Baby It's You (film)

Infobox Film
name = Baby It's You


caption = Theatrical release poster
director = John Sayles
producer = Griffin Dunne
Amy Robinson
writer = Screenplay:" John Sayles
Story:"'
Amy Robinson
starring = Rosanna Arquette Vincent Spano Joanna Merlin Jack Davidson
music =
cinematography = Michael Ballhaus
editing = Sonya Polonsky
distributor = Paramount Pictures
released = March 4, 1983
runtime = 105 minutes
country = United States
language = English
amg_id = 1:3581
imdb_id = 0085208

"Baby It's You" is an American film released in 1983 written and directed by John Sayles. It stars Rosanna Arquette and Vincent Spano. [imdb title|id=0085208|title=Baby It's You.]

This was Sayles' first film for a major Hollywood studio. He based the screenplay on an autobiographical story by Amy Robinson but it's also close to his own high school experiences.Fact|date=September 2008

Plot

The film is about a romance between an upper middle class Jewish Girl named Jill Rosen (Arquette), who is bound for Sarah Lawrence College, and a blue-collar Italian boy nicknamed the Sheik (Spano) in 1966 New Jersey.

The movie follows their high school experiences during their romance - Jill's participation and success in high school acting productions, Jill's rebuffing Sheik's sexual advances, Sheik's infidelity with a promiscuous friend of Jill's, and a suicide attempt by that friend.

Eventually, Sheik is expelled from school, and after a fight with Jill, goes to Miami, Florida while she leaves to attend college. Jill visits Sheik in Florida, and although she is unimpressed with Sheik's life in Florida (he has found work in a nightclub lipsynching to Frank Sinatra recordings), the two finally consummate their relationship. Soon after Jill leaves, Sheik arrives at work to find that he has been unceremoniously replaced by a real singer. Angry and disaffected with his life in Florida, he sets out to reunite with Jill. Jill's college experience has not been happy - she has not met with the acting or social success she had in high school and has become depressed. She has also become disaffected with her life. In the end, the two reunite.

Background

The film wasn't actually produced by the studio but financed on the basis of a distribution commitment. As a result, during post-production, Paramount executives began criticizing the downbeat ending of the film and the choice of classic pop music on the soundtrack. Sayles fought his way through the test screening process and was able to get his cut released but in retaliation the studio half-heartedly promoted it.

This was the first theatrical film to feature the music of Bruce Springsteen.Fact|date=September 2008

The film has had difficulty being released to DVD due to the expensive costs for music clearance and Paramount's continued disinterest. Baby It's You has been available on DVD since July, 2008.

Cast

* Rosanna Arquette as Jill Rosen
* Vincent Spano as Albert "Sheik" Capadilupo
* Joanna Merlin as Mrs. Rosen
* Jack Davidson as Dr. Rosen
* Nick Ferrari as Mr. Capadilupo
* Dolores Messina as Mrs. Capadilupo
* Leora Dana as Miss Vernon, Teacher
* Bill Raymond as Mr. Ripeppi, Teacher
* Sam McMurray as Mr. McManus, Teacher
* Liane Alexandra Curtis as Jody, High School Girl
* Claudia Sherman as Beth, High School Girl
* Marta Kober as Debra, High School Girl
* Tracy Pollan as Leslie, College Girl
* Rachel Dretzin as Shelly, College Girl
* Susan Derendorf as Chris, College Girl
* Robert Downey Jr. as Stewart

Critical reception

Film critic Janet Maslin discussed the music in the film and wrote, "Music is a major part of "Baby, It's You," as the title may indicate. The score consists of rock songs that more or less correspond to the time, although Sheik's entrances are accompanied by Bruce Springsteen songs; these may be anachronistic, but they suit Sheik to a T. These touches, as well as the generally impeccable period details and the evocative cinematography by Michael Ballhaus (who shot many of R.W. Fassbinder's later films), suggest that "Baby, It's You" was a labor of love for everyone involved." [ [http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?_r=1&res=9907E0D81138F936A15750C0A965948260&oref=slogin Maslin, Janet] . "The New York Times," film review, March 25, 1983. Last accessed: February 28 2008.]

Critic Dennis Schwartz wrote, "It was for indie filmmaker Sayles his first film to be made with financial backing by a major studio (Doubleday backed it and Paramount bought it), but he swore it would be his last as he was pissed that he lost final editing cut. For Sayles this is lighter fare than what he usually tackles, but he fights through all the teenage clichés to give his own spin on this romance, the significance of social-class differences, how it is to finally grow up by listening to your heart and to change with the times." [ [http://www.sover.net/~ozus/babyitsyou.htm Schwartz, Dennis] . "Ozus' World Movie Reviews," film review, January 10 2007 Last accesed: February 28,208.]

Awards

Wins
* Boston Society of Film Critics Awards: BSFC Award; Best Actress, Rosanna Arquette; 1984.

References

External links

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