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Timothy Hutton, Matt Dillon, Noah Emmerich, Annabeth Gish, Michael Rapaport ... see more see more... , Lauren Holly , Mira Sorvino , Uma Thurman , Rosie O'Donnell , Natalie Portman , David Arquette , Anne Bobby , Richard Bright , Max Perlich , Martha Plimpton , Sam Robards , Pruitt Taylor Vince

A high-school reunion in a snowy New England town brings together a diverse band of former classmates. They include NYC pianist Willie Timothy Hutton who has found only small success playing night clu... read more read more...bs and is considering taking a job as a supply salesman. While in town, Willie, who is having relationship problems with his girlfriend, finds himself becoming friends with 13 year-old Marty Natalie Portman. Then there's Tommy Matt Dillon, the aging jock who though seriously involved with Sharon Mira Sorvino, cannot resist the occasional walk down memory lane by sleeping with the former prom-queen Darian Lauren Holly, who is married but believes that her husband won't find out. Paul Michael Rapaport is dumped by his waitress girlfriend Jan Martha Plimpton, in part because of the swimsuit-clad supermodels plastered all over his walls. Paul then becomes attracted to Andera Uma Thurman, who is visiting her cousin Stinky Pruitt Taylor Vince, a local tavern owner. Also among the group -- Gina Rosie O'Donnell, who fancies herself a feminist counselor and who, in one of the film's highlights, delivers a poignant rant against how magazines present unrealistic images of women. ~ Michael Hastings, Rovi

Flixster Users

78% liked it

20,890 ratings

Critics

78% liked it

46 critics

R, 1 hr. 50 min.

Directed by: Ted Demme

Release Date: February 9, 1996

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DVD Release Date: April 3, 2001

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Stats: 1,050 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (1,050)

  • Redlats
    May 3, 2012
    Redlats
    This would qualify for my teen angst movies, except it is 20's angst. Six small-town guys are in town for a school reunion, and all are in various crossroads. Do I get married? Do I continue my affair? What about my job? The only thing wrong with the movie is that in one sho... read morert weekend, they mostly figure out what they want to do with their lives. If only life was so easy.
  • aliceinpunderland
    August 18, 2011
    aliceinpunderland
    I freakin' love this movie. I can't even explain it.
  • jennifxu
    April 28, 2011
    jennifxu
    Natalie Portman is the only person that would make a quasi-romance with a 40-year-old seem somewhat appealing.
  • movieguru12
    January 3, 2011
    movieguru12
    Fairly decent but kind of odd.
  • deano
    July 23, 2009
    deano
    Another rueful comedy about commitment-shy twentysomething men and the women who are too good for them. Scott Rosenberg's script takes a condescending view of its own characters, and his dialogue is often pretentious and literary; some lines are almost literally unspeakable. Fort... read moreunately, the cast is packed with first-rate talent, and the film is much better acted than written.
  • danperry17
    August 19, 2008
    danperry17
    Think of The Deer Hunter. Now remove the war, likeable characters and anything interesting ever happening. What you're left with is Beautiful Girls: a slice-of-life attempt at nostlagic/romantic comedy (or something) wherein, despite everyone being back in town to go to the high ... read moreschool reunion, the characters don't think or talk about it the whole way... then don't even get there in the end (I'll leave the reasons out of it, not to avoid spoiling it, but because they're notably lame).

    This movie is barely watchable. The musical interludes between scenes are annoyingly long, the drama feels contrived (though not as much as the "heartwarming" moments including the gruelling full-cast sing-along to Sweet Caroline), and I didn't care about any of the characters. Rosie O'Donnell running her loud mouth? Imagine... I think she's playing herself. (There's a reason I don't watch The View...) Even Uma Thurman couldn't save this bland script filled out by a particularly lifeless Matt Dillon and Mira Sorvino, the untalented Lauren Holly, the more-one-dimensionally-annoying than ever Michael Rappaport and the very, very, very poor (think homeless) man's John Travolta, Timothy Hutton. (When you're a clone of someone who already sucks, it's bad, Tim.)

    If Natalie Portman's performance can break away from the rest of the cast AT THE AGE OF 14, there's something wrong... Though it might sell itself as an "ensemble cast", it's little more than a support group excercise for B-list actors. They spent all their money on song rights, too many sets and one good actor (Thurman), and as a result, I don't think they could afford any writers.

    While it wasn't without its moments, the most interesting thing about this film is that it wasn't a made-for-TV movie. Simply awful.
  • cancercapricorn2002
    January 9, 2008
    cancercapricorn2002
    How long did it take you to grow up, and how did you know when you got there?

    I find that as I get older, the less I appreciate films "aimed" at younger audiences. I'm 35 ( as of this writing) and for me, most "teen" comedies are insufferable, and those that are about twenty-s... read moreomethings are gradually sliding into that category as well. I begin to wonder: Is it me? Do I just not get it? Is it just my age?

    Then, I pull out my DVD of Beautiful Girls, which reminds me that when movies are good, it doesn't matter how old you -- or the characters -- are.

    We come to know the characters, we come to care about what is happening, and we even forgive them some of their shortcomings. They seem like people we might know. It's not easy to do that in a movie. Director Ted Demme sets just the right pace, and lets the story unfold as a sequence of humanly unpredictable events.

    The dialog is natural and easy. There are several scenes of enjoyable, realistic dialog that don't particularly forward the plot in any direction -- these scenes (like Timothy Hutton's scene with Uma Thurmann in the Ice Fishing shack) lend depth to the characters by letting them say what a person might actually say. And thus the story seems natural and unforced.

    The film takes place over the course of, oh, I'd say about 2-3 weeks. How much growing up have you done over the last 2 -3 weeks?
    This is a great movie and well worth checking out.
  • mjgildea
    November 9, 2006
    mjgildea
    Like watching The Deer Hunter minus the bonecrushing depression and Russian Roulette. I feel filthy every time I watch this because Natalie Portman's character is the one I'm most attracted to.
  • dreamfaeries
    August 25, 2006
    dreamfaeries
    It was okay.
  • fb1144932598
    November 7, 2008
    fb1144932598
    Surprisingly good romantic comedy. Willie (Timothy Hutton), who plays in piano bars in NYC, returns home for a high school reunion and reconnects with his running buddies from high school who have remained in the town they grew up in. Each of them is dealing with relationship iss... read moreues and it is the intersection of these various issues that provides the dramatic framework for the film. Great cast, terrific script and an oddly moving story that touches on our expectations and how life doesn't always turn out the way we pictured it. Michael Rapaport stood out as Paul, a real first class jerk who had perfected the art of being "teflon" before teflon was cool. In the end, he proves to be human after all. And a very young Natalie Portman turned in a carefully nuanced performance as the little girl next door, who catches the attention of Willie and causes him to inspect the consequences of his choices so far and to contemplate where his life is going. This viewer particularly enjoyed their playful, yet circumspect developing relationship. One feels they may become life-long friends. The film also looks at loyalty, fidelity, and the secrets we think we have hidden, but which are plain for all to see. One felt a part of this small town and this group of friends from the outest and for that I credit the acting. Laugh out loud funny at times. Don't miss Rosie's monologue about the ideal women on the pages of men's magazines. It is priceless! All in all the film was a wonderful surprise that this viewer enjoyed immensely.

View All Beautiful Girls Reviews

Critic Reviews

Richard Schickel
November 27, 2009
Richard Schickel, TIME Magazine

Beautiful Girls is always in touch with reality but never drowned in it. Full Review

Todd McCarthy
March 26, 2009
Todd McCarthy, Variety

This startlingly uneventful compendium of thick-headed boy-talk and female tolerance squanders a fine cast on incredibly ordinary characters and situations. Full Review

Edward Guthmann
June 18, 2002
Edward Guthmann, San Francisco Chronicle

It's the women who break the monotony of this dudes-in-flux saga... Full Review

Peter Travers
May 12, 2001
Peter Travers, Rolling Stone

In a relationship that skirts bad taste, Hutton and Portman make tender movie magic, giving this big-screen spin on Friends its only moments of true romantic yearning.

Jack Mathews
February 14, 2001
Jack Mathews, Los Angeles Times

The dialogue isn't the only problem with Beautiful Girls. The characters are bad, too. Full Review

Roger Ebert
January 1, 2000
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

What's nicest about the film is the way it treasures the good feelings people can have for one another. Full Review

Rita Kempley
January 1, 2000
Rita Kempley, Washington Post

Hutton, understated but not bland for a change, gives his best performance in years. Full Review

Janet Maslin
January 1, 2000
Janet Maslin, New York Times

Portman, a budding knockout, is scene-stealingly good even in an overly showy role. Full Review

Desson Thomson
January 1, 2000
Desson Thomson, Washington Post

The movie is wry, touching and fun to sit through... Full Review

Jeff Millar
January 1, 2000
Jeff Millar, Houston Chronicle

Portman was memorable as the little girl in The Professional, but her work here throws off an eeriness in its revelation of such huge talent in one so young.

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    • Steve Rossmore: [to Tommy] Let me get this straight. I can't buy you a drink, but you can put your d**k into my wife?
    • Willie Conway: You know in five years you won't even remember me.
    • Michael (Mo) Morris: Mo: You beat up my friend, you beat up me! You fuck with my friend, you fuck with me! You fuck with me, you fuck with you! (To the wonderfully puzzled looks of Willie and Bobby.)
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Beautiful Girls Trivia

  • What movie starred Matt Dillon, Rosie O'Donnell, Natalie Portman, and Uma Thurman?  Answer »
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  • What Christina Aguilera song does Damien sing at the Winter talent competition in Mean girls?  Answer »
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