I was 11 the summer that "Little Darlings" was released, and it was filmed in my home state of Georgia. Although I was too young to see it in the theaters at that time, it was much discussed even by my fellow sixth graders. I finally saw the movie on cable a few years later. It's very much a teen coming-of-age movie of its time, when teenage girls still had idealistic, romanticized visions of sex. "Little Darlings" explores a competition between two rival, 15-year-old girls at a summer camp to be the first to lose her virginity. Kristy McNichol (at the peak of her stardom, mainly in hit TV shows like "Family") is the tomboyish Angel, and Tatum O'Neal (already an Oscar winner, with the ideal feathered, frosted hairdo of the time) is the slightly snobbish rich girl Ferris. Angel chooses to pursue a fling with Randy, a sultry, seemingly tough boy from a nearby camp (Matt Dillon, just before he became a major teen star with his role in "The Outsiders" and others), and Ferris decides her man is the sophisticated, older camp counselor played by Armand Assante (somewhat out of place here, but the object of many crushes for girls of that era). "Little Darlings" was considered titillating and controversial in its day because it was frank, although very tasteful (no nudity is seen on screen), about teens' sexuality, yet in retrospect, it could be seen as a cautionary tale as well. The teenage characters all come to realize that sex is serious stuff, not a game to be played. "Little Darlings," viewed today, may look and sound dated, but I think it is a touching, tasteful look at a serious topic, with engaging young actors in all the key roles. When I think of the much raunchier, crass teen comedies that would come later ("Porky's" and the like), "Little Darlings" seems tame by comparison. McNichol's performance really stands out; she was a wonderful teen actress. But O'Neal and Dillon, and a very young Cynthia Nixon, are all very good too.
Review of Little Darlings
