Puberty Blues

Nothing more than the overrated Getting of Wisdom updated and transposed to beach-movie territory, this replaces period prettiness with an equally crass teenage formula imported from countless cheap Californian quickies. The trouble is that Beresford is determined both to have his cake and to eat it, as he adopts the viewpoint of two schoolgirl surfer-gang apprentices on the codes and rituals of their Aussie peers, parading the sex'n'drugs'n'sand staples of the genre at grating length before finally turning round with his heroines to dismiss it all as boys' play kidstuff. And even then the message comes down to a wimpy 'don't beat 'em, join 'em' compromise.