Some Kind of Wonderful (1987) ***

A John Hughes movie. And therefore a pleasant, if predictable, teen-angst flick. Nothing you haven't seen before, but what the hey, it's Los Angeles. Mary Stuart Masterson plays the pining tomboy to Eric Stolz's artist who has a wicked crush on the most popular girl in high school (Lea Thompson). The only thing that makes this flick an LA movie is the date locations - where else but in a Hollywood movie could you sneak into the Hollywood Bowl late at night? Without the famous locations it could take place anywhere, but as in Valley Girl, being able to point to different areas of the city adds to the fun.

Elias Koteas has the best role - a juvenile delinquent who gets to do quite a bit of scenery chewing. He grew up into such a serious actor, but in Some Kind of Wonderful, he's a fun-loving pseudopunk with an evil twinkle. (And he reminds me of someone - Lee Ving maybe? If you figure it out, please let me know!). Next question - who did Eric Stolz's makeup? His eyes are dressed up prettier than Lea Thompson's - in fact, all the boys had more eyeliner than the girls.

The gas station where our boy works is now Union 3 - it's still a auto-shop on the corner of Figueroa and Cypress. I love LA - sometimes a building or location changes a hundred times, and sometimes, no matter how long it's been there, it just stays the same.

But mostly, Some Kind of Wonderful strikes a blow for all us tomboys. I don't think I'm giving anything away when I tell you that of course, in the end, our heroine gets her man, while Lea Thompson's dingbat chick character runs off to be by herself. And while she's a big wimp (I prefer my flick chicks to know a few more damaging moves than a couple of open-handed smacks across the chops), at least she's working on that pesky self-esteem issue she's got going.

"Here? She's coming here? On a school night? Did I miss something, is there a new world order?"