The Legend of Billie Jean

The Legend of Billie Jean

Theatrical release poster
Directed by Matthew Robbins
Produced by Rob Cohen
Written by Lawrence Konner
Mark Rosenthal
Starring
Music by Craig Safan
Cinematography Jeffrey L. Kimball
Edited by Cynthia Scheider
Production
company
Delphi III Productions
The Guber-Peters Company
Distributed by TriStar Pictures
Release dates
  • July 19, 1985 (1985-07-19)
Running time
 96 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Box office $3,099,497 (USA)

The Legend of Billie Jean is a 1985 American drama film, directed by Matthew Robbins.

Plot

Billie Jean Davy, a Corpus Christi, Texas high school girl, rides on a scooter with her younger brother, Binx on his Honda Elite. They stop at a drive-in for a ice cream, where rowdy local teen Hubie Pyatt bullies Binx and hits on Billie Jean, but Binx humiliates him. While the siblings swim at the nearby lake, Hubie takes his revenge by stealing Binx's scooter.

Billie Jean goes to the police with her friends Putter and Ophelia. Detective Ringwald is sympathetic, but urges them to wait the problem out. Binx attempts to retrieve his scooter and returns badly beaten, with his scooter severely damaged. Billie Jean, Binx, and Ophelia go to Mr. Pyatt's shop to get the money ($608) to repair the scooter. While initially appearing helpful and understanding, Mr. Pyatt gets Billie Jean alone and propositions her with a "Pay as you go, earn as you learn" plan by which he will have sex with her, giving her more money each time. He then attempts to rape her, but she escapes.

Meanwhile, Binx has discovered a gun in the cashier register and is playing with it when his sister returns. Mr. Pyatt tells him the gun is unloaded, so Binx pulls the trigger and a bullet hits Mr Pyatt in the shoulder. The group races away from the shop and become fugitives.

The group is able to get gas and food due to the help of other teenagers as they run from the authorities. They encounter people who believe the media, and Mr. Pyatt's lies, about what happened in the shop. The siblings hide in what they believe to be an empty mansion, but find it belongs to the local district attorney whose disgruntled teenage son Lloyd Muldaur is home alone. As they get to know one another, Lloyd voluntarily becomes her "hostage". Billie Jean makes a video of her demands, featuring herself with her long, blond hair chopped into a crew cut as a sign of her rebellion.

Throughout it all, Billie Jean wants only the money to fix her brother's scooter and an apology from Mr. Pyatt. As media coverage increases, Billie Jean becomes a teen icon – a symbol of youth empowerment and the evidence of the injustices adults are capable of, and young fans follow her every movement, copying her hairstyle and providing assistance. Facing uncertain dangers, both physical and legal, Billie Jean is forced to turn her friends Putter and Ophelia in to the police for their safety. When Ringwald and the police arrive and he demands to know where Billie Jean is, Ophelia observantly replies, "Everywhere!"

To end the escalating situation, Billie Jean calls Ringwald and arranges to turn herself in. Her only demand is that Mr. Pyatt pay for the scooter repairs and apologize for his actions. To avoid early detection, she, Binx and numerous friends wear varying confusing disguises. Lloyd's father has sharpshooters at the ready due to the (fake) gun that Binx has been seen with. Even though Detective Ringwald tells him he doesn't know that it's real, the DA won't change his mind. When Hubie then alerts the crowd to a disguised Binx, Binx tells him to be quiet and aims the fake gun at him, causing one of the sharpshooters to shoot him in the shoulder. Believing that it's Billie Jean, the crowd goes insane and riots.

As Binx is taken away in an ambulance, Billie Jean confronts Mr. Pyatt and gets him to admit to how his actions led to him being shot in his store. When Mr. Pyatt tries to (finally) reimburse Billie Jean for the scooter, she asks if the money is for the "sex" lessons he tried to force on her at the beginning. The onlookers (including Hubie), seeing how Billie Jean was exploited and their indirect involvement in it, choose not to help when Mr. Pyatt knocks over a torch and his merchandise starts to go up in flames. The scooter is brought out from under a tarp, fully repaired. It is revealed that the DA paid for the repairs, making Lloyd realize that his father does care for him. Before leaving, Billie Jean kisses Lloyd.

At the end of the film Billie Jean and a convalescing Binx find themselves in Vermont seeking a fresh start.

Cast

Production

Kleberg County Courthouse in Kingsville, Texas. Exterior of the police headquarters.
Sunrise Mall in Corpus Christi, Texas. Location of the money handover cheat and subsequent chase.

Soundtrack
Craig Safan – Mall Scam
Used at the beginning of the Sunrise Mall scene where the teenagers left IOUs for the items they "borrowed" from a toyshop.
Craig Safan – Binx Shot
Underlying track when Binx trying to exchange his "hostage" Lloyd for the repaired scooter at the beach is erroneously hit by a sharpshooter.
Problems playing these files? See media help.

Craig Safan produced the original score for the film writing a couple of synthpop-styled instrumental tracks. Furthermore, some rock songs were added to the soundtrack which had never been officially released. The movie's theme song "Invincible" by Pat Benatar peaked at number 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 in September 1985, while Billy Idol's reissue of his single "Rebel Yell" climbed up to number six on the UK Singles Chart in October 1985 after its first unsuccessful release in 1984.

Reception

Jay Boyar of the Orlando Sentinel stated that the film "has quite a lot going for it" and "doesn't get many points for finesse, but it has energy, good performances and more wit than you'd expect." He added, "One reason that sections of the movie are effective is that Helen Slater has enough style and presence to be believable as a young woman who is taken for a modern Joan of Arc. As Billie Jean, she's got the clear eyes of a dreamer and the toughness of a winner."[2] Janet Maslin of The New York Times said that the film is "competently made, sometimes attractively acted (particularly by Peter Coyote)...and bankrupt beyond belief. It's hard to imagine that even the film makers, let alone audiences, can believe in a sweet, selfless heroine who just can't help becoming a superstar."[3] The film holds a 44% approval rating on the film review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, based on 9 reviews, though it currently lacks of consensus summary.[4]

Home media

The film was released on home video on VHS in 1985.

In 2009, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment released in Europe a Spanish-titled DVD La Leyenda de Billie Jean, with 4:3 open matte image, but without any bonus material. A remastered NTSC DVD including commentary by Helen Slater and Yeardley Smith was released on November 1, 2011, via their manufactured on demand service.[5]

Mill Creek Entertainment released a retail version of the DVD, along with a Blu-ray edition on July 22, 2014.[6][7][8]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "The Legend of Billie Jean Filming Locations". Fast-Rewind.com. Retrieved 2011-10-09.
  2. 1 2 Jay Boyar (1985-07-25). "'Billy Jean' Is A Pretty Good B-plus". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved 2010-10-11.
  3. ↑ Janet Maslin (1985-07-19). "Screen: 'The Legend of Billie Jean' Opens". The New York Times. Retrieved 2010-10-10.
  4. ↑ "The Legend of Billie Jean (1985)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved September 17, 2013.
  5. ↑ Chris Tribbey (2011-11-01). "DVD MOD Site Adds 33 More". Home Media Magazine. Retrieved 2011-11-02.
  6. ↑ Mill Creek Entertainment
  7. ↑ Mill Creek Entertainment
  8. ↑ Amazon.com

External links

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