20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great Movie, October 21, 2001
This was a great movie. Drew Barrymore taps into a deeper part of herself to provide a very satisfying, full performance which puts her into a new league as an actress. Think Susan Sarandon.
There are plenty of touching moments in this film based on a true story, but what I liked was the good feeling that stayed with me when I left.
It's a very well written script with a simple story, which if poorly done would be predictable and formulaic. But Penny Marshall has done a great job working with great actors and this is one movie worth seeing. It's fun to walk out of a theater and hear lots of other people saying "This was really good."
Also, it's nice to see a movie where the trailer does not give away the best parts of the story. That's because this story is bigger than little scenes. it builds and deepens as you get to know and love the characters, even the losers.
James Woods, Playing the father does a great job and so does Sara Gilbert (the teenaged faux femme fatale from American Beauty.)
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15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Focuses on a mother/son relationship, April 29, 2002
Remind me (again) not to read too many reviews of movies before I see them myself. After reading the "critics" I was expecting a rather cheesy tear-jerker with no heart or substance. Wrong, wrong, wrong...this one was a pleasant surprise, start to finish, and a totally charming movie.
Based on the book of the same title, Riding in Cars with Boys is both heart-rending and humorous. Drew Barrymore plays Beverly Donofrio, a youmg woman who becomes pregnant at 15 and is forced to live a life far different than what she'd hoped (or what her parents had hoped). James Woods is totally believable as her father, a man who tells Beverly she "broke his heart" when she became pregnant.
But the real surprise here is the focus of the movie. Although supposedly the story of Beverly, the events are told from the point of view of her son and it is clear that her failures as a parent form much of the basis for this film. She is less than an ideal parent, resentful of her son's intrustion into her life and forced to cope with more than her share of hardships (her husband is a drug addict).
As you can probably tell by now, this isn't exactly a family movie, so leave the kids at home. Gritty at times but also touching, too. Most of all, completely honest and believable.
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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
"I'm 22, that's nearly 30!" "My daughter's a tramp!", March 17, 2005
This movie is excellent, immediately after watching it, I went online and bought the book for dead cheap. That's how good this movie is, you'll want to find out more about Beverley Donofrio, who wrote the book, and helped with the movie too.
Drew Barrymore is an excellent actress, and she played the part of 'Bev' over a 20 year period really well. Although Drew makes a very doubtful 15/16 year old, she's more convincing throughout the rest of the movie. The movie is just one big laugh/cry, and you'll laugh at Steve Zahn's zany performance and cry at all the sad bits.
Brittany Murphy also appears as Bev's best friend 'Fay' who also manages to get pregnant at the same time, and ends up a single mom. Brittany can really turn her hand at anything, and comes out with some hilarious lines. The one that sticks in everyone's memory is when she pretends to be Bev's parents when she confesses she's pregnant! "My daughter's a tramp!" During one of the scenes with Bev and Fay "The End of the World" is playing. This is the song that Brittany Murphy's character has playing during a key moment in Girl, Interrupted. The wedding scene was shot over a two day period, which required Brittany to cry the entire time. The first take was the one used in the film. It would have been nice for Brittany to appear towards the end of the movie, particularly as Jason is running off to be with Amelia. Instead, she just gets a mention.
I wasn't particularly fussed about Adam Garcia playing Bev's 20 year old son, Jason in this. He was quite wrong for the part, considering he looks a lot older than the 20 year old he was supposed to be playing. But what was funny was the fact that Adam (who was 27 playing a 20 year old) was actually 2 years older than Drew (who was 25 playing a 35 year old) who played his mother! How weird is that!
I can't wait to read about Beverley's experiences in the book. Apparently, only some ideas were used from the book - and they made Bev fall pregnant at 15, instead of 17 as it is in the book. The real life Beverly has a master's degree in creative writing. Drew is a high school dropout. The real Beverly and Jason D'Onofrio appear in the movie as guests at Beverly's wedding. They can be seen sitting directly behind Barrymore in the wedding scene. Apparently, what also is said in the book is that Beverly's parents did not force her to get married, they encouraged her to live with them so they could help support the baby instead of getting married. In the book, her parents were NOT supportive of her dream to go to college, which was a big part of the book that was left out. It was also Beverly's excuse for getting pregnant.
Look out for Maggie Gyllenhaal in a blink-and-you'll-miss-her scene as Jason's girlfriend, Amelia, who was Fay's daughter; Desmond Harrington as Bobby and Logan Lerman as Jason (Age 8), who was also in The Butterfly Effect playing Evan at 7.
At the end of the movie, and in parts throughout, it shows that Bev is now 36, and has written a book about her experiences. However, we never get to see how she managed to do this, and break away from all the bad things, which would have been good to see.
This movie is getting some bad reviews, although I wouldn't believe them. Everyone's entitled to their opinion, sure, but guys, if you're gonna complain just cos your girlfriend dragged you to see this (like one reviewer has said) don't say that in the review. Believe me, you'll be single before you know it. Watch this movie.
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