BEAUTIFUL GIRLS
(1996)
Clarissa Oon
Directed by: Ted Demme
Written by: Scott Rosenberg
Cast: Matt Dillon (Tommy), Michael Rappaport (Paul), Timothy Hutton
(Willie), Uma Thurman (Andera), Natalie Portman (Marty), Mira Sorvino
(Sharon), Rosie O'Donnell (Gina), Lauren Holly (Darian)
Produced by: Miramax Films
Length: 110 mins
Rating: *** out of *****
Theatres: Golden Village and Cathay cinemas
GALS, THIS ONE CONFIRMS OUR WORST SUSPICIONS
BEAUTIFUL GIRLS shows just how much it takes for guys to commit
"You guys, as a gender, will have to get a grip, while the future of the human race is looking down."So mouths Rosie while grocery shopping, bearing down supermarket aisles with Tommy and Willie trailing sheepishly.
BEAUTIFUL GIRLS is a smart funny movie about a group of high-school buddies in a small town who can't make up their minds about women. It's a male-bonding flick, but as my girlfriends and I smugly conclude, it's really a devastating indictment of men--their insecurities, their refusal to grow up, and hence all the pain they put women through.
There are several categories of men in this movie. Check which one your boyfriend/ex-boyfriend falls under.
a) The deluded stud
Tommy is a broodingly delectable specimen of a man. He is also sleeping with his already-married high school sweetheart AND his long-suffering, anorexic girlfriend. He knows he's being a jerk, but he hasn't gotten over high school. He just can't make a choice--or stick by it.
b) The sad sod with supermodel posters on his bedroom wall
The classic 'you don't know what you got till it's gone' syndrome. Paul realizes he loves his gal--after ending their relationship and finding out she's seeing someone else. He alternates between jealous fits and trying to win her back. Why he broke up with her in the first place? The "promise" of something better, like one of the supermodels on his wall coming to life.
c) He's got it all, but he wants the neighbourhood Lolita
Willie has a beautiful talented girlfriend, but now she's talking marriage and he doesn't know what he wants. So he returns to his hometown to find himself, and he finds himself falling for his thirteen year old next door neighbour.
What it takes to shake these men up: a beautiful girl like Andera (played babeliciously by Uma Thurman) walking into their lives and telling them how great it is to be in a long-term relationship. And that is just what happens. Each of them tries to date the visiting Andera, only to find that all she needs is her man back home. And it makes them rethink their own relationships.
Of course, unlike my cynical little diatribe, BEAUTIFUL GIRLS does all the above with humour and compassion. Memorable moments abound: the teasing, witty interplay between Timothy Hutton's Willie and beautiful Natalie Portman as Marty; the confusion, indecision and impatience of Matt Dillon's Tommy.
My favourite is Rappaport's Paul, the screwball who talks too much and feels too late, who blunders pig-headedly into his ex-girlfriend's life proposing marriage, retreating finally into his supermodel shrine of a bedroom to pick up the pieces.
But ultimately, what stands out is the touching way in which a movie about men comes out on the side of its women. In the words of Tommy (realizing pathetically how much girlfriend Sharon means to him after being battered by lover Darian's husband), "Why do we always fuck up the good ones?"
And BEAUTIFUL GIRLS, to quote its most eloquent character Paul, takes us women "behind the curtain" to show just how much it takes for men to commit.
THE FLYING INKPOT's RATING SYSTEM:
* Wait for the video.
** A little creaky, but still better than staying at home with Gotcha!
*** Pretty good, bring a friend.
**** Amazing, potent stuff.
***** Perfection. See it twice.
Clarissa Oon is a not-quite-21 Lit major who spends more time on the Net than reading her novels.Read other movie reviews at The Flying Inkpot.Other film reviews by other writers can also be obtained from the InkVault through key word searches.
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