Lucas (1986)
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A bullied high school student joins the football team to impress a girl who prefers the school's star athlete.
The story
Lucas Blye is a 14-year-old high school student in suburban Chicago who meets a girl named Maggie during the summer. While Lucas is a frequent victim of bullying, he has found a protector in Cappie Roew, a football player he helped in the past. When Maggie begins cheerleading to get closer to Cappie, Lucas becomes frustrated by her inattention. Believing she will be his date to an upcoming school dance, Lucas faces disappointment when she chooses to spend time with Cappie instead. Seeking to gain Maggie's respect and attention, Lucas decides to join the football team.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
Lucas Blye is a 14-year-old high school student in suburban Chicago who meets Maggie, a girl who recently moved to town. While Lucas is bullied by peers, he is protected by Cappie Roew, a football player Lucas helped avoid repeating a school year. Maggie joins the cheerleading squad to be near Cappie, causing Lucas to feel neglected. After a series of social misunderstandings and a rejection from Maggie, Lucas joins the football team to earn her respect. After enduring hazing from bullies, Lucas sneaks onto the field during a game despite being removed for lack of parental consent. He is seriously injured and hospitalized. While in the hospital, it is revealed that Lucas lives in a dilapidated trailer in a junkyard with his alcoholic father, who works as a gardener at the large house where Maggie has seen him. After recovering, Lucas and Maggie reconcile, promising to stay in touch. The film ends with Lucas returning to school to find a varsity letter jacket and the applause of his peers.
- First release year
- 1986
- Runtime (minutes)
- 100
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- David Seltzer
- Writers
- David Seltzer · writer; David Seltzer · director
- Cast and characters
- Corey Haim · Lucas Blye; Kerri Green · Maggie; Charlie Sheen · Cappie Roew; Courtney Thorne-Smith
- Genres
- coming-of-age; romantic; sports; comedy-drama
- Themes
- coming-of-age; social class; bullying; friendship
- Tone and mood
- romantic; sports; comedy-drama
- Setting
- Suburban Chicago during the summer and high school period
- Premise and plot tags
- high school; football; romance; teen
- Reception
- Reviews for Lucas were generally positive. The film was not considered a box office success, grossing $8,200,000 in the United States.
- Reported review scores
- Rotten Tomatoes · score: 76% · review count: 22; Metacritic · score: 75 · scale: 100 · review count: 11
- Awards and nominations
- Young Artist Award · Best Leading Young Actor in a Feature Film · 1987 · Nomination; Young Artist Award · Best Leading Young Actress in a Feature Film · 1987 · Nomination
- Production trivia
- Courtney Thorne-Smith and Winona Ryder made their film debuts in Lucas.; The film is ranked at number 16 on Entertainment Weekly's list of the 50 Best High School Movies.; Roger Ebert included the film in his top 10 films of 1986.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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