Beautiful
Girls is a 1995 romantic
comedy-drama directed by Ted Demme (The Ref, Blow, Who's the Man?), written by Scott Rosenberg (who also wrote Con Air), and featuring
an ensemble cast: Matt Dillon, Lauren Holly, Mira Sorvino, Timothy Hutton, Uma
Thurman, Michael Rapaport, Rosie O’Donnell, Martha Plimpton, Noah Emmerich, and
Natalie Portman. It is a well-written and well-acted film about old friends coming
back together for their ten-year high school reunion, and facing crossroads in
their lives, and inabilities to grow up and let go of the past. The film has a
warm and familiar feel to it, set in a small Massachusetts town during the
winter, in a town where nothing ever changes, and people live ho-hum, average
lives. The film feels intimate and small, and is
heavy on dialogue without it feeling overly-talky or redundant.
The central plot is that
Willie (Hutton) is returning to his hometown of Knights Bridge, Massachusetts,
for a high school reunion. He lives in New York City, and can’t decide whether
he should give up his career as a pianist and become a salesman, as well as
whether or not to marry his girlfriend, Tracy. He re-connects with his old
buddies, who are all going through issues of their own:
Tommy (Dillon) a popular
high school football star, the “Birdman,” but now works construction, and is
upset that he never did anything remarkable with his life after high school. He
has a girlfriend, Sharon (Sorvino), but is still having an affair with his
girlfriend from high school, Darian (Holly), now married with a kid.
Paul (Rapaport) works
construction (a snow plow in the winter), and has had a tumultuous relationship
with his on-again, off-again girlfriend Jan. They broke up, and he’s jealous
that she’s dating another guy, so he keeps harassing her by piling snow on her
driveway and proposing marriage in a confrontational, upset way. (“She’s a
vegetarian. What kind of life can she have with a man who smells of brisket?”
He blasts 80’s music in his truck out of nostalgic love (Split Enz, Flock of
Seagulls), and has unrealistic expectations for a girlfriend, and worships
supermodels because beautiful girls are “bottled promises.”
And Mo (Emmerich) is a happy
family man who wants the best for his friends, and often gives them good advice
about moving as adults and not being fixated on the past.
The women characters,
meanwhile, have their own complex thoughts about their relationships and their
own crossroads:
Sharon knows that she should
break up with Tommy because of his inability to commit, but she is trying to
save the relationship.
Gina (O’Donnell) is the
brusque voice of reason, which cuts through the melodrama with sharp insight,
and delivers a fantastic monologue about men’s unrealistic expectations of
women through Playboy, MTV, and swimsuits model photos.
Jan (Plimpton) is frustrated
with her ex Paul always bothering her, and only wanting to marry her because he’s
fed up and lonely, not out of real love.
Besides Gina, the only other
woman that has her life together is Andera (Thurman), a cousin of the local
bartender who comes to visit from Chicago. She is the epitome of the Cool Girl,
the beautiful woman who can hang with the local guys, drinks whiskey, follows
sports, is witty, and is past immature mind games and wish-washy attitudes. She
helps Willie out with his romantic issues, stating that her grounded, loving
relationship with her boyfriend is the kind of down-home comfort that she
wants, thus inspiring Willie to strengthen his relationship with Tracy.
And Natalie Portman, at 13
years old, was a standout in the film as Marty, a likable and charming kid who
is smart and perceptive, and good at reading people. Sometimes her dialogue
sounded like what an adult thought a precocious, “old soul” type child would
speak like, but Portman’s talent and intelligence made her likable and
realistic. She and Willie become friends, based upon their identities as existential
searchers, and while there is an uncomfortable mutual attraction (especially on
Willie’s part), they smartly know not to overstep those boundaries. Marty seems
aware that she has an innocent crush on Willie, while Willie ultimately
understands that his interest in Marty (and wanting to wait until she is of
legal age) is more of a reflection of him not wanting to grow up. There’s a
great moment where he uses the analogy of Winnie the Pooh and Christopher Robin
with Marty, saying that Christopher Robin had Pooh until Christopher grew up
and didn’t need him anymore, as an analogy about adolescent changes and
outgrowing things from childhood. He says, “I can’t be your Pooh.” It is
disappointing for Marty, but it is a mature and responsible way to end the
mutual attraction while still having respect for one another. Portman was still
on the rise to fame when she appeared in this film, and despite having a small
role, she was a total scene-stealer and a charming presence.
The film feels comfortable,
and it feels warm as the audience sees old friends reconnecting with each other
at the bar, drinking, laughing, sharing old stories, and bonding with one
another over their shared history. The series of bar scenes with friends reflect
movies like The Deer Hunter and Diner, scenes with male friends bonding with
one another over life, relationships, and personal crossroads.
Paul has screwed up idea
about beautiful women, calling them “bottled promises.” He states: “Supermodels are beautiful
girls, Will. A beautiful girl can make you dizzy, like you've been drinking
Jack and Coke all morning. She can make you feel high full of the single
greatest commodity known to man - promise. Promise of a better day. Promise of a
greater hope. Promise of a new tomorrow. This particular aura can be found in
the gait of a beautiful girl. In her smile, in her soul, the way she makes
every rotten little thing about life seem like it's going to be okay. The
supermodels, Willy? That's all they are. Bottled promise. Scenes from a brand
new day. Hope dancing in stiletto heels.” He has a terrible and
misguided idea about beautiful women. He doesn’t consider that these women have
problems of their own, or their own worries, thoughts, or cares. That just by
being beautiful, they always have to be carefree and happy, and supportive to a
man. He is completely wrong in his view of women, and learns a tough lesson in
the film about his expectations of women.
Another poignant scene is
when Tommy is talking about his life, and his disappointments after high school:
“Wondering how I got here, you know? How I’m not anything like what I’d hope I’d
be, you know? I’m not even – I’m not even close to the guy that I thought I’d
end up being, and it kinda blows, you know?” Dillon did a fantastic job
delivering this monologue, of a guy who would have fit right in as a character
in Bruce Springsteen’s song “Glory Days,” as a guy who peaked in high school
and didn’t do anything remarkable afterwards.
This film is very poignant
and relatable, a film about life changes, turning 30 years old, accepting the
past and moving on, and not being held back from one’s own insecurities. The
film had a solid cast, good writing and directing, and was a captivating film
for its time.
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