Beautiful Girls (1996)

Regisseur:

Ted Demme

Drehbuchautor (WGA):

Scott Rosenberg (written by)

Premierendatum:

9. Februar 1996 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Komödie | Romanze

Werbezeile:

good times never seemed so good

Plot:

A piano player at a crossroads in his life returns home to his friends and their own problems with life and love.

Plot Keywords:

Town | Teenager | Ring | Bar | Ice Fishing

Filmpreise:

1 win & 1 nomination

Nutzerkommentare:

Captures the imagination and heart

Besetzung

Matt Dillon	...	Tommy 'Birdman' Rowland
Noah Emmerich	...	Michael 'Mo' Morris
Annabeth Gish	...	Tracy Stover
Lauren Holly	...	Darian Smalls
Timothy Hutton	...	Willie Conway
Rosie O'Donnell	...	Gina Barrisano
Max Perlich	...	Kev
Martha Plimpton	...	Jan
Natalie Portman	...	Marty
Michael Rapaport	...	Paul Kirkwood
Mira Sorvino	...	Sharon Cassidy
Uma Thurman	...	Andera
Pruitt Taylor Vince	...	Stanley 'Stinky' Womack
Anne Bobby	...	Sarah Morris
Richard Bright	...	Dick Conway

MPAA:

Rated R for strong language and nude pin-ups.

Länge:

112 Min

Produktionsland:

USA

Sprache:

Englisch

Farbe:

Farbe

Seitenverhältnis:

1.85 : 1

Tonverfahren:

Dolby Digital

Altersfreigabe:

Canada:A (Ontario) | Singapore:NC-16 | Germany:12 | Australia:M | Finland:K-12 | Netherlands:12 | Norway:15 | Portugal:M/12 | Spain:13 | UK:15 | USA:R (certificate #34304) | Iceland:12

Drehorte:

Bryant-Lake Bowl - 810 W. Lake Street, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA

Firma:

Miramax Films

Dies und das:

Ted Demme told Timothy Hutton to kiss Natalie Portman on the cheek. She did not know it so her reaction in the film is spontaneous.

Pannen:

Abfolgefehler: Willie and Tracy's car becomes clean as they drive away at the end.

Dialogzitate:

Willie Conway: [from a window] Hey.
Marty: Romeo and Juliet, the dyslexic version.

Bezüge zu anderen Titeln:

Verweis/Anspielung/Erwähnung in The Dialogue: An Interview with Screenwriter Scott Rosenberg (2006) (V)

Soundtrack:

Suffering

Captures the imagination and heart

It is very rare to encounter a film so devoted to character and this is the greatest strength of Beautiful Girls. Each character has their own personal turmoil and lightness which shines through in a film which from start to finish very little movement of plot is actually achieved, but then again it doesn't need to.

Small-town sensibilities and community spirit are intertwined with the notions of enigmatic strangers posing in an almost prophetic manner delivering advice upon the populous. Events such as brutal fighting, unashamed drunkenness and references to sex are handled as items which are not derogatory but necessary in a rites of passage kind of way. Each character develops through the film into better individuals of what they once were but not to such an extent as to impose sickly sweet values on the audience.

Every character is natural and rounded despite some major personality flaws. Timothy Hutton's excellent Willy is at odds with himself over the next stage of growing up, Rappaport plays the goofy yet loveable fool for love, Dillon the lost soul and Emmerich the doting yet somewhat incapable father. But it is in the Beautiful Women themselves where the real essence of the film lies. Uma Thurman is every blonde inch the mysterious and elegant Andera crossing paths with everyone and influencing their lives for the better. Rosie O'Donnell as the brash 'matron' of the group is the perfect foil for Sorvino's insecure personality. The ace of the bunch however is a mesmerising Natalie Portman who even despite being the cast's youngest member is compelling to the point that you can understand Willy's fascination with her character Marty.

For anyone wishing for comfort on a cold winter afternoon there are very few films with such a strong heart, Demme excels himself by never laying on the sentimentality rather poking gingerly at our own innermost feelings, and coming out with a winner.