"Baby It's You" isn't exactly a "great film," but it sure is an accurate and believable story about young love. Arquette is the Jewish high school girl who is going places in life. She plays it safe, but she's bored with it all. Until she meets Sheik, the Italian guy from the wrong side of the tracks. He's a dreamer and his future is uncertain, but... man is he a sharp dresser and cooler than any of the lame boys in high school. This guy even makes the male teachers feel inadequate with his expensive suits and suave good looks. Sheik is played by Vincent Spano, an extremely underrated and unappreciated actor who usually appeared in movies that were unworthy of his qualities. Whenever Spano is on screen the movie really shines. The story follows Rosanna's character beyond high school and into college, and as is usually the case, she begins to outgrow her man... or so she thinks. Because the mature guys she meets are a bunch of complete bores, and they all pale in comparison to Sheik, who gives up everything to return to Jersey from Florida, in a last ditch attempt to win back the love of his life. That's basically it, but the performances and the realistic story are enough to maintain interest. Taking place in the early 60s, director John Sayles captures the period in beautiful detail, and the soundtrack is excellent, featuring some early Bruce Springsteen songs, which fit the mood perfectly. Even though the songs are patently 70s and not from the Era in which the movie takes place, they still sound right. I think "Baby It's You" is somewhat of a cult film today, and deservedly so. Fans of either Rosanna Arquette or Vincent Spano will thoroughly enjoy it, as will those who can appreciate an honest look at young love...

One of John Sayles's movies without a political theme -- and one of his only films made for a Hollywood studio -- focuses on the relationship between an honor student and a hoodlum in 1960s New Jersey. Jill Rosen (Rosanna Arquette) is getting primed to attend Sarah Lawrence College, while Albert "Sheik" Capadilupo (Vincent Spano) spends most of his time making trouble. At once a look at this romance and simultaneously a look at the changes in the United States in the late 1960s -- Jill is a totally changed person by the end of the movie -- "Baby It's You" is an almost mystifying movie. Jill and Sheik are opposites in practically every way: she is evolving with the changing times, while he can't stop thinking about Frank Sinatra. But either way, their relationship seems to be the only possible rite of passage for the two of them.

I've never seen a John Sayles movie that I didn't like, and this is certainly a good one. More than just a nostalgia piece, it shows the effect that Sheik has on Jill, and what the two of them are forced to realize about their romance by the end of the movie. Definitely one that I recommend. Also starring Tracy Pollan (Michael J. Fox's wife) and Robert Downey Jr.