My Girl (film)
| My Girl | |
|---|---|
 Promotional movie poster for the film | |
| Directed by | Howard Zieff |
| Written by | Laurice Elehwany |
| Produced by | Brian Grazer Joseph M. Caracciolo David T. Friendly |
| Starring | Dan Aykroyd Jamie Lee Curtis Macaulay Culkin Anna Chlumsky Peter Michael Goetz |
| Music by | James Newton Howard |
| Distributed by | Columbia Pictures |
Release date | November 27, 1991 (USA) |
Running time | 102 min. |
| Country |  United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $15,000,000 US (est.) |
| Box office | $59,847,242 US |
My Girl is a comedy-drama film released in 1991 that focuses on the coming-of-age of a young girl. It features Dan Aykroyd, Jamie Lee Curtis, Macaulay Culkin and Anna Chlumsky in her feature film debut. It was written by Laurice Elehwany and directed by Howard Zieff.
A sequel, My Girl 2, was released in 1994.
Plot
The movie is set in Madison, Pennsylvania, in the summer of 1972. Vada Sultenfuss (Anna Chlumsky) is an 11-year-old tomboy and a hypochondriac. Vada's father, Harry Sultenfuss (Dan Aykroyd), is an awkward widower who does not seem to understand his daughter, and as a result, constantly ignores her. His profession as a funeral director, in which the Sultenfuss' residence is also a funeral parlor, has led Vada to develop an obsession with death as well as disease. Vada also thinks that she killed her own mother, since her mother died giving birth to her. She regularly tends to her invalid grandmother (Ann Nelson), who suffers from Alzheimer's disease. Harry's brother Phil (Richard Masur), who lives nearby, also stops by frequently to help out the family.
Vada is teased by other girls because her best friend, Thomas J. Sennett (Macaulay Culkin), is unpopular and a boy. Their summer adventures—from first kiss to last farewell—introduce Vada to the world of adolescence.
Vada's summer begins well. She befriends Shelley Devoto (Jamie Lee Curtis), the new make-up artist at her father's funeral parlor, who provides her with some much needed guidance. She is also infatuated with her teacher, Mr. Bixler (Griffin Dunne), and steals some money from Shelley's trailer to attend a summer writing class that he is teaching.
But before long, things start to fall apart. Her father and Shelley start dating and get engaged, she cannot bring herself to tell her father that she has experienced her first menstrual cycle, Thomas J. dies from an allergic reaction to bee stings while looking for Vada's mood ring in the woods, and she finds out that Mr. Bixler is engaged to someone else.
Vada's grief, however, manages to mend the rift between her and her father, she learns that she didn't kill her mum during childbirth (since her father tells her that things like mothers dying in childbirth just happen), and by the end of the movie, Vada has not only managed to deal with her pain and grief, but has also overcome some of her previous issues as well.
Cast
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Anna Chlumsky | Vada Sultenfuss |
| Macaulay Culkin | Thomas J. Sennett |
| Dan Aykroyd | Harry Sultenfuss |
| Jamie Lee Curtis | Shelly Devoto |
Music
The soundtrack of the film contains many classic 1960s and 1970s pop hits in addition to the title song, including such oldies-radio staples as "Wedding Bell Blues" (The 5th Dimension), "If You Don't Know Me By Now" (Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes), "Bad Moon Rising" (Creedence Clearwater Revival), "Good Lovin'" (The Rascals), and "Saturday in the Park" (Chicago). When she gets upset, Vada plugs her ears and sings "Do Wah Diddy Diddy," the Manfred Mann version of which is also included on the soundtrack album. In addition, Vada and Thomas J. play "The Name Game" and sing "Witch Doctor" in the film, and Vada has posters of The Carpenters and Donny Osmond on her bedroom wall.
MPAA Re-Rating of My Girl
Thomas J's death at the end gave the film a PG-13 rating from the MPAA, the film was later edited to be re-rated PG because of the strong sense of the scene.
Cultural references
- In the film Accepted, after Justin Long's character performs a cover of The Ramones' "Blitzkrieg Bop", he lists "not crying at the end of My Girl" as one of the things he cannot do.
- Thomas J.'s death is referenced in the The OC episode entitled "The Heights". After crying during an intense conversation with ex-girlfriend Marissa, Luke later tells her that he hasn't cried like that "since Macaulay Culkin died in My Girl".
- At the end of heavy metal band Anthrax's 1993 album Sound of White Noise, a sample of Vada's teacher Mr. Bixler saying "Be dangerous and unpredictable...and make a lot of noise" is used in the outro. Anthrax singer John Bush also sings this exact phrase on Sound of White Noise b-side track "Poison My Eyes" which was released on the Last Action Hero soundtrack in 1993.
- The funeral scene in which Vada cries "Put on his glasses! He can't see without his glasses!" over Thomas J.'s body is constantly referenced and played during the popular Philadelphia morning show Preston and Steve whenever Preston is unable to read something.