In the Mood

Year: 1987

Runtime: 98 mins

Language: English

Director: Phil Alden Robinson

ComedyRomance

At fifteen, Sonny Wisecarver embarks on an affair with his older neighbor Francine and elopes to marry her, only for a stern judge to annul the marriage. Later, the same judge presides over another case when Sonny becomes involved with a woman in her twenties. The sensational courtroom drama propels Sonny into the national spotlight, turning him into a teenage heartthrob admired by countless young women.

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In the Mood (1987) – Full Plot Summary & Ending Explained

Read the complete plot breakdown of In the Mood (1987), including all key story events, major twists, and the ending explained in detail. Discover what really happened—and what it all means.

Based on a true story set in 1944, Sonny Wisecarver, nicknamed the Woo Woo Kid, is a teenage Lothario who begins an affair with his older neighbor Judy Cusimano, a 21-year-old mother of two, and the pair run off to get married.

When the law catches up with them in Colorado, they are returned to California, where The Judge annuls the marriage. Judy is sentenced to three years’ probation, ordered to attend church regularly for moral training, and to repay the county for the cost of transporting them back from Colorado. Sonny is ordered to stay out of town for the summer.

Sonny is sent to live with an aunt in Northern California and told to stay away from his former wife. He was originally meant to work for an uncle on his rabbit farm, but he quits and instead finds work in a fish factory. He rooms in a boarding house and meets Francine Glatt, a 25-year-old wife of a decorated soldier overseas. The two soon sneak off to Paradise, CA.

Before long, an article about them appears in the press. He naively goes to the local police, hoping to throw them off the scent, but instead he is detained.

His father brings him back home, and soon the same judge returns, finding him incorrigible and sending him to a youth correctional center until he is 21. Francine is sentenced to three years’ probation for contributing to the delinquency of a minor and fined $250.

After a threat from a fellow inmate, Sonny escapes. He hops a train to Utah, is recognized, and gets off in Nevada. While trying to stay the night in a cinema, Wendy, the usher, tells him he must leave. Still hopeful and then 15, he and his companion go out for coffee, and he asks her parents’ permission; they marry three weeks later.

As the story unfolds, the public and media are more fascinated by Sonny’s romantic prowess than outraged, giving him nicknames such as ‘Compton Casanova’, the ‘Love Bandit’, and the ‘L.A. Lothario.’ Life magazine would eventually coin the enduring moniker: ‘The Woo Woo Boy, the world’s greatest lover.’

Last Updated: October 09, 2025 at 14:36

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