It is an outlier of a film in John Sayles’ filmography. The bulk
of his work consists of Altmanesque (Sayles is certainly an acolyte) ensemble films,
often political set in a certain place at a certain time (Matewan the best) and this is a two-hander romance teen drama
Stars a charming Rosanna Arquette and Griffin Dunne is in there
somewhere— seems clear Scorsese saw this film (both are in 1985’s After Hours)
Matthew Modine’s film
debut (he plays an uppity WASP sort of rival to Vincent Spano’s character) as
it is for Robert Downey Jr. – you can’t find RDJ in here though
To be clear, Sayles is
not Scorsese, but the “Hard to be a Saint in the City” by Springsteen music
drop when Span’s character enters the cafeteria is Scorsese- a truly great
scene
Like 1973’s American Graffiti (another film
that is nostalgia for the 1960’s) this is wall to wall music drops.
The music bothered a lot of the critics of the
time but I think there’s a formal defense for all the choices Sayles makes. So
the Spano character is in love with Sinatra- he emulates him- so there’s a lot
of Sinatra diegtic to the film. The 1960’s music (The title from the Shirelles,
Wooly-Bully, etc. captures the time/era kind of like 1982’s Diner, Graffiti) and then the Springsteen music captures the Spano’s
character’s moods. Sayles is a big Springsteen guy (directed a few music videos
in the 1980’s). This is the first time Springsteen music had ever been used in
the film. It bothered critics because it’s contemporary music (or recent) in the
1980’s and this film is set in the 1960’s. It is very well done though. The Boss
is perfect for Spano’s spirit (the “Adam Raised Some Cain” scene is a wow). He’s
Jersey as well. It’s just tough because all three strands of music are big
characters in the film. It absolutely works though
Strong scenes of realism with Spano’s background
and father in the film— this is just a tougher tone than like the John Hughes
teen/high school romance films or other 1980’s nostalgia films
Love the Paul Newman, Belmondo in the locker of
the Arquette character
Arquette and Spano are perfectly cast- Jewish
and Italian jersey – Spano’s character a great dresser
[…] Baby It’s You – Sayles […]