Are You With Us?: Beautiful Girls
By Ryan Mazie
September 23, 2010
What saves the film from being a total bore is the acting. Dillon, an actor who I rarely find appealing, playing the same morally-troubled character again and again, plays a, well… another morally-troubled character. However, here Dillon gives some heart in his performance and his camaraderie with his high school pals shows through, opening up another side of Dillon that is not completely made of stone. Matt went on to not be a very prolific actor, showing up here and there in films ranging from There’s Something About Mary to Crash (one of my all-time favorites) to Takers. Sorvino nicely connects with Damon as the girlfriend who is too afraid of the future if she ends the road-to-nowhere relationship with him. Problem is that it is hard to see what was there in the first place for them to have been dating for so long. Sorvino won an Oscar the year this film was released for Mighty Aphrodite. The next year, she went on to star in TV staple (and my guilty-pleasure that you should get now if you haven’t seen it) Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion. Unfortunately, it was all downhill and straight-to-DVD from there (quite possibly the quickest turnaround for an Oscar winner ever). Her most notable appearance of recent was a House M.D. episode in 2008.
Hutton is a nice leading man against Dillon – the two characters the film follows most. Hutton emotes intelligently and seems, again, as if there is a genuine friendship amongst the characters. Hutton, an actor who I have seen in dozens of movie credits, but never really remembered, maneuvers through the clunky dialogue to add some meaning to the plot. This is shown best in a near To Catch a Predator moment when he starts falling in love with the girl next door - who is thirteen. Played by Natalie Portman in her fourth film role, showing promise even back then, the character is named Marty and acts almost triple her age – witty and wise. The odd attraction is played sweetly by the two talented actors. Portman exploded a few years later when she landed the role of Padme in the new Star Wars prequel trilogy. She has stayed on the Hollywood A-list and on my radar for her ability to navigate between big budget and independent productions, picking trying and different roles.
Uma Thurman shows up in a couple scenes as the blonde bombshell visiting her bartender cousin who owns the bar where the boys drink. Essentially playing the catalyst for the other characters like Marty does for Willie, Thurman’s confident party girl adds some much needed life to the film. Thurman, a favorite actress of mine who radiates on screen (who else could look good covered in blood in Kill Bill?), continues to find work, showing up on the big screen once or twice a year. This was notably one of Rosie O’Donnell’s last big screen roles before becoming a successful and gay TV personality.
Director Ted Demme (Jonathan’s nephew), does an acceptable job with pacing and his segues between the characters are natural. Catching the hometown feel and friendship between the boys with their roundabout conversation, there is unevenness between the guys’ and gals’ opinions, making the arguments very one-sided, unable to successfully represent both parts. Also, the movie could have lost couple of minutes off of its dragged-out running time. Sure there is some fun - like the impromptu barroom sing-a-long to “Sweet Caroline” - but these moments are far and few between. Directing one of my favorite holiday movies, The Ref, Demme was thought to be one of the next great directors. Unfortunately Demme died at the age of 38 due to a cocaine induced heart attack. Ironically enough, his second-to-last movie from the year before was the Johnny Depp/Penelope Cruz true crime biopic Blow, based on George Jung, the man who established the American cocaine market in the ‘70s.
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