SHAG
From the first time I saw this movie back in 1989 I related to it on all kinds of levels.
The movie takes place in 1963, with the cars, the fashion and the language of the teen generation of that time.
I dedicate this stroll to any of us who have danced at the beach, lake or pool...
at the pavilion.
The wood floors seemed to work better with sand on our feet for dancing.
Here is a movie named "Shag," about four girls from Spartanburg, S.C., who sneak away from their respectable homes for a weekend at Myrtle Beach, where the big spring festival promises a dance contest, beer blasts and lots of cute boys. Because we have seen other movies like this, we are not surprised that during the weekend one of the girls will fall in love, one will decide to go for her dream, one will decide not to marry the slug she's engaged to, and another will take off her glasses and find that she isn't plain after all - that boys like her.
It has a charm based on its innocence, its conviction, its pre-Beatles soundtrack and the big 1950s cars the kids drive around in.
The four girls are played by Phoebe Cates, Bridget Fonda, Page Hannah and Annabeth Gish . Cates is engaged to a rich but square young man, Fonda fancies herself as a Hollywood sexpot, Hannah wears glasses and is a senator's daughter, and Gish has always been called "Pudge" and has low self-esteem.
In Myrtle Beach, the shag contest is being judged by an empty-headed teen idol named Jimmy Valentine (Jeff Yagher), and Fonda, the sexpot, immediately sets her sights on him. Pudge meets a nice kid named Chip (Scott Coffey), who is going into the Marine Corps in a few days. They develop an instant crush on one another, and Pudge learns she isn't as pudgy as she thought.
I felt bad Hannah, who spends the movie wearing a god-awful pair of glasses and looking wistfully at the fun everyone else is having - until love strikes her like a blow. Fonda, as the calculating sexpot, has a wonderful moment when she sees the teen idol being insulted by his manager and immediately figures out that her future lies with the manager, not the idol.
Part of the poignancy of "Shag" is that we know what lies ahead: assassinations, the Vietnam War, the loss of innocence. Taking this stroll back in time has reminded me also of what was to come, but the sweetness of those days will forever remain a part of me, I feel bad for those that are too young and missed out.
But we can all either relive it or visit those times in this movie...rent it, buy it, net flix it ..but don't end your summer without at least doing the Shag one time!
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