[traboule]

Beautiful Girls
(1996, Timothy Hutton, Natalie Portman, Dir. Ted Demme)



Beautiful Girls is actually a film about men - men in arrested development, a theme pretty common now in films and television. This is not an earth-shaking film here, and yet in its downbeat demeanor, Beautiful Girls won me over.

First of all, it was a good choice to make Timothy Hutton's story arc the central one. His is the more unusual plotline. Arriving home after some time away (I didn't catch where the film was supposed to take place, but it was filmed in Minnesota), Willie reconnects with his high school buddies and also befriends his 13-year-old neighbor, Marty (Portman). It is the latter relationship that offers some terrific and poignant scenes. In a completely non-pedophiliac way, Willie falls a little in love with Marty, a self-proclaimed "old soul", and she herself develops a crush on him.

Willie is making a "life-decision if you will" (Marty's words) but I like that the film doesn't play it out with angst. Rather, through conversations with his friends, with a new acquaintance, Andeara (Uma Thurman), and Marty, he tries to figure out how to move into the next stage of his life.



Meanwhile, the film also shows us the relationship woes of Tommy (Matt Dillon) and Paul (Michael Rapaport). Tommy's story where he lusts after his high school sweetheart to the heartbreak of his anorexic girlfriend managed to build into something quite good and interesting. Paul's story was less so, but it was not a waste of space either. The film also manages to pull story arc endings for a couple of characters who I didn't even think had stories of their own. It all doesn't come together quite perfectly, but I liked it all the same.

Through all of thes, there's humor and singing ("Sweet Caroline") and even a brawl. I like how the film evoked for me times where I visited with old friends and it turned out to be just what I needed to help me when I returned to my 'regular' life.

8.5/10