives, Valley Girl also has enough within it for those curious about eighties teen movies that lie off the well-trodden path. Outside of that it is hard to imagine quite what the reach will be.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Sep 19, 2023

Self-consciously modelled on Romeo and Juliet (a neon sign for which is visible at one point on a Sherman Oaks theatre marquee), Martha Coolidge’s feature offers all the dilemmas and transgressions of a coming-of-age romance.

| Sep 15, 2023

...feels like it could (and should) have been so much better.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Jan 7, 2021

Valley Girl isn't quite on Clueless's level, but without it Clueless probably wouldn't exist. In the end, every generation gets the Nic Cage movie it deserves.

| May 7, 2020

Character contrivances and a weak finale deflate the second half, but overall, Valley Girl is a winning effort.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Dec 21, 2018

The core of the film is universal, the struggle of fitting in with your friends and finding that first spark of love.

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | Dec 4, 2018

'80s tale about fitting in has sex, drinking, cursing.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Feb 6, 2018

...captures that sense of exploring beyond your narrow world for the first time.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Jan 23, 2018

homage to the 1980s

| Original Score: B- | Aug 7, 2013

While it's easy to get caught up in the nostalgia of Valley Girl, this datedness also puts some limits on how you can watch the film.

Full Review | Original Score: 72/100 | Sep 12, 2007

Insightful and genuine.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Jul 24, 2007

For a change, there aren't any cartoon problem adults on hand as there often are in these pictures.

| Jul 24, 2007

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Jul 2, 2005

Cage is very good in the role that got him noticed.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Jun 13, 2005

Full Review | Original Score: 5/5 | May 27, 2005

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Mar 24, 2005

This movie is a little treasure, a funny, sexy, appealing story of a Valley Girl's heartbreaking decision: Should she stick with her boring jock boyfriend, or take a chance on a punk from Hollywood?

| Original Score: 3/4 | Oct 23, 2004

With characters as dimensionless as these, the film needs either greater irony or greater sympathy than it demonstrates.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Aug 30, 2004

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Jun 16, 2004

Dated yet infectious.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/5 | Apr 11, 2004