Riding in Cars with Boys

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amznwin.focus();} document.open(); document.write("<a href=javascript:popUp('http://buybox.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect?tag=reelmoviecriticc&link_code=xsc&creative=23424&camp=2025&path=/dt/assoc/tg/aa/xml/assoc/-/B00005JKJS/reelmoviecriticc/ref=ac_bb1_,_amazon')><img src=http://rcm-images.amazon.com/images/G/01/associates/remote-buy-box/buy1.gif border=0 alt='Buy from Amazon.com' ></a>"); document.close(); </script> <noscript> <form method="POST" action="http://buybox.amazon.com/o/dt/assoc/handle-buy-box=B00005JKJS"> <input type="hidden" name="asin.B00005JKJS" value="1"> <input type="hidden" name="tag-value" value="reelmoviecriticc"> <input type="hidden" name="tag_value" value="reelmoviecriticc"> <input type="image" name="submit.add-to-cart" value="Buy from Amazon.com" border="0" alt="Buy from Amazon.com" src="http://rcm-images.amazon.com/images/G/01/associates/add-to-cart.gif"> </form> </noscript>  </B></div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="1" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="579" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 20 WIDTH="575"><div> <B>Riding in Cars With Boys </B>***1/2 (PG-13)</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="575"><div> Reviewed By George O. Singleton</div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="1" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="549" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 24 WIDTH="545"><div> <I>Life</I> is 4 or 5 days that changes everything</div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="1" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="580" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 38 WIDTH="269"><div> Beverly (teenager & adult): Drew Barrymore</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="304"><div> Young Beverly: Mika Boorem</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 ><NOBR><div> Bev's Mom: Lorraine Bracco</div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="304"><div> Jason: Adam Garcia</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="269"><div> Fay: Brittany Murphy</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="304"><div> Ray: Steve Zahn</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 ><NOBR><div> Bev's father: James Woods</div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="304"><div> Shirley: Rosie Perez</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 ><NOBR><div> Amelia (age 20): Maggie Gyllenhaal</div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="304"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="19" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="304" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div> <B>30 Second Bottom Line</B>: Two teenage girls, who are best friends, get pregnant, marry the fathers and regret it for years to come. Being strong willed they find a way to climb out of a deep and depressing hole. We do control our destiny.</div> <bR> <div> <B>Story Line:</B> Beverly (Drew Barrymore) has a crush on a high school sports star and when her heart is broken, she becomes involved with the attentive and goofy Ray (Steve Zahn). One day she wakes up pregnant and subsequently marries Ray because that's what her father James Woods desires. The wedding reception is memorable, with a speech by Woods and another one by Fay (Brittany Murphy). Fay is Bev's best friend and they are like two peas in a pod in more ways than one. Although I've been to innumerable weddings, I've never until now, appreciated the significance of the father dancing with his daughter. It's the second step of walking down the isle.</div> <bR> <div> Beverly wants to be a writer and because of her dysfunctional marriage to her substance-abusing husband, she has multiple missed opportunities to move out of her lower middle class status. By the time Bev is ready to be published, she needs to get a written release from Ray. They have been separated for years and he is living in a house trailer with Shirley (Rosie Perez). Shirley sees $$$ signs for signing a release not to sue, which the publisher is concerned about because of how Ray is depicted in the book. </div> <bR> <div> Between the conception of Bev's son Jason (Adam Garcia) and him becoming a grown man, Bev has lots of ups and downs, mostly the latter. In some ways, the story is not just about Bev, but her parents, the children she and Fay have, and the husbands who cannot stay the course after making babies and saying their marriage vows.</div> <bR> <div> <I>Riding in cars with Boys</I> is very much about <I>what</I> you do when you ride in cars with boys. </div> <bR> <div> <B>Tell Me More About It</B>: There was a lot I liked about this film and a few things that kept me from embracing it as much as I wanted to. Drew Barrymore did a wonderful job of playing the dual roles of a 15-year-old and a changed person 20 years later. What kind of threw her (me) off was the casting of Adam Garcia; they look more like lovers at first rather than mother and son. In fact, they are only a few years apart in real life but in the movie she is supposed to be 20 years older than him. Mika Boorem was outstanding as the young Beverly and she was really hilarious when telling her father that she wanted a bra as a gift when he wanted to give her a bike. This young lady is an actor to watch as she gave us memorable performances in both <I><B>Hearts in Atlantis</B></I> and <I><B>Along Came a Spider.</B></I> </div> <bR> <div> Brittany Murphy should get a best supporting actress if not for this film, because of her body of work this year in <I><B>Sidewalks of New York</B></I> and <I><B>Don't Say a Word.</B></I> She can carry a film. </div> <bR> <div> The real knock out performance in the film is from Steve Zahn. While the movie is not a candidate for best picture, Barrymore, Murphy and Zahn, along with the adapted screenplay, could get multiple nominations. The casting of the children at different ages was outstanding. There is just something about the singing in the car with Beverly and her father, and later Beverly and her grown son that puts this in the category of <I><B>Girl, Interrupted…</B></I>great performances in an OK film.<I><B> </B></I>It's got the feel of <I>Avalon</I> and <I><B>Liberty Heights</B></I><B>,</B> some of my favorite films, in that it catches the sense of family values of the 50's and 60's.  Frankly, I think that if Garcia were not in the film and if a few corny songs were deleted, I might have given the film four stars. </div> <bR> <div> The movie brought me back to my days as a teenager and how much trouble you can get into with regards to sex. Few people have any business getting married to their first love. Beverly and Ray are proof positive of that. We make life-altering decisions when we think we know it all when we know nothing at all. If there is a message that this film delivers, it's that teenagers should not have babies. I'll leave it up to you to decide which of the many ways to make that happen…it's your choice. </div> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="1" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="591" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="587"><div> PG-13 (drug use, sexual situations, language)</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="587"><div> George O. Singleton © 2001</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="587"><div> <A HREF="mailto:Reelmoviec@aol.com" TARGET="_top" TITLE="mailto:Reelmoviec@aol.com"><U><U>George@reelmoviecritic.com</U></U></A></div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div> Mini Filmography </div> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="1" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="579" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 ><NOBR><div> Drew Barrymore: <I><B>Donnie Darko</B></I></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> Mika Boorem: <I><B>Hearts in Atlantis</B></I></div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 ><NOBR><div> Lorraine Bracco: The Soprano's - TV</div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="286"><div> Adam Garcia: <I><B>Coyote Ugly</B></I></div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 ><NOBR><div> Brittany Murphy: <I><B>Sidewalks of New York</B></I></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="286"><div> Steve Zahn: <I><B>Joy Ride</B></I></div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 ><NOBR><div> James Woods: <I><B>Scary Movie 2</B></I></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> Maggie Gyllenhaal: <I><B>Donnie Darko</B></I></div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 ><NOBR><div> Rosie Perez: Do the Right Thing</div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> Penny Marshall: The Preachers Wife</div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>