BEAUTIFUL GIRLS

"BEAUTIFUL GIRLS"
(1996) (Timothy Hutton, Matt Dillon) (R)

Alcohol/ Drugs	Blood/Gore	Disrespectful/ Bad Attitude	Frightening/ Tense Scenes	Guns/ Weapons
Heavy	Minor	Moderate	Minor	None

Imitative Behavior	Jump Scenes	Music (Scary/Tense)	Music (Inappropriate)	Profanity
Mild	None	None	None	Extreme

Sex/ Nudity	Smoking	Tense Family Scenes	Topics To Talk About	Violence
Moderate	Moderate	None	Mild	Mild

QUICK TAKE:: A man returns for his high school tenth year reunion and finds that things haven't changed much in his small hometown.

PLOT:: Willie (TIMOTHY HUTTON) is an aspiring pianist who returns to his small town for his high school tenth year reunion. Once there, he meets his old friends such as Tommy (MATT DILLON), the former stud and now owner of a snow plowing company. Tommy has a girlfriend, Sharon (MIRA SORVINO), but is having an affair with his married high school flame, Darian (LAUREN HOLLY). Another friend, Paul (MICHAEL RAPAPORT), a man who has supermodel posters covering his walls, is upset because his girlfriend Jan (MARTHA PLIMPTON) broke up with him because he was taking too long to make a permanent commitment. Other friends include the happily married Mo (NOAH EMMERICH); Kev (MAX PERLICH), Tommy's employee; and Gina (ROSIE O'DONNELL) who can't believe these nearly thirty year old mens' attraction to artificially "beautiful women." Waiting for his girlfriend, Tracy (ANNABETH GISH), to arrive in town, Willie becomes smitten with the next door neighbor, Marty (NATALIE PORTMAN) a thirteen-year-old girl who's wiser than her age. And all of the men fall head over heals for another buddy's cousin, Andera (UMA THURMAN), who's also visiting the small town. As the reunion approaches, relationships and friendships are sorted out.

WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT?: Not unless they're fans of the stars, none of which is a huge draw for kids.

WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: R: For strong language and nude pin-ups.

CAST AS ROLE MODELS:: TIMOTHY HUTTON plays a man who returns to his hometown, looking to the past for answers to his future. While he flirts somewhat with a wiser than her age, 13-year-old, he never makes any advances toward her.
MATT DILLON plays the former high school stud who's trying to relive his glory days by having an affair with his former, and now married, high school flame.
MICHAEL RAPAPORT plays a man who ogles women and has posters of supermodels all over his walls (strange for a nearly thirty-year-old man). He also plows his former girlfriend's drive way shut for having broken up with him and now dating someone else.; MATT DILLON plays the former high school stud who's trying to relive his glory days by having an affair with his former, and now married, high school flame.
MICHAEL RAPAPORT plays a man who ogles women and has posters of supermodels all over his walls (strange for a nearly thirty-year-old man). He also plows his former girlfriend's drive way shut for having broken up with him and now dating someone else.; MICHAEL RAPAPORT plays a man who ogles women and has posters of supermodels all over his walls (strange for a nearly thirty-year-old man). He also plows his former girlfriend's drive way shut for having broken up with him and now dating someone else.

CAST, CREW, & TECHNICAL INFO

HOW OTHERS RATED THIS MOVIE

OUR TAKE: 7 out of 10: This is a rather witty and original look at people who are just beginning to accept that they've become all they're ever going to be in their small town. The dialogue is fun and while 99.9 percent of the world's population doesn't talk like these characters and never will, that's what makes them all the more fun to share two hours with. The performances are entertaining all around with the standouts being Natalie Portman and Rosie O'Donnell who in their limited screen time create two fun characters. And Portman shows that she has a bright and rosy future ahead of her on the big screen. If you're in that thirty something age group, you'll appreciate the theme and mood of this picture. We give it a 7 out of 10.

OUR WORD TO PARENTS:: Two things stand out that parents should be aware of. Profanity is extreme with nearly 50 "f" and more than 30 "s" words. And alcohol consumption is heavy with almost every character drinking (beer, wine, cocktails and shots of liquor) and that behavior occurrs in nearly 20 scenes. There are just two violent scenes, one where a fight occurs and another where it appears there will be another, but it's called off. There's a great deal of talking about sex, but no sexual activity is seen and the only nudity present is a brief glimpse inside a copy of "Penthouse." While it isn't likely younger kids will want to see this one, teenagers just might. If that's the case, we suggest you read the category listings before allowing them to see this one.

ALCOHOL OR DRUG USE: Nearly every character drinks on many occasions throughout this movie (Mainly beer, but also shots of whiskey or other liquor, cocktails and wine) in nearly twenty different scenes.
Willie's younger brother says that he's "wrecked" (hungover) from the night before.
When Willie asks Marty what kids "do nowadays," she jokingly says (among other things), "We smoke massive amounts of drugs."
Darian is drunk at Tommy's birthday party and comes on to him.
Paul drinks beer in the morning while ice fishing.
Andera asks Willie if he's drunk (while he's playing the piano). He says "I don't know, but you both look beautiful."
Willie's girlfriend tells him he looks awful when she sees him for the first time. He tells her "I've been drunk for two weeks."

BLOOD/GORE: Tommy, Steve and Steve's buddies all have bloody noses and lips after fighting.
Steve is all black and blue in the hospital after the fight.

DISRESPECTFUL/BAD ATTITUDE: Paul repeatedly plows Jan's garage shut after every big snowfall (because she's broken up with him and is seeing someone else).
Women are referred to as "chicks" and Paul (in his late 20's) has posters of scantily clad supermodels on his bedroom walls.
Kev wants Willie to describe his girlfriend on a scale from 1 to 10 regarding her face, body and personality.
Tommy and Darian are carrying on an affair even though she's married and he has a girlfriend.
Paul asks Andera on a date just to make Jan jealous.
Paul tells Willie that his girlfriend has a "great ass" and a "nice rack" (breasts).

FRIGHTENING SCENES: None in the traditional sense. Some viewers may get a little tense when Steve and his friends beat up Tommy, or when Willie and the others confront Steve for revenge. For details, see the entries under "Violence."

GUNS/WEAPONS: None.

IMITATIVE BEHAVIOR: Phrases: "Chicks" (for women), "Eat me," "Scum bag," "Douche bag," "Numb nuts," "Piss," "Pissed," "Take a dump," "Mooks," "Bastard," "Faggot," "Puke," "Sperm," "Shut up," and "Have you been eating retard sandwiches?"
Mo's young son pours what appears to be mustard (or some sort of food product) from the jar down onto his own lap.
There are some vague references to Sharon being anorexic.

JUMP SCENES: None.

MUSIC (SCARY/TENSE): None.

MUSIC (INAPPROPRIATE): None.

PROFANITY: 49 "f" words (1 used sexually and there's one incomplete use with the prefix "mother"), 34 "s" words, 8 "ass" words, 7 slang terms for breasts (6 "t" words, and 1 use of "boobs"), 3 slang terms for male genitals (2 "d" words, 1 "p" word), 2 hells, 1 crap, 1 damn and 2 uses of "Jesus" and 1 use each of "Jesus Christ," "For Christ's Sake," "Christ," and "God" as exclamations.

SEX/NUDITY: Paul talks with his buddies about his ex-girlfriend, Jan, "banging" some other guy. Later they state that since he's 40, he's too old to be "giving her any sperm."
Sharon, seen in her bra and panties, gets dressed and tells Tommy, "It would be nice if once in a while when making love you'd think about me" implying that they've just had sex.
Gina talks to Willie and Tommy about their false ideals of women in porno magazines. To prove her point she grabs a copy of "Penthouse" and we see several brief glimpses of nude women (bare breasts). She then goes on about how big women have big "t*ts" and skinny women have small "t*ts" and thus the women in the magazines are fake.
Marty jokingly tells Willie that her "boyfriend" (a twelve-year-old) believes "in male contraception."
While talking about what Willie's girlfriend looks like, Kev gets off the subject and mentions a porno queen that "had all of her orifices penetrated by circus midgets."
Darian comes on to Tommy while they're parked in her driveway. She mentions that he can slip into something more comfortable in her house and when he asks, "Like what?" she replies, "Like me."
Andera mentions that all she needs to hear from her boyfriend before she goes to bed is "Good night, sweat girl," implying that they sleep together.
Willie asks Andera while they're ice fishing, "Can you think of anything better than making love to an attractive stranger in the middle of a frozen lake with just an oil light to guide your way?"
Paul tells Willie that his girlfriend has a "great ass" and a "nice rack" (breasts).
Darian's husband, Steve, tells Tommy, "I can't buy you a drink, but you can stick your d*ck in my wife?" He then asks why it is every time women see a tool belt "they get moist."
Willie visits his girlfriend who's sleeping in his childhood bedroom. Noticing that he's acting a little weird, she asks him, "What, you've never had sex in here before?" He replies, "Not with another person," implying masturbation.

SMOKING: People in the background of scenes inside the bar(s) smoke.
Willie occasionally smokes cigarettes.
Kev smokes while he and Tommy plow the streets.
Jan smokes while in the bar and Paul smokes a cigar.

TENSE FAMILY SCENES: None.

TOPICS TO TALK ABOUT: Willie and Marty's attraction (more intellectual than romantic) to each other. But still, he's nearly 30 and she's only 13.
Goals and status while in high school and whether they are achieved and maintained later in life.

VIOLENCE: Darian's husband, Steve, and his buddies follow Tommy outside to rough him up. Tommy then head butts Steve and punches the others. They finally get control of Tommy and beat him up rather badly (kicking him in the face, then punches to the face and gut). It's later said that he's got a concussion, two broken ribs and thirty stitches from the altercation.
Tommy's friends all come after Steve for revenge. Willie, seeing Steve's friends driving up, hops into the snow plow and smashes into their car, nearly turning it over, and trapping the men inside. Mo throws Steve around, getting ready to punch him, but when he sees Steve's little girl, he stops and the men leave.

Reviewed November 8, 1996

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