BABY IT'S YOU (1983)
Label: Fun City Editions
Region Code: A
Rating: R
Duration: 105 Minutes 1 Second
Audio: English 2.0 Dual-Mono with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.85:1)
Director: John Sayles
Cast: Rosanna Arquette, Vincent Spano, Tracy Pollan,
Matthew Modine, Robert Downey Jr.
The John Sayles (Lone Star) directed Baby It's You (1983), his third film, centers on middle-class Jewish girl Jill Rosen (Rosanna Arquette, Pulp Fiction), a highschool student in Trenton, NJ, who is bound for Sarah Lawrence College in the Fall, but first she has to finish up her senior year. She's popular, well-liked and has caught the acting-bug via her highschool drama class, landing the lead in a play, but a wrench is thrown into the works when she catches the attention of new, handsome transfer student named Albert, who goes by the handle "The Sheik" (Vincent Spano, Over the Edge), a cocksure Sinatra-obsessed greaser wrapped in a lounge-lizard sharkskin suit, with half-baked dreams of becoming a famous crooner. Initially she is none too interested in him, but he is so adamant about them being a couple he almost wills the relationship into existence through sheer dogged determination. It's quite a melodramatic courtship, and not without some major bumps in the road, not the least of which is Sheik sleeping with Jill's easy friend Jody (Liane Curtis, Critters 2; The Main Course), and is then later expelled after an altercation with a teacher (Sam McMurray, National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation), which results in a frustrated and conflicted Jill going to the dance with someone else, angering Sheik, who along with his scuzzy pal Rat (Gary McCleery, TV movie The Killing of Randy Webster), commit an armed robbery on prom night, with Sheik having to flee to Miami to evade the cops.
The story then moves to Jill's first year at college, where she finds her self-confidence shaken, she's no longer the self-assured popular girl she was in highschool, now a small fish in a big pond, and the experience is quite humbling and disappointing. Her acting aspirations are quickly dashed, but she befriends a girl named Leslie (Tracy Pollan, Bright lights, Big City) who introduces her nice-guy Steve (Mathew Modine, Full Metal Jacket), and they double-date from time to time. at a low point she looks to reconnect and maybe rekindle what she has with Sheik heads to Miami during Spring Break, but is embarrassed for him when she discovers he's no up and coming singer, but just lip-syncing to jukebox for a community of senior citizens. Nonetheless, she finally loses her virginity to him, but returns to college knowing that there's no future with for her with him. He meanwhile, still seems pretty delusional about his prospects of becoming a singer, believing that it's all about style over talent, that is until he is replaced by an actual lounge singer, (Frank Vincent, The Sopranos). It's then and only then that he seems to come down from the cloud he's on, realizing he has zero prospects in life, leading to him stealing a car off the street and hightailing it to Sarah Lawrence to make one last bittersweet play for Jill's affections.
The period melodrama is set against a backdrop of '60s iconic tunes from Sam the Sham and The Pharaohs, Dusty Springfield, Simon & Garfunkel and more, plus four songs by Bruce Springsteen, which are anachronistic, but fit the Jersey set proceedings rather perfectly. The film is also beautifully lensed by cinematographer Michael Ballhaus (Goodfellas) who captures the 60's era gorgeously, but not over-sentimentally either.
The film is wonderfully evocative of the era, the Jersey locations and period costuming and set decoration feels lived in and authentic. The drama and tension between our star-crossed teen lovers feels true as well, with both Spano and Arquette being absolute dynamite together as the star-crossed lovers. Those coming into it looking for a Porky's-esque sex-comedy might be disappointed, or they might discover a welcome surprise with what a wonderful film they've stumbled upon. I would assume that if you're a fan of stuff like The Lords of Flatbush, The Wanderers, or American Graffiti this is bound to satisfy you're craving for nostalgic coming-of-age films of yesteryear, and this gem does it with more emotional weight, depth and resonance then any of those.
Audio/Video: Baby, It's You (1983) arrives on Blu-ray from Fun City editions with a new 4K scan of its original 35mm camera negative, presented in 1080p HD framed in 1.85:1 widescreen. the filmic presentation offers lush grain with pleasing detail and texture. depth and clarity also impress, with solid black levels and colors that look terrific. Audio comes by way of English DTS-HD MA 2.0 dual-mono with optional English subtitles. The track is clean and well-balanced, dialogue and atmospherics sound excellent, as does the soundtrack that is punctuated by terrific 60's tunes and of course the early era Bruce Springsteen songs.
The film was previously issued on a barebones Blu-ray from the now defunct Olive Films, this new edition from Fun City Editions rectifies the lack of extras on that release with a terrific compliment of deep-diving interviews that really added a lot to my second viewing.
We start of with brand new Audio Commentary by Bill Acker, which for time management reasons I only sampled briefly while sourcing screenshots, but i will come back to it, what i heard was enthusiastic, well-researched and very dense with information about the music, cast, locations. Then onto the 33-min This Is Very Familiar to Me - Video Interview with John Sayles, who is always so wonderful on his commentaries an interviews, never one to skimp on the details, her speaks of how the film came together, he being brought on as a director for hire by producers Amy Robinson and Griffin Dunne, shopping it around to studios, and being turned down by 20th Century Fox before landing at Paramount. he also speaks about how working with a studio felt like the big time for him with a multi-million dollar production, shooting it as a negative pick-up for Paramount which allowed some autonomy, and getting into the ethnic and racial themes of the screenplay, the characters, drug use, the casting process, and the shooting locations in Hoboken NJ. he also speaks to his relationship and appreciation of DP Michael Ballhaus, and fun tales of shooting certain scenes, using the budget to buy songs for the soundtrack which he was not used to with his indie background, and some fun tales about songs they didn't get, and how they scored the ones they did get. this leads into how some sings were not cleared for the initial home video release, his style of editing to the music, cut scenes, and his collaboration with editor Sonya Polonsky. we also hear about studios reaction to the 1st cut, how they wanted a more mainstream teen sex-comedy, and fighting over the cut, test screenings, and Sayles eventually getting his edit.
Next up is the 30-min From Triple Play To Double Play - Video Interview with Amy Robinson and Griffin Dunne - they discuss their production company, how they came together, the creativity between them, becoming producers with Chilly Scenes of Winter with Triple Play Productions, continuing as Double Play when their friend Metcalf returned to acting. How Amy's experience in high-school and Sarah Lawrence informed the story, going after Sayles after seeing the The Return of the Secaucus Seven, Sayles fast writing process, and specific moments from her life that ended-up in the film, and original story elements straight from Sayles own mind. they also discuss how important music was, the influence of Splendor in the Grass, and the themes of early feminism, the casting, and the work of Cinematographer Michael Ballhaus and production designer Jeffrey Townsend, shooting locations around NJ, the period score with the exception of the Springsteen tune, and how they got the song, and others with Griffin helping a lot to wrangle the songs from Simon & Garfunkel, Springsteen and Sinatra., and the emotional ending, also touching on the contentious test screening and studio notes, and modest opening. Jerry Greenberg brought in to re-edit
Then onto the 10-min A Little Magic - Video Interview with Rosanna Arquette, she gets into meeting Dunne while shooting The Wall tv mini-series and getting the role, how she loving the character and her struggle, throwing herself into the role, and how Sayles helped her through certain scenes, She describes Dunne and Robinson as a hands-on producing duo, her good chemistry with Spano and how it comes through on the screen, the gorgeous lighting style of DP Bauhaus, the killer soundtrack, and how Bruce Springsteen loves the movie,
In the 20-min Like A Glove - Video Interview with Vincent Spano, the co-star gets into his big break in Black Stallion Returns, auditioning for Baby, It's You on audio cassette, and using a video screentest for The Outsiders, and having to turn down The Outsiders to take the role, but how he eventually worked with Coppola on Rumble Fish. He gets into what he loved about the script, Sayles directing style, and a story about improvising with actor Frank Vincent which did not go over so well with Sayles. he also touches on the music rights issues which prevented a VHS release for couple of years, and meeting Springsteen backstage at a show, and noting how he loved the film.
Matthew Modine shows up for the 8-min I Was in the Right Profession - Video Interview with Matthew Modine. he talks about how he was enrolled in acting school at the time he was cast, as well as working as a cook in a restaurant; filming the scenes out of order, and how his scenes with Arquette were slightly expanded, what Sayles was like, and how intimate the set was. Disc extras are buttoned-up with a 7-min Image Gallery with posters, stills and behind-the-scenes images, plus a 3-min Trailer. There is also a nifty easter egg tucked away on the menu worth seeking out.
The single-disc release arrives in a clear keepcase with a Reversible Wrap with a pair of legacy artworks, and inside there's a 20-Page Illustrated Booklet with wonderful new essays by Gavin Smith and Caroline Madden, as well as cast and crew information.
Special Features:
- Audio Commentary by Bill Ackerman
- This Is Very Familiar to Me - Video Interview with John Sayles (33:02)
- From Triple Play To Double Play - Video Interview with Amy Robinson and Griffin Dunne (29:57)
- A Little Magic - Video Interview with Rosanna Arquette (9:55)
- Like A Glove - Video Interview with Vincent Spano (19:49)
- I Was in the Right Profession - Video Interview with Matthew Modine (7:04)
- Image gallery (7:19)
- Trailer (2;48)
- Double-sided wrap with legacy artwork
- 20-Page Booklet with new essays by Gavin Smith and Caroline Madden (first pressing only)
Screenshots from the Fun City Editions Blu-ray:
Extras:
Buy it!
#ad
