jodie foster and cherie currie ( the former lead singer of the seminal all girl rock group the runaway in her remarkably able act debut ) and marilyn kagan and and kandice stroh be uniformly believable and splendid and touch a the titular quartet and who be a tight knit clique of troubled and fiercely loyal adolescent girl with negligent and uncaring and self absorbed parent who do their best to grow up and fend for themselves in the affluent san fernando valley and california suburb . the girl be force to make serious decision about sex and drug and alcohol and commitment and and so on at a tender young age when theyre not fully prepare to completely own up to the potentially harmful consequence of say decision . foster and give one of her most perceptive and affect and underrated performance to date and be basically the group den mother who preside over the well be of both herself and the others while she especially concern about the good hearted and but reckless and self destructive currie and whose carelessly hedonistic lifestyle make her likely to meet an untimely end . this picture offer a poignant and insightful and often devastatingly credible and thoroughly absorb examination of broken and dysfunctional family which exist directly underneath suburbia neatly manicure surface and the tragic net result of such family represent tough and resilient and but unhappy and vulnerable kid who have to confront the trial and tribulation of grow up on their own because their parent be either too inconsiderate or even nonexistent . adrian ( fatal attraction and jacob ladder ) lyne direction be both sturdy and observant while gerald ayres script be somewhat messy and rambling and but overall still accurate in it frank and gritty and unsentimental depiction of your average latchkey kid nerve wrackingly chaotic and capricious and unpredictable everyday life . leon bijou soft and dewy and almost pastoral cinematography properly suggest a delicate and easily breakable sense of tranquility and innocence . giorgio moroder arrange the excellent score and which make particularly effective use of donna summer elegiac on the radio . the top notch cast include sally kellerman a foster neurotic and insecure and peevish mother and scott baio a a sweet skateboarder dude and randy quaid a kagan rich old boyfriend and british 60 pop singer adam faith a foster feckless and absentee rock promoter father and and lois smith a kagan smother and overprotective mother . appear in brief bit be robert romanus ( mike damone fast time at richmont high ) a one of foster morose ex boyfriend and a gawky and brace wear laura dern a an obnoxious party crasher . achingly authentic and engross and deeply move ( currie grim ultimate fate be very heart breaking ) and fox be quite simply one of the most unsung and under appreciate teen movie make about early 80 adolescence .