Curly Sue

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Curly Sue

Curly Sue poster
Directed by John Hughes
Produced by John Hughes
Written by John Hughes
Starring James Belushi
Kelly Lynch
Alisan Porter
Music by Georges Delerue
Studio Hughes Entertainment
Distributed by Warner Bros.
Release date(s) October 25, 1991
Running time 101 min.
Country United States
Language English
Budget $25,000,000[1]
Box office $33,691,313

Curly Sue is a 1991 comedy film starring James Belushi, Alisan Porter and Kelly Lynch. The film was written and directed by John Hughes. Music for the movie was provided by Georges Delerue, with the end title song "You Never Know" performed by Ringo Starr.[2]

The movie was Hughes' final film as a director. It also marked the film debut of Steve Carell, who would not act in another feature film until 2003 with Bruce Almighty.

Contents

[edit] Plot

Bill Dancer (Belushi) and his young companion Curly Sue (Porter) are the archetypal homeless folks with hearts of gold. Their scams are aimed not at turning a profit, but at getting enough to eat. After moving from Detroit to Chicago, the duo tricks the rich and beautiful divorce lawyer Grey Ellison (Kelly Lynch) into believing she backed her Mercedes into Bill, in hopes of a free meal. When Grey accidentally collides with Bill for real, she insists on putting the two up for the night, even over the objections of her snotty fiance. After a confrontation with Bill exposing the truth of the con, Grey lets them stay for as long as they need to when she understands the precarious position the homeless pair are in. One night, Bill tells Grey that he's not Sue's father, he met Sue's mother one night in Florida. After Sue's mother died, Bill raised her himself, growing to love her like his own, thus when they lost their home and money, Bill couldn't find it in his heart to give Sue up and put her into an orphange, so he took Sue with him. Grey, thinking Bill has been neglecting and abusing Sue by using her in his cons and scams, suggests Sue stay with her when he leaves, but this only angers Bill, who says that after all the years he's looked after her, if he gave up Sue now, people would make fun of her wellbeing. He tells her that he is not neglecting or abusing Sue; he cares about Sue and his cons are to provide for Sue. As they get to know each other, Bill becomes convinced that this is where Curly Sue belongs - in a home, cared for by someone that can give her the advantages that his homeless, nomadic existence lacks. He strives to give her the life she deserves, altering his own life to meet those standards.

[edit] Main cast

[edit] Release

Curly Sue debuted at No. 2 at the box office.[3]

Curly Sue was released in North America on October 25, 1991, and grossed US$33,691,313 in that market.[4]

Warner Home Video released it on DVD on June 1, 2004, with commentary and an introduction by Alisan Porter as special features.

[edit] Reception

The film received mostly negative reviews from critics. Leonard Maltin gave the film one and a half stars out of four in his Movie Guide, and called it "A John Hughes formula movie where the formula doesn't work".[5] The staff of Halliwell's Film Guide called it "Gruesomely sentimental and manipulative".[6] Nigel Andrews of the Financial Times declared, "John Hughes here graduates from the most successful comedy in film history to scripting and directing a large piece of non-biodegradable tosh."[6] Curly Sue holds a 17% rating according to Rotten Tomatoes.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

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