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Like all great films about the stormy passage throughadolescence and high school, the 1986 coming-of-age filmLucasinspiresa strong sense of curiosity regarding how the film’s teenage characters turned out as adults, even as the stars of the film have been immortalized over time.Lucasfeatures early starring performances from Corey Haim and Charlie Sheen, whose tumultuous lives make their touching performances in the movie seem heartbreaking in retrospect. It also marked the screen acting debuts of Jeremy Piven, Courtney Thorne-Smith, and especiallyWinona Ryder, whose assured performance in the film heralded Ryder’s emergence as one of the most exciting and interesting young actresses of her generation.
Haim, in one of the great teenage performances of the 1980s, plays the film’s title character, a smart but socially awkward 14-year-old high-school student whose love of insects and classical music is transcended one summer day through the discovery of a new passion in the form of Maggie, a beautiful, red-headed 16-year-old girl whom he instantly falls in love with. Their relationship, which is based on friendship and trust, is tested in high school. Maggie, wonderfully played by Kerri Green, becomes attracted to Sheen’s character, Cappie, a football star who protects Lucas against bullying and wants to spare his feelings. Ryder plays Rina, a girl who adores Lucas, who is too enamored with Maggie to notice.
The most important legacy ofLucasis the heightened intelligence and realism with which it captures the universal emotions ofthe teenage experience.Lucas, which is one of the greatest teenage films, accomplishes this by featuring teenagers who would seem interesting and relatable at any age and in any era.
Lucas Is an Overlooked Gem
In contrast to the flashiness and manufactured sentimentality of theJohn Hughes teen movies,Lucasportrays its teenage characters with the sensitivity and unspoken truths that define the painfulness and wonder of adolescence, specifically in terms of the awesome sensation of first teenage love.
Lucas’s love for Maggie is reflected through utter idealism, in which Maggie, whose very name takes on a kind of holy significance for Lucas, embodies absolute goodness and perfection. However, the older Maggie becomes attracted to Cappie, a football star who cares about Lucas. Soon, Maggie starts attending pep rallies and joins the cheerleader squad. This is very confusing and disappointing to Lucas, who believes that cheerleaders, football, and pep rallies are emblematic of a corrupt value system, as did Maggie, at least until Cappie kissed her.
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The unconventional approach with whichLucasportrays its teenage characters is embodied through Cappie, who initially appears as a tired stereotype, a dumb football player, until Cappie reveals himself to be a sensitive human being who acts as Lucas’s protector against the school bullies and desperately wants to avoid hurting Lucas, even as Cappie finds himself falling in love with Maggie.
Lucas’s obsessive feelings for Maggie create emotional blindness, which is evident in terms of his seeming ignorance of Rina, a girl who adores Lucas, who seems oblivious to this fact. The conflict between them culminates in a scene of painful honesty, in which Maggie explains that while she loves Lucas as a friend, she doesn’t have romantic feelings for him, who learns this the hard way when he tries to kiss Maggie.
Winona Ryder Sparkles in Lucas
The most enduring and significant acting career that emerged fromLucasclearly belongs to Winona Ryder, whose performance inspired Tim Burton to cast Ryder asgoth teenager Lydia Deetzin the 1988 horror comedy filmBeetlejuice, which was followed byRyder’s memorable rolesin the filmsEdward Scissorhands,Heathers,Bram Stoker’s Dracula, and then Ryder’s Academy award-nominated performances inThe Age of InnocenceandLittle Women.
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While Ryder, who was only 14 whenLucaswas released in the spring of 1986, is impressive in all of her scenes, one moment in the film serves as a star-is-born moment for Ryder. This happens in a scene in which Rina asks if he’d like to go to a school dance with her. When Lucas tells Rina that he’s planning to go to the dance with Maggie, Rina lets out a sigh, which reflects the anguish and yearning of a girl who has been made to feel as if she’s invisible.
Lucas Is a Haunting Time Capsule of Corey Haim’s Great Potential
One of the most poignant scenes inLucashappens when Maggie visits him in a hospital room after Lucas, who joined his school’s football team, was tackled in a game and left unconscious. In the hospital room, Lucas, who is an expert on the subject of insects, references the 17-year life cycle of locusts to speculate whether he and Maggie will still be friends in 17 years when he is 31, and Maggie is 33. They both express the hope that they will have remained in contact with each other for 17 years.
The hopefulness that he projects in this scene reflects the early promise ofCorey Haim’s career, in which Haim’s winning performance inLucassuggested that he was capable of transcending his 1980s teen idol status and becoming a major Hollywood star. However, by the early 1990s, Haim’s career was derailed by self-destructive behavior, which he struggled with up until August 20, 2025, when Haim, who was 14 whenLucaswas released, suddenlydied at the age of 38.Lucasis not available to stream at the time of writing. Winona Ryder can next be seen inBeetlejuice Beetlejuice, releasing in theaters on Sept. 6.
