A terrific lesser-known film that deserves a better rating than the one given it here at IMDb.<br /><br />Based on a short story by Joyce Carol Oates called "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?", "Smooth Talk" stars Laura Dern as a bored and restless adolescent who thinks she's more in control of her sexual allure, and more capable of handling the attention she receives for it, than she is. In a deeply unsettling and slightly surreal scene, a hunky stranger (Treat Williams) comes calling for her, and she realizes that she's not as mature as she thinks. The film captures the same other-worldly quality of the short story (the scene with Treat Williams plays out almost like a feverish dream), while ably adapting it to the very different needs of a feature length film.<br /><br />Dern gives a wonderful performance, one of the many given by this underrated actress. And another lovely performance comes from Mary Kay Place, who plays Dern's mother. One of the most memorable scenes for me came when mother and daughter are in separate rooms of the house, but unbeknownst to each other are both privately dancing to the same song playing on the radio. I can never hear James Taylor's "Handyman" without thinking of this movie.<br /><br />Grade: A