Was it really 20 years?
It seems to me that the 80s and 90s were a time so similar to ours that if a film is set in these times, several things need to happen in order to convince viewers that what they're watching isn't current.
1. Music from the period needs to play all the fucking time. From radios, cars, boom boxes, or just loud on the soundtrack, the viewer must have a constant aural reminder of the year or period.
2. Whenever a TV is shown it must be showing something significant from that time period. World leaders or big events are a good one. In twenty years time both the events on 11/9 and President Obama will be used as touchstones for a certain period.
3. Mention something that we all now know but which was recent and relatively obscure at the time. Have one character say to another "You gotta hear this new band, Nirvana, I thing they're really onto something."
These things are more important than haircuts or clothes.
1. Music from the period needs to play all the fucking time. From radios, cars, boom boxes, or just loud on the soundtrack, the viewer must have a constant aural reminder of the year or period.
2. Whenever a TV is shown it must be showing something significant from that time period. World leaders or big events are a good one. In twenty years time both the events on 11/9 and President Obama will be used as touchstones for a certain period.
3. Mention something that we all now know but which was recent and relatively obscure at the time. Have one character say to another "You gotta hear this new band, Nirvana, I thing they're really onto something."
These things are more important than haircuts or clothes.