In the Mood (also known as The Woo Woo Kid) is a 1987 American comedy film written and directed by Phil Alden Robinson. The film is based on the true story of Sonny Wisecarver. Set in the 1940s, the feature stars Patrick Dempsey, Beverly D'Angelo, Michael Constantine, Betty Jinnette, Kathleen Freeman, and Peter Hobbs. The film opened on September 16, 1987 in New York City and on September 18, 1987 in Los Angeles, California and Toronto, Canada. When the movie expanded to 361 screens on October 16, 1987, it took in $315,000 in its first three days of wider release.
Plot[]
Based on a true story, 14-year-old Sonny Wisecarver, nicknamed the Woo Woo Kid, is a teenage casanova who has an affair with his older neighbor, Judy, a 21-year-old mother of two, and then runs off with her to get married.
When the law catches up with the pair in Colorado, they are returned to California where a judge annuls the marriage. She is sentenced to three years' probation, ordered to go to church regularly for "moral training", and repay the county for the cost of transporting them back from Colorado.
Sonny was sent to live with an aunt in Northern California, and ordered to stay away from his former wife. Originally meant to work for uncle on his rabbit farm, he quits, finding work in a fish factory. He gets a room in a boarding house, meeting Francine. a 25-year-old wife of a decorated soldier who is overseas. Soon after, they sneak off to Paradise, CA. Before long, an article is published about them. He naïvely goes to the local police, thinking he will throw them off their scent, but instead he gets detained.
His father brings him back home, and soon thereafter Sonny finds himself before the same judge, who rules him incorrigible, and sends him to a youth correctional center until he is 21. She was sentenced to three years' probation for contributing to the delinquency of a minor and fined $250.
After being threatened by a fellow inmate, he escapes. Jumping a train to Utah, he is recognised, so gets off in Nevada. Trying to stay all night in the movies Wendy, an usher, tells him he has to leave. Optimistic and also 15, they go out for coffee. He asks her parents' permission and they marry three weeks later.
The public and the media are more fascinated than outraged by Sonny's romantic prowess, with the press nicknaming him the "Compton Casanova," the "Love Bandit" and the "L.A. Lothario." But Life magazine came up with the nickname that stuck: "The Woo Woo Boy, the world's greatest lover."
Cast[edit][]
- Patrick Dempsey as Ellsworth “Sonny” Wisecarver
- Talia Balsam as Judy
- Beverly D'Angelo as Francine
- Michael Constantine as Mr. Wisecarver
- Betty Jinnette as Mrs. Wisecarver
- Kathleen Freeman as Mrs. Marver
- Peter Hobbs as The Judge
- Tony Longo as Carlo
- Douglas Rowe as Uncle Clete
- Ernie Lively Chief Kelsey
- Kim Myers as Wendy
- Putter Smith as the Minister