IMDb RATING
6.5/10
3.5K
YOUR RATING
A free-spirited 15-year-old girl flirts with a dangerous stranger in the Northern California suburbs and must prepare herself for the frightening and traumatic consequences.A free-spirited 15-year-old girl flirts with a dangerous stranger in the Northern California suburbs and must prepare herself for the frightening and traumatic consequences.A free-spirited 15-year-old girl flirts with a dangerous stranger in the Northern California suburbs and must prepare herself for the frightening and traumatic consequences.
- Awards
- 3 wins & 5 nominations
Sara Inglis
- Jill
- (as Sarah Inglis)
David Michael O'Neill
- Mall Boy
- (as David O'Neill)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaDirector Joyce Chopra knew Laura Dern was right for the role of Connie when she heard "Is That the Way You Look?" from James Taylor playing on Dern's answering machine. Ironically and unknown to Dern, Taylor was the movie's music director and had suggested using that song in particular as one of the soundtrack's featured songs.
- GoofsWhen the girls are looking across the street at Frank's Drive-In, the gold Pontiac is already in the parking lot, conspicuous because the left brake-light is out. Then the gold Pontiac is heard coming down the road and seen turning into the parking lot, sporting the nonworking light.
- Alternate versionsPBS edited two minutes from this movie for its 1987 network television premiere.
- ConnectionsFeatured in At the Movies: Salvador/Smooth Talk/Crossroads/Turtle Diary (1986)
- SoundtracksLimousine Driver
Performed by James Taylor
Featured review
Strange mix of growing-pains drama and psychological study
Laura Dern is perfect as lanky lass in a small town sparring with her parents, estranged from her older sister, desperate to be liked and to be with boys. Opening moments of this adaptation of Joyce Carol Oates' story "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been"--with Dern and friends doing the mall--are realistic but nothing too original; second portion of the film, with Laura meeting smooth talking Treat Williams (who comes dressed like the James Dean poster on Dern's wall) is elongated and dry (you can almost feel the director's confidence slipping away). It's an encounter I didn't particularly care for, nor did I buy the rosy ending either. However, there are fine moments in "Smooth Talk", the most devastating of which lies in a conversation between Dern and indifferent sis Elizabeth Berridge (in a terrific performance): Dern recalls a vivid, lovely childhood memory between the two, but after listening and thinking it over, Berridge tells her, "I don't remember..." **1/2 from ****
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- Jan 31, 2004
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Details
- Release date
- Countries of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- Bedrohliches Geflüster
- Filming locations
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $2,400,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $16,785
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $16,785
- Nov 17, 1985
- Gross worldwide
- $16,785
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