User reviews

Four teenage girls in a suburb of Los Angeles get into all kinds of trouble: parties, drugs, cops, mixed-up parents, older boyfriends. Jodie Foster, the group's level-headed mother hen, tries keeping everyone together "like a family" (like the family unit she's never had), and the heartbreaking thing about the movie is that she can't. Slowly, everyone grows up and goes away. THAT precise plot point, though underscored throughout, is unfortunately tampered with. Did we really need a long sequence with Scott Baio outracing a car full of thugs on his skateboard? Or an even longer sequence--also with Baio--where Foster has a strange soliloquy about pain as an illusion. Some of the dialogue in fact is downright loopy, and I didn't much care for an edit in the third act which segues clumsily from a death to a wedding. But these are nitpicks in what is basically a very sensitive story about the loss of a tight bond. And Jodie's face at the ending speaks volumes. If viewers do get choked up, the movie has earned this. The film doesn't pander for tears or ask for sympathy--it shows us an example of friendship and hopes we understand. *** from ****

Totally agree with the previous reviewer that screenwriter and co producer Gerry Ayres and director Adrian Lyne took a good, simple story of a difficult friendship between two teenage gals and inflated it to the point where the central conflict between Jeannie and Annie is lost amid a clutter of sub plots, added characters that contribute very little, like Madge and Jay, and a need for every messed up teen girl to have an equally messed up (or worse) parent. Consequently, when we come to the tragic denouement the impact, while not lost, is certainly lessened. Indeed, if it were not for the fine acting of Jodie Foster and Cheri Currie there would be little reason to watch the film at all other than some nice shots of LA in the early 80s, courtesy of cinematographers Leon Bijou and Michael Seresin, that make even Van Nuys appear painterly. Give it a C plus. PS...I like Donna Summer as much as the next guy (or gal) but if they played "On The Radio" one more time I was gonna toss my radio through the goddamn tv screen!

Boy-crazy Deirdre, virgin Madge, Annie Mallick (Cherie Currie), and Jeanie (Jodie Foster) are best friends in the San Fernando Valley. Jeanie has problems with her single mom Mary (Sally Kellerman). Annie keeps running away from her troubled parents and her policeman father wants to institutionalize her. Brad (Scott Baio) is a guy friend. Madge starts dating older Jay Thompson (Randy Quaid).

In very broad strokes, this is Little Women thrown into the L. A. scene. The female friendships are unbreakable. It's very teenage angst, chaotic, and young girls searching for love. It has quite a few interesting young faces. I do wish for it to pick a story and stick with it. It meanders around. In a way, it's a teenage world. With such a scatter-shot plot, it sometimes does hit on something interesting. I also wonder if it needs a female voice with the writing. The girls do give it a good sense of reality. Cherie Currie and Jodie Foster have magnetic presences. It's an interesting early movie about 80's teen culture.

One of the best portrayals of being a teen in the late 70's early 80's. Jodie Foster is simply wonderful as the one who tries to hold all of her friends together through the difficult times of being a teen in Califirnia; actually this could have been set in any city. I lived this life of parties, concerts and excess during this same era. Being 44 and looking back it is like looking back into my own memories of kids I went to school with and the things we experienced. Though the look of this movie is dated, big hair, satin jackets etc, however it certainly is still relevant. Donna Summer's "On the Radio" is such a great song and is a vital part of the fabric of this move. This is movie is so much better than the teen sex farces that seemed to proliferate after this movie came out - because it is a pretty close portrayal of what being a teen at this time was like with absent parents and lots of free time.If you haven't seen it you should...

Privileged Valley girls discover that they are not immune to the consequences of their bad decisions.

I was not impressed by this movie on my first viewing, more than forty years ago, but a chance to see it on Turner Classic Movies after I had forgotten everything about it revealed a better movie and a more mature understanding of what the film makers were trying to say. The young women, led by Jodie Foster and Cherie Currie, don't understand the costs of what they are doing, between the drinking, the sex, and the hard partying that leaves the parents angry at the sheer destruction. Like the contemporaneous LITTLE DARLINGS, it failed because it didn't really understand who its audience was, and what they would enjoy seeing. The older segment of the audience was angry at the young women, and the younger portions didn't care for the unhappy ending with its inherent moralizing.

Having grown up with the East Coast bracket of privileged young people, I can say the attitudes were precisely on point. With Scott Baio, Sally Kellerman, Randy Quaid, and Laura Dern.

First of all, Foxes is one of those times where my opinion on it shifted, if ever so slightly, over the course of just two minutes - hell, just one edit - in the last five to ten minutes. At first, what happens with Cherie Currie's character Annie ultimately was disappointing for me inasmuch that the film was not following a path that was expected (or really much of a direct path at all, to the writer and Adrien Lyne's credit they make this intentionally shapeless when it comes to structure so it's squarely about these girls, their parents, their sometimes lovers and the difficulties they face living on some kind of edge), and her fate felt a bit Afterschool-Special-like. But then when it's revealed that there's a time jump and a place where I thought the girls were at is something else, my opinion changed again to just "BRILLIANT!" Is it a calculated choice with what the story jumps to for its denouemont? Maybe, but it worked for me.

Secondly, this is a very particular kind of story of high school aged drama, where it almost all takes place outside of that. Foxes doesn't judge these girls or their parents (well, that cop father is certainly scum, pardon my French), and I gather this without him getting much dialog at all), and that's a major credit to how much the filmmakers trust the audience to get it. Of course it's also of this time, when hitching a ride was the norm and "On the Radio" by Donna Summer could be used for the Main Theme of the movie (used a little too much mayhap but I got used to it), and when frankly it was before parents became very protective of their teenage children. This has an odor of late 1970's Los Angeles Free-Wheeling fun and horror, and if it has aged as far as technology or the cars or music, it hasn't when it comes to this basic thing: sometimes teenagers go... wild.

And lastly, this could have been a bit less enjoyable and the aimlessness distracting if it weren't for the performances across the board; Foster grounds this as Jeanie, and what I love about her here is that she makes her seem like she *should* be too mature or educated to hang with some of this crowd, but she also imbues her with the spirit of 'hey, I want to hang out with my friends and I really CARE for them, Annie most of all (who is, ahem, not okay... sorry I couldn't resist). Currie is also magnetic in her natural way, literally a runaway for most of it, and she is surrounded by people like Sally Kellerman as Jeanie's mom (some of the best scenes are between mother and daughter, which feel sloppy and hard like the most realistic and horribly charged arguments), Randy Quaid as the much-too-old boyfriend for 16 year old Madge (yikes), and even Laura Dern pops up for a couple of minutes which was a nice surprise.

An engrossing if flawed sleeper, best seen on an old VHS.

"Foxes" is one movie I remember for it's portrayal of teenagers in the late 1970's. As I am exactly Jodie Foster's age, I related to this movie. It deals with the frustrations, temptations, relationships & rebellion of youth. The soundtrack is great with inspiring rock eg. "More Than a Feeling" by Boston and sad numbers like "On the Radio" by Donna Summer. The music of my late teens. Yep, I'll always remember this one, even if it wasn't huge.

I can't imagine anyone referring to this as realistic. While some of the characterizations are believable (Scott Baio), most are melodramatic fodder. Even Jodie Foster can't deliver this dialogue convincingly, and she really tries.

The Madge character looks as much like a high school student as Rizzo in Grease.

As far as direction, the storyline wanders too much, and then the last scenes are packed in like the producers told Lyne he only had five minutes left.

Not very good, but nice to see some young faces.

Story about four teenage girls growing up in California. Jeanie (Jodie Foster) is the most level-headed of the bunch--but wants to move out of her house where she lives with her divorced mother (Sally Kellerman). Annie (Cherie Currie) is addicted to drugs, alcohol and bad boys and is beaten up by her father. Madge (Marilyn Kagan) has overprotective parents. Deirde (Kandice Stroh) thinks she's more mature than the rest of them.

This is nothing new from what we've seen plenty of times before--but this one has one big difference--it's accurate. I graduated from high school in 1980 (when I first saw the film) and I was surprised at how realistic it was. They got the dialogue, clothes and attitudes down completely right. Even the main song of the movie ("On the Radio" by Donna Summer) was a big hit before this came out. This film hit me harder than any other teen film of the time because I could understand and relate to the characters. I knew girls in high school who were just like this! The film is (of course) dated but it captures a time we will never see again.

The acting is good on all counts with Foster giving the best performance. The relationship between her and Kellerman (who was excellent) was realistic and well-done. Even Scott Baio (who has a small role as a friend of the girls) more or less realistically played a teen boy.

A very good movie--essential viewing if you came of age in 1980. The film has a deserved R rating (plenty of drug use and swearing) but should be seen by all teens. I give it a 8.

Foxes is Adrian Lyne's debut movie after a successful stint in creating commercials in the 1970s.

Just like Alan Parker in Bugsy Malone, he teams up Jodie Foster and Scott Baio taking a meandering look at the friendship of four teenage girls growing up in LA's San Fernando Valley in the late 1970s as they deal with sex, drink, drugs, partying, love and growing up. Jodie Foster tries to protect them all but some are hell bent on self destruction. Giorgio Moroder provides the tinny synth music and Donna Summer sings the infectious title song 'On the radio.'

Looking at the film over three decades later it features a more grimy and seedier suburb, its still contained in the disco era where even the adult characters seem lost and screwed up. British actor Adam Faith has a cameo as Jodie's dad who is a tour manager.

Despite the on-screen talent which contains several Oscar nominees this is a rather dull and plodding film with very little point to it. The music livens it up a little as Glam rockers Angel make an appearance.

Lyne makes good use of lighting and establishes a visual look that will become popular in the 1980s.

If you weren't there, then unfortunately this movie will be beyond compassion for you. Which as I say is a shame because although some of the acting is amateurish, it is meant to be for realism. Let's face it--in real life, we don't say things in an exacting or perfect way, even when we mean to. In this sense, it works. This, however, does not apply to our "known" actors in this film, notably Jodie Foster (born a natural). The fact that the other 3 girls are not accomplished only adds to the story--Jodie plays the glue that struggles to keep their friendship close, even with the obvious feeling of fatality. Meaning that no matter how close friends are, eventually there are some people that just fade away, no matter how you try.

And therein is the core of the movie. It's not about partying, it's not about sexuality, but about these 4 girls and their final time as still young girls before they have to go the world alone.

If you have ever had a friendship like that in your life, you will feel this movie--it will mean a lot to you, no matter what era it is set in, or what era you grew up in. We all knew these girls in school, or at the very least knew of them. We all knew the frustrated virgin, half wanting to hold onto childhood and half wanting desperately to grow up and thinking that will do it for her. We all knew the boy-crazy one, the fashion plate whose vanity hides her fear of the world, her fear of acceptance. We all knew the party girl, the one they whispered about, with tales of not only her sad home life but of her notorious exploits. And we all knew the "mother figure", the one a little more real, a little more grounded, a little more sad because she knew what would happen. Maybe you were one of those girls. Maybe, like me, you had been each one at one time or another...

This film really captures that fragile time in life when want, needs, pressures, womanhood, childhood, the world and loneliness are all embodied in each female's head, each factor on the precipice. Which aspect do you hang on to? What do you toss over the edge, no matter how you may want to hold on? And how painful is goodbye to everything you've known? That's what this movie is--steps into womanhood while clinging onto childhood, and how damn tough it is to keep walking. If you were there, you know...and love this film, as I do. Aching and tenderly done. A fine piece of captured femininity.

Ahhh those teen age memories! My friends and I getting together at each others houses for sleepovers. Telling each other our deepest secrets and confiding our dreams. Battling our parents while trying to just have a good time and never NEVER trust anyone over 30!!

Foxes is one of those movies that make us remember those bittersweet memories of growing pains and still trying to avoid getting into trouble. I did not grow up in L.A but I can relate to these characters in the movie. The cast and acting is really not too bad considering they are young people in the drama field. A young Jodie Foster as Jeannie who is the central character trying to keep herself and her friends sane while battling parents and the dangers of society (boys, social acceptance, high school and just anything teenagers have to face) Her best friend Annie, is a teen just hell bent on a course of self destruction, who Jeannie constantly bails out of trouble. The other two girls, Madge and Deidre are desperately trying to find their place in life by seeking social acceptance (losing virginity) and finding their one special love in their lives! Scott Baio (anyone still remember him?) He was hot property playing Cha Chi in Happy Days is a skate boarding (very popular in the 70's) boy teenager who is always on the prowl for a good time. Also look for a very YOUNG Laura Dern in the party scene! The script which was unbelievably always rewritten is very mediocre with some sappy lines. When Jeannie's Mom, played by Sally Kellerman is criticizing Jeannnie for getting into trouble, all of a sudden she says "You're all so beautiful--my hips, I hate my hips" I guess even adults go thru their growing pains as well.

The soundtrack should be on a collectors list! It is very hard to find in stores and probably only available on vinyl. Donna Summer's haunting song "On The Radio is featured. It gives the film a very thoughtful feel and sometimes a sadness. The ending of the film has a very sad feel to it. We all survive our teen years but their is some sad memories that will always haunt us. Foxes is a film that seems to force us to reflect on those years and review what good or bad choices that we have made.---even if it makes us laugh or cry. This is a film for any teenager going into the growing pains and for any adult that wants to sit back and remember fond youth.

I adore this movie. It is one of the best teen movies ever! Jodie Foster, Cherie Currie, Marilyn Kagan, and Kandice Stroh were awesome! The whole movie seems realistic, and is very interesting and thoughtful. It concerns four teenage girls struggling with problems as they live their lives in the San Fernando Valley. Jeanie (Foster) is fighting with her divorced mother, Annie (Currie) is a teen runaway who drinks and pops pills, and runs away from her abusive father. Madge (Kagan) is a young girl who is overweight and mad that she is a virgin. Plus, her parents are overprotective and she has annoying younger siblings. Then there is Deirdre (Stroh) who is not as developed as the other characters, she is basically one of their friends who likes boys and has a lot of boy troubles. I like the music, the acting, and there were some scenes that were great...the party and the ending were standout scenes. The concert scenes were funny as well. The ending is a tearjerker, but I won't give it away. See for yourself and rent or buy this great film.

I have been a Jodie Foster fan ever since we were both kids, from her Disney years. I loved her tomboy antics in films like Candleshoe.

"Foxes" was such a huge departure from all of that.

Where other young female actors of that era turned to sexual puerility disguised as comedy ("Little Darlings", anyone?), Jodie went for a depressing and tragic tale of teens dragged to their demise by the powerful allure of temptation and addiction.

This was not Disney. This was not Porky's. This was not "Halloweed". This was a dark & powerful story of the destruction of young lives. Sadly it's a tale that still plays out on a daily basis all over the country, this film could be replayed (with a current soundtrack) and still be wholly relevant.

It's not the best film ever made, it is tired at some parts, not all the performances are particularly outstanding. But Jodie Foster continued to show her chops as a real adult actor (a trend started when she was very young in Taxi Driver).

7 out of 10 Barky

This work is striking in its accurate depiction of teenage life at the time of its execution. Though this is a broad generalization, parents of that time were too self-absorbed to be real parents, and those who were home tended to be far too distracted from the real issues, where their children were concerned.

This film teaches us how to let go, even when it is painful, and does so with a sweet, melancholy, but informed style whereby Foster talks philosophically about feeling the pain of life. I loved that scene. It was my favorite scene in the movie, actually.

The transition from funeral to wedding was meant to show that life does go on, and so must we. Baio's skateboarding through a pack of goons and outrunning them was meant to show us that the troubled times will pass, and we are meant to get through them, to better times.

The whole metaphor of "moving on," and the procession of life, is present throughout the film, and serves to give us hope, in the end.

I like this movie, though I do not watch it often, as it tends to make me melancholy.

It shouldn't be viewed by young children, and probably only those raised in the 1970's-80's would want to.

It rates a 7.4/10 from...

the Fiend :.

I could never stand watching Happy Days after Chachi joined the cast, so I knew I was in trouble when the best scene in this movie featured Scott Baio (a skateboard chase scene!). Jodie Foster in her first "grown-up" role turns in her usual professional performance but that is no excuse for this boring mess. Two hours out of my life that I'll never get back! No noteworthy characters, unbelievable storyline, questionable editing and horrendous cinematography but worst of all, I couldn't have cared less. The story of California teens in the 1970's, where the kids live miserable lives and all their parents are idiots. Don't waste your time watching this ugly excuse for a movie.

"Foxes" is a serious look at the consequences of growing up too fast in the 1980s. And unlike the teen sex comedies that overshadowed it (Porky's, Fast Times at Ridgement High), the movie holds up well against time.

Its theme of teen angst is as relevant today as it was 25 years ago and Jodie Foster and sk8er boi Scott Baio (remember him?) lead a fine young cast that's well worth watching.

The film follows four Southern California girls as they move through a rootless existence of sex and drugs and devoid of parents. The teens spend their days in and out of school and their nights at parties, concerts, or out on the street. Seldom are they home because instant gratification is a pill, party, or boy away.

But rather than condemning them, the film is sympathetic, blaming absent, uncaring adults for forcing the teens to grow up alone. And the charismatic cast is impossible to dislike.

The film's opening – a long and loving pan - sets the tone for what follows. We see the girls asleep at daybreak amid the objects that define teen girlhood, from Twinkies to a picture of a young John Travola, while Donna Summer's "On the Radio" is scored beneath.

From there the movie picks up speed as the girls head off to school and to life. Annie (Runaway rocker Cherie Currie) is the wild child who lives for the next party or pill. Deirdre (Kandice Stroh) is the boy crazy drama queen. Madge (Marlilyn Stroh) is the shy girl in over her head. And Foster is the one with the plan. It's her job to keep this crew together long enough to finish high school while also holding her divorced and desperate man hunting mother in line (Sally Kellerman).

It's an almost impossible job and one that Foster ultimately fails at.

Despite its age, "Foxes" remains a pleasure to watch. Dated hair, clothes, and references to Olympic skater Dorothy Hamill haven't hurt the movie.

The cinematography is simply stunning, with breathtaking filtered shots of the L.A. basin at dawn, dusk and at night. Giorgio Moroder adds a 80s soundtrack featuring the likes of Donna Summer and Janis Ian.

Perhaps the movie's biggest disappointment is that the young stars around Foster never broke out like the casts of "St. Elmo's Fire" (1985) or "Empire Records" (1995). "Foxes" shows why they should have. But perhaps like Bowling for Soup's song "1985," they just hit a wall.

Stumbled into this one as part of putting together my 80s collection, and was rather disappointed. I was wondering how I had missed this one considering Jodie Foster is in it, and I thought I had seen all her early stuff already.. Then I watched it and realized why it was easy to miss. There is some good talent on screen, but this film just drags and bumbles around with a clear lack of direction and writing. IMO, This is a low bar for similarly themed films such as The Wildlife, Little Darlings, Fast times, The last American Virgin, etc..

So this movie is about 16 year olds living alone, doing drugs, skipping class, and sleeping around. Nobody is someone you can root for and there's no plot, just little vignette. Not having been alive in the 70's I can't say if its true to life, but there's so much here that just seemed a little too far out. Like the part where the mom moves out so that the 16 year old Jodie Foster can live alone. Like uh, really? Who would do that? Also, I was cheering for Cherie Curie to die at the end because she was totally useless, a burnout at 15. Wow, great life there sister.

Solid soundtrack and I guess an evocative time, but it';s hardly a movie about people you root for or want to spend any time with. The Angel cameo was neat though.