Certain films have misfortune of being remembered for what allegedly went on the set rather than for what the audience could see on big screen. This is what happened to Lucas, 1986 teen drama written and directed by David Seltzer.
Title protagonist, played by Corey Haim, is Lucas Blye, 14-year old high school student from Chicago suburbs. He is very intelligent and, as such, was “accelerated” in class, but this created problems like sharing classrooms with boys with significantly bigger size, including football jocks who like to bully tiny nerdish bespectacled boy. During the summer break Lucas meets Maggie (played by Kerri Green), attractive 16-year old girl who has just settled from Arizona. Since both are outsiders, two of them develop connection and become good friends. However, anything changes when Maggie meets Cappie Roew (played by Charlie Sheen), one of the rare jocks who liked and protected Lucas. Maggie gets physically attracted to Cappie and decides to join cheerleading team. Soon inevitable happens, and two of them begin dating. Lucas, who has actually fallen in love in Maggie, is heartbroken and, in a desperate attempt to win her attention, decides to join football team and endangers his life in the process.
Lucas is remembered for the wrong reasons because it wasn’t that much remembered after originally appearing in the theatres. This can be explained with targetted teen audience expecting just another teen comedy typically for 1980s only to receive drama that was not only quite serious, but at times took some rather dark tones. Critics, on the other hand, loved the film and Lucas is sometimes referenced among the best of all Hollywood’s 1980s teen films. Main reason can be found in script and direction by David Seltzer, which approached issues of adolescence and first love in realistic matter, trying, and for the most part succeeding, to avoid cliches that plague the teen films. Main character is convincing as misfit nerd who, despite his intellectual abilities and various ingenious ways with which he copes with life’s troubles, can’t escape emotional trauma created by unrequited first love. Seltzer also directs film very well, especially in the scene during which Maggie and Cappie reluctantly discover feelings for each other. Same can be said for the final football game scene, which ends unexpectedly, at least for those accustomed to Hollywood formulas. Unfortunately, in the epilogue, Seltzer finally succumbs to pressure, employs annoying sentimentality and Lucas becomes just another Hollywood fairytale.
Some critics today like to describe Lucas as tragicomedy. Although the film indeed has dark overtones, word “tragic” is mostly employed retroactively, in light what happened to film’s main star Corey Haim. During the production he was 13 years old and, although he would make couple of hits later, it could be argued that the title role in this film is the best of his career. Haim allegedly, just like character he had played, fell in love with his partner Kerri Green who was actually four years older than him and the unrequited love actually helped his performance, making it more realistic. Haim, like few actors in such films, displays confusion of a character torn between what he knows and what he feels. Kerri Green, immensely talented actress whose career after Lucas haven’t been much to write about, also delivers great performance, especially in the scenes when her character is torn between friendship for Lucas and love for Cappie. The rest of the cast is also very good, and Lucas actually features some of future stars in their debuts – Courtney Thorne-Smith as Chappie’s girlfriend, Jeremy Piven as one of bullies and, finally, Winona Ryder as the girl who has secret crush on Lucas. Ryder does good job, despite her character being undeveloped and looking introduced only to add some sort of happy end to what would otherwise be quite dark drama.
Lucas was, in many ways, beginning of Corey Haim’s stardom but it was also beginning of that actor’s downward spiral into drug abuse and various wrong choices that would ultimately result in his premature death. After Haim’s death, allegations about Haim being sexually abused on the set appeared and some involved Charlie Sheen, actor whose messy private life would too become embodiment of many things that are wrong in Hollywood. Looking at the film in light what happened later and what was alleged might result in awkward experience for some members of the audience, but Lucas is nevertheless a very good film that ultimately should be remembered for its quality.
RATING: 7/10 (++)
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