One can depend on Franco Zeffirelli at least to make this story of teenage passion pretty. The problem is that, apart from the story being so long and slow, its whole existence hinges on improbabilities. The parents of 15-year-old Jade (Brooke Shields) have brought her up to treat sex as natural and fine, but when they realise her affair with David (Martin Hewitt) could lead to her failing exams, they ask him to stay away for a month. Unable to stand it, the twit sets fire to the girl's home and is locked away for his pains, setting a tragic series of events in motion. Leggy Shields and intense Hewitt are just about okay as the young lovers and the girl's mother is very well played by Shirley Knight. STAR SPOT: Well down the cast, in one of his earliest roles, is a 19-year-old Tom Cruise as Billy.

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