''Lucas'' is a 1986 American romantic

comedy-drama Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical ...

film written and directed by

David Seltzer David Seltzer (born February 12, 1940) is an American screenwriter, producer and director, perhaps best known for writing the screenplays for ''The Omen'' (1976) and '' Bird on a Wire'' (1990). As writer-director, Seltzer's credits include the ...

and starring

Corey Haim Corey Ian Haim (December 23, 1971 – March 10, 2010) was a Canadian actor. He starred in a number of 1980s films, such as '' Lucas'', ''Silver Bullet'', ''Murphy's Romance'', ''License to Drive'' and '' Dream a Little Dream''. His role alongsi ...

Kerri Green Kerri Lee Green (born ) is an American actress, best known for her roles in ''The Goonies'' (1985), ''Summer Rental'' (1985), and '' Lucas'' (1986). She also co-wrote and directed the film ''Bellyfruit'' (1999). Early life Green grew up in Wo ...

Charlie Sheen Carlos Irwin Estévez (born September 3, 1965), known professionally as Charlie Sheen, is an American actor. He has appeared in films such as ''Platoon'' (1986), ''Wall Street'' (1987), '' Young Guns'' (1988), '' The Rookie'' (1990), ''The Thr ...

, and

Courtney Thorne-Smith Courtney Thorne-Smith (born November 8, 1967) is an American actress. She is known for her starring roles as Alison Parker on ''Melrose Place'', Georgia Thomas on '' Ally McBeal'', Cheryl Mabel in ''According to Jim'' and her recurring role on ...

. Thorne-Smith and

Winona Ryder Winona Laura Horowitz (born October 29, 1971), professionally known as Winona Ryder, is an American actress. Originally playing quirky roles, she rose to prominence for her more diverse performances in various genres in the 1990s. She has recei ...

made their film debuts in ''Lucas.''

Plot

Lucas Blye is an intelligent 14-year-old high school student in suburban Chicago. He becomes acquainted with Maggie, an attractive older girl who has just moved to town. After meeting Lucas on one of his

entomological Entomology () is the scientific study of insects, a branch of zoology. In the past the term "insect" was less specific, and historically the definition of entomology would also include the study of animals in other arthropod groups, such as arach ...

quests, Maggie befriends him, spending time with him during the remainder of the summer until school begins. Lucas, who finds himself a frequent victim of bullying and teasing, has a protector of sorts in Cappie Roew, an older student and football player. Cappie was once one of Lucas' tormentors, until Cappie contracted hepatitis and Lucas, for reasons no one ever knew, brought him his homework every day, ensuring that Cappie did not fail and have to repeat a year of school. Even though Lucas deems it beneath her, Maggie becomes a cheerleader for the football team in order to get closer to Cappie, on whom she has a growing crush. Angered and offended by Maggie's inattention towards him, Lucas begins to chastise Maggie, continuing to dismiss her cheerleading as "superficial" and incorrectly assuming that she will be his date to an upcoming school dance. Maggie complains to Lucas that she's interested in activities other than being with him. On the night of the dance, Cappie is dumped by his girlfriend Alise over his attraction to Maggie, which she has been noticing. A depressed Cappie finds comfort with Maggie at her house—much to the chagrin of Lucas, who has arrived, in tuxedo, to pick her up for the dance. Even though Cappie and Maggie invite him out for pizza, he rebukes them and rides off on his bike. Rina, one of Lucas' friends, encounters Lucas as he sits alone, watching the dance from across a lake. Although she has feelings for Lucas, she puts them aside to console him about he and Maggie being "from two different worlds". On the way home, Lucas happens to ride by the pizza parlor and is crushed to see Maggie and Cappie kissing on their date. In a last-ditch attempt to impress Maggie and gain the respect he so desperately craves, the diminutive Lucas joins the football team. In the shower after practice, Lucas endures yet another prank from his constant tormentors Bruno and Spike. At the end of the day, Lucas flees in embarrassment to his favorite hiding place (beneath a railroad overpass near the school) and Maggie chases him to talk with him. After Maggie tells him that she wants him to be her friend, Lucas tries to kiss her. Maggie recoils, and a heartbroken Lucas screams at her to leave. The next day at the football game, Lucas removes his helmet during a play and is seriously injured after being tackled and is rushed to the hospital. Maggie, Cappie, and Rina attempt to contact Lucas' parents, though Maggie discovers that she does not know Lucas as well as she thought she did. Correcting Maggie's misguided impression that Lucas lives in the large luxurious house where she has seen him several times, Rina shows them that Lucas lives in a dilapidated trailer in a junkyard with his alcoholic father and only works as a gardener at the large house. Meanwhile, Lucas' schoolmates hold vigil for him in the hospital as he recuperates. Maggie visits Lucas' room that evening and sternly tells him never to play football again. Lucas promises, and the two reconcile, picking up their friendship where they left off. Lucas and Maggie speculate as to where they will be when the locusts return seventeen years later; both express the hope that they will still be in touch when the locusts return again. Lucas returns to school a short time after his recovery, with schoolmates all casting surprised looks at him as he walks through the hall. Upon reaching his locker, he finds Bruno and Spike there waiting for him, but he tries to ignore them as he opens his locker. Inside is a

varsity letter A varsity letter (or monogram) is an award earned in the United States for excellence in school activities. A varsity letter signifies that its recipient was a qualified varsity team member, awarded after a certain standard was met. Description ...

jacket, with Lucas's name and number on the back. As Lucas takes it out in shock, Bruno starts the " slow clap", and the entire hallway starts applauding. Maggie, Cappie, Cash, and Rina are there as well, leading the applause as Lucas raises his arms triumphantly and smiles.

Cast

as Lucas Blye *

as Maggie *

as Cappie Roew *

as Alise * Ciro Poppiti as Ben *

as Rina * Tom Hodges as Bruno * Guy Boyd as Coach *

Jeremy Piven Jeremy Samuel Piven (born July 26, 1965) is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Ari Gold in the comedy series ''Entourage'', for which he won a Golden Globe Award and three consecutive Emmy Awards. He also starred in the British ...

as Spike *

Garrett M. Brown Garrett M. Brown (born November 7, 1948) is an American character actor. Early life Brown was born in Michigan but grew up in Connecticut. In 1972, he moved to New York City, where he worked as an orderly in a nursing home and as a waiter before ...

as Mr. Kaiser

Reception

Reviews for ''Lucas'' were generally positive. Based on 22 reviews collected by the film review aggregator

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, 73% of critics gave ''Lucas'' a positive review and the film has an average score of 6.5/10. On

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

, it has a weighted average score of 75 out of 100 based on 11 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...

gave the film 4 out of 4 stars, calling it a film "about teenagers who are looking how to be good with each other, to care, and not simply to be filled with egotism, lust and selfishness, which is all most Hollywood movies think teenagers can experience". Ebert later included the film in his top 10 films of 1986. The film was not considered a box office success, grossing $8,200,000 in the United States. Both Corey Haim and Kerri Green were nominated for a

Young Artist Award The Young Artist Award (originally known as the Youth in Film Award) is an accolade presented by the Young Artist Foundation, a nonprofit organization founded in 1978 to honor excellence of youth performers, and to provide scholarships for young ...

in 1987. The film is ranked at number 16 on ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cul ...

''s list of the 50 Best High School Movies.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lucas 1986 films 1986 comedy-drama films 1986 directorial debut films 1980s coming-of-age comedy-drama films 1980s high school films 1980s romantic comedy-drama films 1980s sports comedy-drama films 1980s teen comedy-drama films 1980s teen romance films 20th Century Fox films American coming-of-age comedy-drama films American romantic comedy-drama films American sports comedy-drama films American teen comedy-drama films American teen romance films Coming-of-age romance films Films directed by David Seltzer Films scored by Dave Grusin Films set in Chicago Films shot in Illinois High school football films Films about puberty 1980s English-language films 1980s American films