Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Binding: DVD
EAN: 9780788814754
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD-Video, Letterboxed, Widescreen, NTSC
ISBN: 6305327084
Label: Miramax
Manufacturer: Miramax
Number Of Items: 1
Picture Format: Letterbox
Publisher: Miramax
Region Code: 1
Release Date: April 20, 1999
Running Time: 112 minutes
Sales Rank: 5093
Studio: Miramax
Theatrical Release Date: February 09, 1996
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Editorial Review:
Description:
An all-star cast sparks this captivating comedy about a group of old friends whose 10-year high school reunion creates some hilariously unexpected surprises. Willie (Timothy Hutton -- FRENCH KISS), Tommy (Matt Dillon -- TO DIE FOR), and Paul (Michael Rapaport -- MIGHTY APHRODITE) may have lost a bit of their youth, but they're still ready to party with Uma Thurman (PULP FICTION), Rosie O'Donnell (TV's THE ROSIE O'DONNELL SHOW), Lauren Holly (DUMB AND DUMBER), and Mira Sorvino (AT FIRST SIGHT) -- the 'beautiful girls' who've turned their lives upside down! Also featuring a hot soundtrack, BEAUTIFUL GIRLS is a must-see comic delight that's sure to entertain you!
Amazon.com:
This town drama from Ted Demme centers on former classmates coming together for their 10-year reunion. Scott Rosenberg's (Things to Do in Denver When You're Dead) script thoughtfully passes over the usual grumblings of young adults who can't believe they still live in the same snowbound town. They accept--even welcome--their blue-collar jobs, whether plowing snow or cutting hair. Willie (Timothy Hutton), the lone wanderer, returns to his listless house in a state of flux, the piano-bar circuit wearing thin as is his relationship with Tracy, a well-off attorney (Annabeth Gish). He isn't the only one with problems. Tommy (Matt Dillon) occasionally sleeps with his now-married high school sweetheart Darian (Lauren Holly) while the earnest Sharon (Mira Sorvino) is left to wait. Paul (another thickheaded role for Michael Rapaport) refuses to commit to Jan (Martha Plimpton) until it's too late. Paul is enamored with the idea of the supermodel (the title's 'beautiful girls') that, he believes, can make life perfect. It's a very satisfying comedy, with some forced poignancy (Willie's description of Tracy as a 'seven and a half' comes off as a death sentence). Rosie O'Donnell's dissertation on why Playboy and Penthouse have ruined males' expectations is much like Meg Ryan's orgasm scene in When Harry Met Sally...: it's hilarious, even memorable, never wholly believable.
The two wild cards thrown into Beautiful Girls give the film its kick. Uma Thurman enters as the local barkeep's (Pruitt Taylor Vince) radiant cousin. From the big city, she can flirt with the awestruck guys and still keep her head. Willie's real emotional tug is from Marty, the precocious 13-year-old neighbor. If you didn't see Natalie Portman's sophisticated work in the The Professional, her performance here will come as a revelation. You deeply believe that Willie and Marty are connected despite their age difference. Their courtship will never come to be, but the way the two talk (and talk some more) about their lives is the most insightful part of Rosenberg's script. Everyone's so comfortable in his or her roles that you may truly feel sad when the film ends. --Doug Thomas
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - A tragedy of Elizabethan proportions
Beautiful Girls is an ensemble comedy, with star power to burn. Hutton and Sorvino are both Oscar winners, while Dillon Thurman, and Portman have Oscar nominations. The title of this movie, Beautiful Girls, should clue you in to what it's about. It is a celebration of the beauty of women, but at the same time, it is also a cautionary tale about how men put Beauty on a pedestal that sometimes interferes with them making a commitment to a mature adult relationship with a real woman. In spite of the stellar cast and lofty premise, it probably went straight to DVD. I have no recollection of this movie being released theatrically. I thought that because of this it would be a big stinker, but it was actually quite good. I have a few theories about why it performed so poorly at the box office:
It had a rather diffuse focus, since it featured a group of high school buddies still hanging out, trying to get married and settle down, but finding it hard to accept adult life. Tommy, Paul, and Willie (Matt Dillon, Michael Rappaport, and Timothy Hutton, respectively) are the main three protagonists, and each of these three has two female antagonists to antagonize them. So, the story has not one but three love triangles, and thus it is hard to fully focus your attention on any one of them. Furthermore, none of the stories take the most exciting story arc, where two star-crossed lovers defy the odds, choosing to be together in spite of the world's scorn. No, they choose the path of least resistance, ... Read More
Rating:  - Love my movie
I'v been looking for this hard to find movie for awhile. I love it. Delivery was fast. Perfect transaction
Rating: - Willie C! Stay cool! Stay cool forever
One of the best and a collectible & worth watching the movie for just this part
"Supermodels are beautiful girls, Will. A beautiful girl can make you dizzy, like you've been drinking Jack and Coke all morning. Se can make you feel high with 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 gaze of a beautiful girl. In her smile, in her soul, how she makes every rotten little thing about life seem like it's going to be okay. The supermodels are bottled promise. A beautiful girl is all powerful, and that's as good as love"
Rating: - I beg to differ (a little)
This is a fine film. The characters are older young adults, barely young enough to be able to characterize this as a "rite-of-passage" film. I disagree with those who suggest that the characters ultimately give up on the dreams of their youth and "settle" for an inevitable and dull adulthood. From my 58 year old vantage point, they are leaving their shallow and immature adolescence for the deeper and more meaningful commitments to mature, real (not mythologized) partners who love them for who they are. They are ready to embrace their lives both present and future and let go of the ever more distant and irrelevant past.
The Hutton character is certainly tempted by Thurman. Though he admires and cares for the 13 yr old Portman character, he is always aware that her desire for him will not be returned by him. He relates to her impatience to grow up, recognizes her puppylove feelings for him, but never considers abusing her affection for him.
This is a wonderful ensemble cast. Though more polished than its predecessor, this film reminds me of the early John Sayles film "Return Of The Secaucus Seven".
Rating: - Willie and Marty
This movie is about the growing relationship between a surprised, smitten Willie and beautiful girl Marty. It's all we care about. Everything else is window dressing to these two.
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