Girls Just Want to Have Fun

Sundry youth picture stand-bys one imagined were fossilised by the mid-'60s get an '80s spin in this piece of celluloid candy-floss, which has Parker outwitting the high school vicious circle to carry the day at a TV dance contest. All very mild indeed; and significantly less hard-hitting than the jaunty video for the Cyndi Lauper smash that gives the movie its title (this being a penny-pinching New World production, it's a soundalike version we actually get to hear). While Parker's lead is on the vapid side, Hunt's fizzing performance as her go-ahead best pal makes you wonder why the actress subsequently took so long to break through to the Hollywood front rank.