"That's all they really want!"
Teenager Janey (Sarah Jessica Parker) has a love for one thing and one thing only: dancing. With her sights set on becoming a star, her luck is in when her family relocate to Chicago - home to none other than the after school dance phenomenon DTV.
Within no time at all, Janey - all too familiar with moving from one school to another - meets the outrageous Dance TV fanatic Lynne (Helen Hunt), and together they plan to showcase their talents in the upcoming DTV auditions. This is it. Now or never. Janey's big break. Well, it would be if it wasn't for her uptight, military obsessed father who is dead against the idea.
Friday arrives. It's the day of the auditions. Lynne is buzzing with excitement, that is, until Janey coughs up the courage to admit she won't be auditioning. But - in a change of heart - her enormous passion for dancing shines through and, ignoring the words of her dad, hops onto the bus downtown.
They arrive, nearly being run down by the spoilt daddy's girl Natalie in the process. Lynne shows a bit of attitude and puts Natalie's nose right out of joint, only leading to disaster later on when - during Lynne's audition - she is shoved around by her dance partner and made to look a fool of in front of the judges, who immediately disqualify her. Lyn and Janey smell a rat and their suspicions are confirmed when they spot the conniving Natalie, who - having schemed up the entire catastrophic audition - is busy paying off Lynne's dance partner for his crafty endeavor. And so begins a continuous battle between the three dance hopefuls!
Having made it through the first round, Janey is paired up with the motorbike riding rebel, Jeff (Lee Montgomery) - who couldn't be more different from the happy-go-lucky Catholic schoolgirl. Clashing nonstop throughout their first rehearsal, things are looking pretty hopeless. But, unsurprisingly, it doesn't take long for the two opposites to attract.
Soon, news has circulated of a party - to be precise, the bratty Natalie's debutantes ball. What better way for Janey and Lynne spread a bit of revenge than by crashing the party! Printing out hundreds of copies of invitations, they invite some of the wackiest, punkiest, scariest looking kids in town, and watch from a distance as the sophisticated gathering is trashed from top to bottom!
Janey and Jeff have become the perfect couple by now, dancing their way to the live DTV final. Things don't come easy though, of course, when Jeff is threatened by Natalie's millionaire father: lose the competition or have your father lose his job. To make things worse, Janey is caught sneaking home from her and Jeff's dance practice late at night and is grounded by her furious father. But will they give in at the last hurdle, or will they make it to DTV? And more importantly - will they win?
VERDICT: ★★★ ½
Girls Just Want to Have Fun is one of the more recognisable New World Pictures flicks - maybe because of the famous faces; Sarah Jessica Parker, Helen Hunt and Shannen Doherty, or simply because it is an enjoyable '80s dance movie. Either way, New World managed to whip up a nice little time capsule of music, dancing and fashions, with a cliched, fluffy, but grin inducing plot. Shannen Doherty with her screechy, squeaky voice in the role of Jeff's little sister is particularly brilliant, as is Helen Hunt's outfits and feathered hair towards the end of the movie.
The words 'classic' and 'definitive' are often used when referring to GJWTHF, though countless other dance movies of the '80s are just as good. However, if you haven't seen it, pop it on one day and go crashing back to '85 as soon as the title rolls up on screen. Without a doubt, worthy of your time.
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SOUNDTRACK:
The soundtrack was released along with the movie in 1985, on cassette and LP. CD copies were apparently pressed in Germany, too, and are now extremely sought after as a lot of the songs in the movie are difficult to track down. The Deborah Galli/Tami Holbrook/Meredith Marshall cover of 'Girls Just Want to Have Fun' is lacking in energy and doesn't hold a candle to Cyndi Lauper, but isn't bad. Lauper refused to make any appearance in the movie or on the soundtrack as she believed it'd scar her career - though her 1988 movie Vibes is no better than this flick.
1. (Come On) Shout! - Alex Brown
2. On the Loose - Chris Farren
3. I Can Fly - Rainey
4. Dancing In Heaven (Orbital Be-Bop) - Q-Feel
5. Girls Just Want to Have Fun - Deborah Galli feat. Tami Holbrook & Meredith Marshall
6. Dancing In the Street - Animotion
7. Too Cruel - Amy Hart
8. Technique - Rainey
9. Wake Up the Neighborhood - Holland
Yet another scarce but superbly '80s soundtrack that helps make the movie what it is. Should you find it in amongst someones record collection, steal it!
