The Little Sister
The Tender Age

My introduction to the films of Boston-based independent cinema pioneer Jan Egleson was, appropriately, a 1984 picture celebrating its 40th anniversary, though it didn't get an official release until '86. The Little Sister, also known as The Tender Age, was the third in Egleson's "Boston Trilogy," following Billy in the Lowlands and The Dark End of the Street. These were locally produced pictures with predominantly local casts and screenplays that grew out of the experiences of those who starred in them. The Little Sister is a bit of an outlier in this trilogy, as it stars internationally known actors like John Savage (hot off his biggest successes in The Deer Hunter, The Onion Field, Hair) and Kevin Bacon, who shot this movie (uncredited) after wrapping Footloose because his girlfriend was in it. Still, The Little Sister continues Egleson's exploration into the lives of ordinary Boston street kids in a nonexploitative, neo-realist style.

The film stars Tracy Pollan (soon to be Michael J. Fox's love interest on Family Ties and then in life) as Nicki, a well-off eighteen-year-old from the suburbs who hangs out with a bad crowd in Boston's Combat Zone. After she and her boyfriend (Henry Tomaszewski, who played Billy in Egleson's two prior pictures) get into a fight with a cop, she enters the life of a juvenile probation officer, Tim Donovan (Savage). Donovan falls under the alluring Nikki's spell, hoping to uncover the roots of her continuous delinquency, but his close interest in her case grows from genuine concern to an unhealthy obsession. The reasons for Nicki's self-destructive behavior become clearer as we learn more about her home life. She's the product of an incestuous father (a credibly creepy Richard Jenkins in one of his first roles) and a checked-out, alcoholic mother (Patty Collinge, who played the reporter in The Dark End of the Street). Nicki fears her little sister, Rachel (Lauree Berger), is now at the tender age when their father may move on to her.

This is an astute exploration of sexual abuse and an examination of various motivations we all have that drive us to do good as well as to cause harm. Every member of the cast, including Roxanne Hart, Jack Kehoe, Peter Gerety, and legendary Boston casting director Carolyn Pickman, gives compelling, naturalistic turns. Pollan is as sincere as she is beautiful, giving an achingly perceptive, note-perfect performance as the troubled Nicki. Savage plays Donavan like an open book, with conviction, confusion, and vulnerability. Cinematographer Ed Lachman (The Lords of Flatbush, Lightning Over Water, Desperately Seeking Susan) beautifully captures the grittiness of early '80s Boston. Unfortunately, the negative of this film was lost, and all that remains is an SD video transfer.