I grew up in Central Jersey/North Jersey Shore right around that time (graduated Red Bank H.S. 1965) . . . my high school experience just wasn't that gloomy. (Of course, they were in Trenton which could explain a lot.)
They played fast and loose with the soundtrack (which should have been key to the overall feel of the film) but the Springsteen cuts (from ten years in the future) really disrupted what mood there might have been in a scene. Yes, Bruce was around then but he was in a band called Steel Mill which played in and around the North Jersey Shore/Monmouth County (not really germane to the Trenton area). Years to go before stardom.
But the capper is the title song: "Baby It's You" by the Shirelles. That was a hit in 1961 before any of these kids had even started high school . . . which would have made it a long-gone oldie at that point.
And the leading characters (our loving couple) weren't very convincing. It's as if they were contrived just for the purpose of making this film.
Sorry, no Jersey jump here for me.
They played fast and loose with the soundtrack (which should have been key to the overall feel of the film) but the Springsteen cuts (from ten years in the future) really disrupted what mood there might have been in a scene. Yes, Bruce was around then but he was in a band called Steel Mill which played in and around the North Jersey Shore/Monmouth County (not really germane to the Trenton area). Years to go before stardom.
But the capper is the title song: "Baby It's You" by the Shirelles. That was a hit in 1961 before any of these kids had even started high school . . . which would have made it a long-gone oldie at that point.
And the leading characters (our loving couple) weren't very convincing. It's as if they were contrived just for the purpose of making this film.
Sorry, no Jersey jump here for me.