Film

Movie theaters, reviews and showtimes in New York, plus articles, trailers and more
 

The Legend of Billie Jean (1985)

Director: Matthew Robbins

Average user rating
No reviews

Movie review

From Time Out Film Guide

When brainless jocks vandalise young Binx's scooter, he and his sister Billie Jean (Helen 'Supergirl' Slater) seek compensation from the father of the chief 'fucker'; but he (Bradford) is some mean bastard, and when he starts molesting BJ, Binx accidentally shoots him in the shoulder. Bro, Sis and a coupla chums take to the road, pursued by a paternal cop (Coyote), condemned by the media, and worshipped as upholders of justice by what seems to be the entire weeny and teeny population of Texas. Robbins co-wrote Spielberg's Sugarland Express, to which this bears more than a passing resemblance plotwise. But there similarities end. The sentimental elevation of BJ to legendary status ('She's everywhere') is ludicrously implausible, the characterisation cardboard and cute, the humour puerile, and the squandering of the considerable talents of Coyote and Bradford criminal. Four-letter words and gags about periods fail to disguise the adolescent wish-fulfilment quality of script and direction.

Author: GA 0000-00-00 00:00:00

Time Out Film Guide

  • Print this page
  • Send to a friend

What do you think?
Post your review now

clear rating
Min 1 star. Zero stars will be treated as unrated.

*mandatory fields


Cast & crew

Director: Matthew Robbins

Producer: Rob Cohen

Cast: Helen Slater, Keith Gordon, Christian Slater, Richard Bradford, Peter Coyote, Martha Gehman, Dean Stockwell full cast

Duration: 95 mins


Features

Making a name for himself

Making a name for himself

Sin Nombre's Cary Joji Fukunaga learned his lessons well.

To the letter

Forty years later, Costa-Gavras's Z still brims with fury.

Mind over matter

David Cronenberg reflects on a most bizarre body: his own corpus of work.

Fool's gold

Can an Oscar win lead to a cursed career? Here are five stories of postaward professional meltdowns.

We are the championed

Terrorists and teens abound in this year's "Film Comment Selects."

A history of violence

Matteo Garrone's kaleidoscopic Gomorrah wallops you with Italy's crime crisis.

True romantic

James Gray exchanges urban amorality for amour in Two Lovers.

Playing in the dark

MoMA salutes pianist Stuart Oderman's 50 years as the one-man sound of silents.

Junk bonds

Cast and crew recall the making of the classic NYC drug drama The Panic in Needle Park.