ReaderKenka
Let's be realistic.
Hadrina
The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful
Teddie Blake
The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.
David_Brown
This is a film I know very well, despite not seeing it in years. For those who want to know why "Little "Darlings not been released on DVD, there for two reasons. 1: It's because it is a Paramount Picture and Paramount has basically given up their DVD rights to films they made post 1949 to Warner Home Video ( the earlier talking films are all owned by Universal) except for what they call " Legacy Films" such as "The Godfather" and "Star Trek." 2: It is an extremely dated film ( what we know about Kristy McNiichol (Angel) and Tatum O''Neill Ferris) is very much opposite the characters they play in this movie). What it is about is two very different teenage girls ( although both are very tough ( watch Feris on the bus with Angel and you will see what I mean), Angel is the one with the poor chain smoking mother from the wrong side of the tracks, and Ferris, with the wealthy dad, whose mom abandoned both of them. The two of them cannot stand each other, and there is a bet to see who loses their virginity first: Angel with a boy named Randy ( Matt Damon), or Ferris to a camp worker named Gary ( Armand Assante). There are also several other girls involved with the bet ( including Sunshine ( a very young Cynthia Nixon) and very nasty Cinder ( Krista Errickson ( a dead on look alike for Brooke Shields)). Each girl claimed that they had sex ( of course, only Cinder did). Spoilers ahead: Ferris says she did, but she is lying ( which no one really knows but Angel who really did). The movie ends with Sunshine punching Cinder in the nose, and she is angry because it could cost her modeling career. Then Angel says to her mom, " You are not getting any younger and I have to take care of you." Then she introduces her to " Ferris Whitney best friend. " and she puts her arm around her as the movie ends and they play "The Bellamy a Brothers" Let Your Love Flow." It is not spelled out but it is highly inferred, that Amanda and her mom will be going home with Mr. Whitney ( because he is really lost without his wife, and needs someone to help with Ferris), and Angel and Ferris have become like sisters, so they cannot be separated. will not enjoy the movie as much as I did when I was a kid, because of what I have learned about both Tatum and Kristy , but based on what I remember and I remember it very well, it gets 9 of10 stars
smatysia
I saw this film in the early Eighties, but it made little impression on me, as I remembered almost nothing from it. Now it's thirty years later, and I found it rather uncomfortable to watch. (And I don't even have daughters!) Teen sex was really cool when I was a teen, but now the whole concept seems downright icky.This seems to have been a vehicle for Tatum O'Neal, and she was cute and competent throughout. However it seems that Kristy McNichol had the larger part, and the much deeper one as well. Matt Dillon looked like such a complete punk. (I'm sure I looked just the same at about that time.) And I always thought of Cynthia Nixon as an older actress, (yes she's younger than me) so it was interesting to see her work as a child.Overall, I didn't find this very enjoyable.
Astraether
I don't know how I missed this coming-of-age comedy in my youth, but somehow I'd never heard of it 'til I caught it while channel-surfing one day. I was quickly sucked in -- as much by the premise as by the humor. What, a sex-comedy from the girls' point-of-view? Brilliant! And a funny one at that? Even better! My favorite scene was probably the condom-retrieval by Penelope climbing into the boys' bathroom. It was a treat to see the girls getting into mischievous hijinx for once.(S P O I L E R S) But then, predictably, the film takes on a more serious tone once the two leads make good on their bet (well, at least one of 'em does). I guess I should have expected it, but the preachy style was a letdown. In the end, the film maintained the double-standard. Sex is a "big deal" for women -- don't do it unless you're in love, yadda yadda. Funny how I don't recall these sorts of "messages" in the male-oriented sex comedies. But it WAS 1980 so I guess I shouldn't be too surprised. Perhaps a remake is in order? All in all, I still enjoyed it. Nice performances all around; particularly Kristy McNichol as Angel.
HelloTexas11
In his capsule review of 'Little Darlings,' Leonard Maltin writes, "(it's) not quite as sleazy as it sounds, but not very inspiring either," which pretty much sums up reaction to this 'coming of age' film. I tend to mostly agree with that sentiment, though I find it a bit unfair. While certainly no classic, 'Little Darlings' does have its moments as well as two fine performances by Tatum O'Neal and Kristy McNichol. The young actresses had already established themselves as up-and-comers, O'Neal by being the youngest actress to win an Oscar (for 'Paper Moon') while McNichol had garnered favorable notices for her tomboy-ish role in the TV series, 'Family.' In 'Little Darlings,' O'Neal plays Ferris, a precocious teen girl of privilege and McNichol plays, well, a tomboy named Angel with a lot of street smarts who is more sensitive than she lets on. So neither actress is really playing against type here. They do show their acting chops though and they're both better than the material. They go to a girls' summer camp and find themselves in the center of a contest to see which of them can lose her virginity first. The other girls at the camp split into competing teams and place bets. This is where a lot of confusion about the film comes from; it was marketed as sort of a female version of 'Porky's' and this is a wholly inaccurate portrayal of the movie. Much of it could be lifted straight from a Disney flick; there's a predictably lame food fight and an 'oh gosh, aren't we wild' hijacking of a school bus. 'Little Darlings' can't decide if it wants to be a G-rated kids flick or a serious drama about growing up. But it certainly has nothing in common with 'Porky's.' Angel sets her sights on a suitable prospect (Matt Dillon) at the boy's camp across the lake; she seems less worried about having sex, since her floozy mother has described it as "no big deal." Ferris is a bit more ambitious. She targets a camp counselor, Gary (Armand Assante), a grown man no less, and envisions them having a romantic candle-lit dinner before whatever happens when you have sex takes place. In the end, Angel does have an intimate encounter of sorts with 'Randy' (good name) but it turns out to be disappointing and disturbing to her, more so than she envisioned. Ferris, on the other hand, blithely concocts in her mind a night of passion with Gary as she imagines it might be, which she describes in such rapturous terms to the other girls that they all believe she did, in fact, go to bed with him. The moral, no doubt, is that for a 16-year-old girl, fantasizing about sex is much better than actually having it. Or at least it was in this case. Some of the scenes toward the end are so well written and performed, it seems a shame they have to share screen time with the goofy nonsense in the middle. 'Little Darlings' wants to be more than it is, but only occasionally gets it right. It's also a shame that both Tatum O'Neal and Kristy McNichol were unable, for various reasons, to capitalize on their early successes and continue with interesting and successful roles. They showed a lot of promise, and 'Little Darlings' is worth seeing for their performances alone.
