Seven Minutes in Heaven (1985) Warner Bros./Comedy-Drama RT: 88 minutes Rated PG-13 (language, sexual conversation, mature themes, brief partial nudity, mild sexual content) Director: Linda Feferman Screenplay: Jane Bernstein and Linda Feferman Music: Robert Kraft Cinematography: Steven Fierberg Release date: May 9, 1985 (US) Cast: Jennifer Connelly, Byron Thames, Maddie Corman, Alan Boyce, Michael Zaslow, Polly Draper, Marshall Bell, Billy Wirth, Terry Kinney, Spalding Gray, Denny Dillon, Lauren Holly, Margo Skinner. Box Office: $31,430 (US)
Rating: *** ½
We can all agree 15 is a very difficult age. You think that you’re grown up, but nobody else does. Your parents still treat you like a child. It’s only natural that the personal life of a 15YO is a secretive one. They’re not about to tell their parents what they’re doing and what’s going on in their lives. At that age, teenagers are curious about sexual matters and want to experiment, but there’s also a certain amount of fear involved. “Doing it” is a big deal. The real paradox then is that 15YOs are not as grown up as they’d like to believe. Their physical bodies might be developing, but their minds are not. The truth is most teenagers are inexperienced and naïve; they don’t know as much about life as they think they do. Their life experience doesn’t extend much further than what they see on TV or what they hear the older kids talking about.
One of the more delightful teen movies from the 80s, Seven Minutes in Heaven didn’t receive a significant theatrical release. I saw it on cable TV in April ’87 and instantly fell in love with it. There’s a lot of emotion in this comedy-drama centering on three 15YO friends who learn they’re not as grown up as they think they are. They are overachiever Natalie Becker (Connelly, A Beautiful Mind), Jeff Moran (Thames, Johnny Dangerously) who doesn’t get along with his stepfather Gerry (Bell, Total Recall) and sexually curious Polly Franklin (Corman, The Adventures of Ford Fairlane). Natalie’s father (Zaslow, One Life to Live) goes out of town on a business trip leaving her alone for the first time. Jeff has a big fight with Gerry and runs away from home, landing on Natalie’s doorstep and pleading for a place to stay. Reluctantly, she allows him to move in with her on a temporary basis.
Natalie is preparing to leave on a school-sponsored trip to Washington D.C. to meet the President when she becomes romantically involved with James (Boyce, Permanent Record), Jeff’s friend and Polly’s crush. Polly is heartbroken that Natalie agrees to go out with him and takes a walk on her own around town. She meets hot young major league baseball player Zoo Knudsen (Wirth, The Lost Boys). After a brief make out session (seven minutes!) in his car, she decides she’s in love with him and agrees to meet up with in New York in a couple of weeks. But first, she needs to lose her virginity so she can satisfy the older, more experienced man. This leads to something that jeopardizes the longtime friendship of the three teens. They’re about to get a crash course in life, love and the rules of friendship.
The plot of Seven Minutes in Heaven is far-fetched, especially when it comes to Jeff moving in with Natalie. In the real world, an adult would intervene. A situation such as this would surely not escape the attention of a teacher or school counselor. When the school psychologist asks questions, Natalie and Jeff refuse to answer. Don’t you think he’d next try to contact their parents? Then there’s the whole idea of a 15YO girl travelling to New York by herself. How did she even buy a ticket? Doesn’t the airline check IDs? Polly ends up spending the night with Bill (Kinney, No Mercy), a single young photographer with his own apartment. Any parent in their right mind would be racing to New York to collect their teenage daughter rather than allow her to spend the night in the apartment of a perfect stranger. I would think they’d have the police banging on his door less than an hour after finding out where she is. These are all good questions, but I wasn’t really attempting to analyze the plot while watching the movie. Even though the premise makes it sound sleazy, the truth is Seven Minutes in Heaven is a sweet little movie that honestly deals with the confused emotions of teenagers.
The performances of the three young leads encompass the conflicting and confusing emotions of the average teenager. In one of her first major roles, Connelly shows she has something more than other young actresses of the time. She depicts an intelligent girl more mature than her peers even though her understanding of adult matters isn’t much better. This is a girl who gets straight As in school and appears to be somewhat independent. She can take care of herself without adult supervision while her father’s away. At least that’s what she thinks. Her allowing a male friend to move in turns out to be a bad idea regardless of the platonic nature of their relationship. Thames does a good job as an emotionally immature teenage boy who really doesn’t understand his own feelings. He doesn’t have the emotional tools to deal with the circumstances of his home life or a failed sexual encounter so he just takes off when things get really tense.
As Polly, Corman is a true gem. She provides comic relief as she gets in over her head pursuing an older guy who took advantage of his fame and her inexperience. He buys her some sexy (and inappropriate) lingerie and makes out with her. Of course she’s going to misinterpret the situation. More than that, she’s so desperate to grow up (i.e. have sex) that she doesn’t see what’s right in front of her, the possibility of a romantic relationship with Jeff who likes her. Polly is scatterbrained and sexually curious, not a good combination. Despite the serious implications of her actions, Polly is a funny character. You laugh at her childish behavior but also want to hug her and tell her that things will eventually get better. Nobody is 15 forever.
It’s the appeal of the young characters that really make Seven Minutes in Heaven a memorable little movie. It’s one of my favorite teen comedies from the 80s. I think it’s just as good as anything from John Hughes. It’s the only feature film credit of filmmaker Linda Feferman, but she does an excellent job in telling a humorous story about the pains of growing up.
