The Legend of Billie Jean (1985)

Just kill Binx and problem solved

A blonde teen from Gulf Coast Texas named Billie Jean and her little brother, Binx (Helen Slater and Christian Slater), become outlaw fugitives after a mishap. Two other girls go on the lam with them wherein Billie Jean cuts her hair and, unexpectedly, becomes a cultural sensation. Keith Gordon, Peter Coyote and Dean Stockwell have peripheral roles.

Being released in 1985, the movie screams mid-80’s on every front. The soundtrack, for instance, includes cuts like “Invincible” by Pat Benatar and “Rebel Yell” by Billy Idol. The first act is interesting enough but the movie somehow peters out. Helen is winsome as the protagonist, but not curvy enough to hold my interest whereas Christian, who was 15 years-old during shooting, plays his role well, but his character, Binx, is just an annoying loser who seems to always do the wrong thing. If someone just mercifully shot him at the beginning there would be no problem and no film.

While this one should be filed under subpar 80’s teen flicks, it has a few points of interest to make it worthwhile to certain viewers.

The movie runs 1 hour, 36 minutes and was shot in Corpus Christi, Texas, and nearby areas (e.g. Padre Island National Seashore); the closing Vermont sequence was shot in Colorado and obviously so.

GRADE: C