Very Cool!!!

While it is a pity that the story wasn't told with more visual finesse, this is trivial compared to our real-world problems. It takes a good movie to put that into perspective.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

Saw this movie in my high school French class - a typical teenage, coming-of-age flick, with all the sappiness, rebellions, dating, and semi-raunchy stuff. It stars future Bond girl Sophie Marceau in her first film feature.I remembered that the film got quite the laughs from my class, but I myself found it just mildly entertaining with its slow plot, average acting, and uninhibited-ness.Grade C

Every French girl between the age of 15 and 35 knows this classic movie by heart!La Boum takes place in Paris (Saint Germain des Prés) in the early eighties. 13 year-old Vic and best friend Penelope are dealing with high-school life, first loves and the problems in their parents' couples. The first half of the movie is about Vic trying to convince her parents to let her attend her first "boum" (home party), with the help of her hilarious grand-grand mother. Of course, Vic falls in love at the party, and the second half of the movie focuses on the relationship."La Boum" is a beautiful movie about adolescence, with great comedy moments and fabulous actors. Any teenage girl or anyone who's into the 80s culture should see it. It also has a very parisian touch that I love. We see so many movies taking place in american high schools, kids driving to school, playing fields, cheerleaders, etc etc... "La Boum" shows the life in Paris as it really is, for a change. This was the first role of Sophie Marceau (later to be a James Bond villain).

Every year our French class would watch this movie, not because it was especially good, but because it was tradition. There are so many bad parts in this movie: the French curse words, the leading lady, Vic, the title party where Vic and her boyfriend are slow dancing to that annoyingly haunting "Dreams Are My Reality" song while all of the other kids are practically moshing (in a French way, of course), that I really don't know why we insisted upon watching it. Of course, my senior year, some whiny underclassmen complained about part of the movie. I'm not real sure about this part because the TV would usually experience "technical difficulties," which pretty much meant the teacher adjusted the tracking so we couldn't see anything until the scene was over. Nevertheless, sometimes his timing was off, and I know I'll never look at popcorn the same way again! Long story short, it was declared as pornographic and never shown at my high school again, which was a real shame. (Darn Freshmen!)

"La Boum", while not being a complicated or serious movie, does have its good points. Sophie Marceau as Vic acts out quite well how Vic reacts to her parents' crumbling marriage and her excitement over developing her relationship with her new boyfriend, Mathieu. There are practical jokes throughout the movie, and also a lot of teenage angst drama. This is basically a movie to watch when you want to be entertained instead of watching a serious movie.