An enchanting teenage girl tries to lead a fun life while her parents undergo dull relationship dramas in 1980's La Boum. Sophie Marceau, in her first role, stars as 13 year old Vic and she is lovely. Sadly, the film gets bogged down too much in a plot around her unremarkable parents that's transparently calculated to flatter her father, played by Claude Brasseur.
When he cheats on his wife (Brigitte Fossey), he can't help but finally confess to her because he loves her so much. She retaliates by smashing all the merchandise in his mistress' perfume shop. And Vic's mother insists they separate.
Vic's mother, Francoise, starts dating Vic's handsome German teacher (Bernard Giraudeau). Vic's father, Francois, sees Francoise and the German teacher together one night. Following the German teacher in his car, Francois witnesses a group of thugs mugging the German teacher. Francois beats off the thugs single-handedly and when the German teacher thanks him he punches him once and tells him to stay away from his wife.
Meanwhile, I just kept wondering what Sophie Marceau was up to. She mopes about complaining how she can't go to parties and how her parents ruin anything. But Marceau is so darned cute it works.
In one big scene at a roller rink, Vic wants to make her boyfriend, who's been dancing with another girl, jealous. So when Vic's father enters the room, she kisses him full on the lips, pretending he's her lover. Because of course she does. Meanwhile, the kid sister of Vic's best friend marvels at how sexy Francois is. I don't know what Claude Brasseur did to get such a kiss-ass role but the film that started out as a charming story about a pretty teenage girl became really tedious after the first twenty minutes. It never recovered.
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