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Beautiful Girls (film)

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Beautiful Girls
Theatrical poster
Directed byTed Demme
Written byScott Rosenberg
Produced byCary Woods
StarringMatt Dillon
Lauren Holly
Timothy Hutton
Rosie O'Donnell
Martha Plimpton
Natalie Portman
Michael Rapaport
Mira Sorvino
Uma Thurman
CinematographyAdam Kimmel
Edited byJeffrey Wolf
Music byDavid A. Stewart
Distributed byMiramax Films
Release date
February 9, 1996
Running time
112 minutes
CountryUS
LanguageEnglish
Box office$20,837,000 (USA)

Beautiful Girls is a 1996 American film directed by Ted Demme and starring Matt Dillon, Lauren Holly, Timothy Hutton, Rosie O'Donnell, Martha Plimpton, Natalie Portman, Michael Rapaport, Mira Sorvino, and Uma Thurman.

Synopsis

Willie Conway goes home for his high school class reunion in Knights Ridge, Massachusetts. He is at a crossroads in his life and cannot decide if he should marry his girlfriend. He cannot decide if he should quit his music and take a job as a salesman. Over the course of the film, he spends time with his old friends who are all at similar crossroads. By the end they all discover what it is that they want.

Characters

The men

  • Willie Conway (played by Timothy Hutton): The only one of the group to move away to New York City, working as a semi-successful pianist. Generally the good guy in the group, his home life is somewhat fractured. His mother is deceased and his father is emotionally withdrawn. He also has a juvenile younger brother, Bobby (David Arquette).
  • Tommy "Birdman" Rowland (played by Matt Dillon): Head snow plower and former high school football star. Tommy seems to be ashamed that he never rose to his full potential in life. Known as the tough one of his group. Tommy seems not to have let go of his youth, and is still having an affair with Darian Smalls, an old high school flame. This puts a considerable strain on his relationship with his current girlfriend, Sharon.
  • Michael "Mo" Morris (played by Noah Emmerich): A factory manager by profession. Unlike his friends, humble Mo has happily settled down with a family, but still does have a temper when provoked. Admires Willie greatly for how far he has traveled in his life.
  • Kev (played by Max Perlich): Snow plower and Tommy's co-worker. Kev is cast as kind of a pathetic little guy. He's not quite a dork or a geek but definitely would not be considered popular. However he is likely the most loyal of friends despite being a bit on the outer fringe of the circle. The wisecracking Kev has to reluctantly look the other way when Darian enters the picture, well aware of Tommy's relationship with her of which he does not approve.
  • Paul Kirkwood (played by Michael Rapaport): Snow plower who is obsessed with centerfold models. Paul cannot let go of his old relationship with a waitress (Martha Plimpton) after she delivered an ultimatum to him. A crass guy who cannot resist tormenting his ex-girlfriend by plowing snow into her garage door.
  • Stanley "Stinky" Womack (played by Pruitt Taylor Vince): The hardworking and humble proprietor/bartender of a local bar that he recently purchased and renovated. A generally good guy who knows the limits of right and wrong.

The women

  • Tracy Stover (played by Annabeth Gish): Willie's long-term girlfriend, a beautiful attorney who might be Willie's future spouse.
  • Darian Smalls (played by Lauren Holly): Tommy's old love interest from high school, unhappily married with one daughter. Darian can not resist Tommy, which upsets both parties.
  • Gina Barrisano (played by Rosie O'Donnell): Friend and hair stylist of the women. A fast-talker who spouts pearls of wisdom in a heavy New York accent.
  • Jan (played by Martha Plimpton): Paul's on-again-off-again girlfriend who is vegetarian and dating a meat-cutter. This irritates Paul to no end.
  • Marty (played by Natalie Portman): Describes her thirteen-year-old self as "an old soul". She is the Conway family's neighbor, who has eyes for Willie and wishes that he will wait until she turns 18 so that they can "walk through this world together".
  • Sharon Cassidy (played by Mira Sorvino): Tommy's current girlfriend, who tries her best to make Tommy happy.
  • Andera (played by Uma Thurman): Stinky's cousin from Chicago. Very attractive and fairly wise, aids Paul in making his ex jealous. A girl from the big city who is able to appreciate the pace of a small town. She is everything that a guy from Knight's Ridge would want in a woman. Ultimately she helps Willie find a little more direction in life.
  • Sarah Morris (played by Anne Bobby): Mo's wife and high school sweetheart, mother of two less than handsome children. She seems to lack self-confidence and is a bit passive aggressive. She does not seem to have strong opinions of her own and is kind of the third wheel of her group. Makes killer waffles.

Minor characters

Origins

Screenwriter Scott Rosenberg was living in Needham, MA, waiting to see if Disney would use his script for Con Air. He said in an interview, "It was the worst winter ever in this small hometown. Snow plows were coming by, and I was just tired of writing these movies with people getting shot and killed. So I said, 'There is more action going on in my hometown with my friends dealing with the fact that they cannot deal with turning 30 or with commitment'—all that became Beautiful Girls".[1] Originally, James L. Brooks was interested in directing the film according to actress Leslie Mann who auditioned for a role but was not cast.[2]

Ted Demme had the entire cast come to Minneapolis and live together for two to three weeks so that they could bond. He also made sure that the setting is a character unto itself. He "wanted to make it look like it's Anytown USA, primarily East Coast. And I also wanted it to feel like a real working class town".[3] To this end, Demme drew inspiration from Michael Cimino's The Deer Hunter (1978). "The first third of the film is really an amazing buddy movie with those five actors. You could tell they were best friends, but they all had stuff amongst them that was personal to each one of them".[3] He screened the movie for the cast and crew.

Scott Rosenberg also writes for the show October Road. The show is loosely based on what happened after Beautiful Girls came out and how his friends reacted to a movie about their lives. Both Beautiful Girls and October Road take place in the fictional Massachusetts town of Knights Ridge, and have similar characters, jobs, plot lines.

Soundtrack

Untitled
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[4]

Track listing

  1. Roland Gift—"That's How Strong My Love Is" 6:18
  2. Afghan Whigs—"Be for Real" 4:16
  3. Howlin' Maggie—"Easy to Be Stupid" 4:51
  4. Billy Paul—"Me and Mrs. Jones" 4:48
  5. Satchel—"Suffering" 4:49
  6. Chris Isaak—"Graduation Day" 3:10
  7. Pete Droge & the Sinners—"Beautiful Girl" 4:34
  8. Ween—"I'll Miss You" 2:56
  9. Afghan Whigs—"Can't Get Enough of Your Love, Babe" 5:21
  10. The Spinners—"Could It Be I'm Falling in Love" 4:31
  11. Kiss—"Beth" 2:46
  12. King Floyd—"Groove Me" 3:01
  13. The Diamonds—"The Stroll" 2:31
  14. Neil Diamond—"Sweet Caroline" 3:24

Additional tracks (not included on soundtrack)

  1. Greg Kihn Band—"The Breakup Song (They Don't Write 'Em)"
  2. Split Enz—"I Got You"
  3. A Flock Of Seagulls—"I Ran (So Far Away)"
  4. Billy Preston—"Will It Go Round in Circles"
  5. Jethro Tull—"Locomotive Breath"
  6. Bernie Wyte and his Orchestra—"Never on Sunday"
  7. Lou Reed—"Walk on the Wild Side"
  8. Rolling Stones—"Fool to Cry"
  9. Morphine—"Honey White"

Reception

Beautiful Girls was released on February 9, 1996 in 752 theaters, grossing USD $2.7 million on its opening weekend. It went on to make $10.5 million in North America.[5]

The film received fairly positive reviews and currently has a 78% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Roger Ebert, of the Chicago Sun-Times, wrote, "What's nicest about the film is the way it treasures the good feelings people can have for one another".[6] In the Washington Post, Desson Howe praised Natalie Portman's performance: "As a self-described 'old soul' who connects spiritually with Hutton (they're both existential searchers), she's the movie's most poignant and witty presence".[7] However, Jack Mathews, in the Los Angeles Times, wrote that the film was "about as much fun as a neighborhood bar on a Tuesday night. Its crisis: not much happening".[8] In her New York Times review Janet Maslin wrote, Natalie Portman got film's "archest dialogue", and called her "a budding knockout, and scene-stealingly good even in an overly showy role."[9]

References

  1. ^ Alexander, Peter. "Scott Rosenberg: Off to a Beautiful Start". The Best Video Guide. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  2. ^ Ryan, Kyle (September 28, 2007). "Random Roles: Leslie Mann". The Onion A.V. Club. Retrieved 2008-02-13. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  3. ^ a b Griffin, Dominic (1996). "An Interview With Ted Demme, Director of Beautiful Girls". Film Threat. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  4. ^ https://www.allmusic.com/album/r231045
  5. ^ "Beautiful Girls". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2008-02-13. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  6. ^ Ebert, Roger (February 9, 1996). "Beautiful Girls". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved 2008-02-13. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  7. ^ Howe, Desson (February 9, 1996). "Beautiful Girls". Washington Post. Retrieved 2008-02-13. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  8. ^ Mathews, Jack (February 9, 1996). "Beautiful Girls". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2008-02-13. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help) [dead link]
  9. ^ Movie Review New York Times, February 9, 1996.
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