My Girl (film)

This article is about the 1991 film. For the 2003 Thai film, see Fan Chan.
My Girl

A girl holding her hand on her head and laughing, and a boy laughing in the background

Theatrical release poster
Directed by Howard Zieff
Produced by Brian Grazer
Written by Laurice Elehwany
Starring
Music by James Newton Howard
Cinematography Paul Elliot
Production
company
Distributed by Columbia Pictures
Release dates
  • November 27, 1991 (1991-11-27)
Running time
 102 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Budget $17 million[1]
Box office $59.5 million[1]

My Girl is a 1991 American tragicomedy film directed by Howard Zieff and written by Laurice Elehwany. The film, starring Macaulay Culkin and Anna Chlumsky in her feature film debut, depicts the coming-of-age of a young girl who faces many different emotional highs and lows. The film also stars Dan Aykroyd and Jamie Lee Curtis.

A book based on the script was written by Patricia Hermes in 1991.[2]

Its sequel, My Girl 2, was released in 1994.

Plot

In the summer of 1972, Vada Sultenfuss (Chlumsky) is an 11-year-old tomboy and a hypochondriac. Harry Sultenfuss (Aykroyd), Vada's father, is an awkward widower who does not understand his daughter and so constantly ignores her. His profession as a funeral director has led his daughter to develop an obsession with death. Vada regularly tends to her invalid grandmother, ‘Gramoo’ (Ann Nelson), who suffers from Alzheimer's disease and whose wandering mind likewise affects her. Vada’s best friend is Thomas J. Sennett (Culkin), an unpopular boy her age who is allergic to "everything." However, other girls tease the two, thinking they are more than just friends.

Vada's summer begins well. She befriends Shelly DeVoto (Curtis), the new makeup artist at her father's funeral parlor, who provides her with guidance. She also develops a crush on her fifth-grade school teacher, Mr. Bixler, and hears about an adult poetry writing class that he is leading during the summer. Wanting to enroll in it, Vada steals some money from the cookie jar in Shelly's trailer to cover the cost. When advised to write about what is in her soul, Vada fears that she killed her mother, who died two days after giving birth to her. Soon things start to fall apart.

When Harry and Shelly start dating, this affects Vada's attitude towards Shelly. Vada is also starting to see changes within herself, and when her first period arrives she believes that she is hemorrhaging. Shelly explains to her that this is a completely natural process for females. A couple of days later Vada and Thomas J. experiment with an innocent first kiss.

One day in the woods, Vada and Thomas J. come across a hornet's nest hanging from a tree, which Thomas J. decides to knock down. Vada loses her beloved mood ring in the process, so they start looking for it, but the search is cut short as the hornets start swarming. Thomas J. later returns alone and finds the ring. Unfortunately, because he kicked the hornet's nest beforehand, the hornets begin to swarm Thomas J. just as he found the ring. He dies from the attack, being allergic to bee stings.

Harry is left to deliver the news to Vada, which devastates her so much that she will not even leave her bedroom. When she finally comes downstairs for Thomas J.'s funeral, her emotions become so strong that she runs away. Vada hurries to Mr. Bixler's house, wanting to stay with him, and discovers that he is about to get married. She then runs to her and Thomas J.'s hangout spot near the tree to reflect on what has happened. When Vada returns home, everyone is relieved, including Shelly, whom Vada begins to accept as her future stepmother. Her grief also manages to mend the rift between her and her father. Harry explains that her mother's death wasn't Vada’s fault and that things like that can happen without explanation, and him sharing his memory of her mom with her allows them to bond.

Toward the end of summer, Vada and her father encounter Mrs. Sennett, who still struggles with her son's death. She gives Vada back the ring that Thomas J. had found and Vada gives Mrs. Sennett some comfort, assuring her that her mother will take care of Thomas J. in heaven. On the last day of writing class, Vada shows up and reads a poem she has written about the loss of her best friend.

Cast

Reception

Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes gives a score of 50% based on reviews from 14 critics.[3] Roger Ebert gave the film 3.5 stars out of 4.[4] Variety wrote, "Plenty of shrewd commercial calculation went into concocting the right sugar coating for this story of an 11-year-old girl's painful maturation, but [the] chemistry seems right."[5]

Music

The soundtrack of the film contains several 1960s and 1970s pop hits in addition to the title song (by The Temptations), including "Wedding Bell Blues" (The 5th Dimension), "If You Don't Know Me by Now" (Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes), "Bad Moon Rising" (Creedence Clearwater Revival), "Good Lovin'" (The Rascals), and "Saturday in the Park" (Chicago). When Vada gets upset, she plugs her ears and sings "Do Wah Diddy Diddy", the Manfred Mann version of which is also included on the soundtrack album. In addition, Vada and Thomas J. play "The Name Game" and sing "Witch Doctor" in the film, and Vada has posters of the Broadway Musical Hair, The Carpenters, and Donny Osmond on her bedroom wall.

Cultural references

References

  1. 1 2 "My Girl". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2015-06-15.
  2. ↑
  3. ↑ "My Girl (1991)". Rotten Tomatoes. Flixster. Retrieved 2015-06-15.
  4. ↑ Ebert, Roger (1991-11-27). "My Girl". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved 2015-06-15 – via RogerEbert.com.
  5. ↑ "Review: 'My Girl'". Variety. 1991. Retrieved 2015-06-15.
  6. ↑ The O.C. Season 1, "The Heights" November 5, 2003, The Heights (The O.C.)

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Thursday, April 28, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.