''Beautiful Girls'' is a 1996 American romantic

comedy-drama film Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical ...

directed by Ted Demme and written by Scott Rosenberg. Its story follows New York jazz pianist Willie Conway, as he heads back to his hometown of Knight's Ridge, Massachusetts for his high school reunion, where he finds his friends evaluating their lives and relationships. It stars

Matt Dillon Matthew Raymond Dillon (born February 18, 1964) is an American actor. He has received various accolades, including an Oscar and Grammy nomination. Dillon made his feature film debut in '' Over the Edge'' (1979) and established himself as a te ...

Noah Emmerich Noah Nicholas Emmerich (born February 27, 1965) is an American actor and director who is best known for his roles in films such as '' Beautiful Girls'' (1996), '' The Truman Show'' (1998), ''Frequency'' (2000), ''Miracle'' (2004), '' Little Child ...

Lauren Holly Lauren Holly (born October 28, 1963) is an American actress. She has played the roles of Deputy Sheriff Maxine Stewart in the television series ''Picket Fences'', NCIS Director Jenny Shepard in the series '' NCIS'', Dr. Betty Rogers on '' Motiv ...

Timothy Hutton Timothy Tarquin Hutton (born August 16, 1960) is an American actor and film director. He is the youngest recipient of the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, which he won at age 20 for his performance as Conrad Jarrett in ''Ordinary People ...

Rosie O'Donnell Roseann O'Donnell (born March 21, 1962) is an American comedian, television producer, actress, author, and television personality. She began her comedy career as a teenager and received her breakthrough on the television series '' Star Search'' ...

Martha Plimpton Martha Plimpton (born November 16, 1970) is an American actress. Her feature-film debut was in ''Rollover'' (1981); she subsequently rose to prominence in the Richard Donner film '' The Goonies'' (1985). She has also appeared in '' The Mosquito ...

Natalie Portman Natalie Portman (born Natalie Hershlag, he, נטע-לי הרשלג, ) is an Israeli-born American actress. She has had a prolific film career since her teenage years and has starred in various blockbusters and independent films, receiving mu ...

Michael Rapaport Michael David Rapaport (born March 20, 1970) is an American actor and comedian. Beginning his career in the early 1990s, he has made over 100 appearances in film and television. His film roles include ''True Romance'' (1993), '' Higher Learning ...

Mira Sorvino Mira Katherine Sorvino (; born September 28, 1967) is an American actress. She won the Academy Award and Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in Woody Allen's '' Mighty Aphrodite'' (1995). She also starred in the films ...

and

Uma Thurman Uma Karuna Thurman (born April 29, 1970) is an American actress and former model. She has performed in a variety of films, from romantic comedies and dramas to science fiction and action films. Following her appearances on the December 1985 an ...

. The film was produced by Cary Woods and was released on February 9, 1996, by

Miramax Miramax, LLC, also known as Miramax Films, is an American film and television production and distribution company founded on December 19, 1979, by brothers Harvey and Bob Weinstein, and based in Los Angeles, California. It was initially a lea ...

. It grossed $2.8 million during its opening weekend and $10.6 million worldwide. It received positive reviews.

Plot

New York jazz pianist Willie returns to his hometown of Knight's Ridge, Massachusetts for his ten-year high school reunion, staying with his widower father and younger brother. Willie reunites with three old friends: Mo is a successful family man, while Paul and Tommy, who own a

snowplow A snowplow (also snow plow, snowplough or snow plough) is a device intended for mounting on a vehicle, used for removing snow and ice from outdoor surfaces, typically those serving transportation purposes. Although this term is often used to r ...

ing business, are each having relationship issues. Paul was recently dumped by his longtime girlfriend Jan because he refused her ultimatum of marriage. Believing that she is now seeing Victor the meat cutter, he vindictively blocks her driveway with snow every night. Tommy is cheating on his girlfriend Sharon with his married high school sweetheart Darian. Willie meets 13 year-old neighbor girl Marty, and they strike up a witty rapport. She presses him about his relationship: he has been with his girlfriend Tracy for a year, but is unsure if he wants to marry her. He is considering taking a steady job as a salesman, but Mo urges him not to quit his music. Paul desperately proposes to Jan, but she turns him down. Sharon argues with Tommy about his infidelity, and seeks advice from her girlfriends. The outspoken Gina advises her to break up with Tommy, but Sharon tries to salvage the relationship by planning him a surprise birthday party. When the attractive Andera comes to town from Chicago, the guys compete for her attention. The next day, Gina lectures Willie and Tommy about men's unrealistic expectations of women set by

supermodel A supermodel, also spelled super-model or super model, is a highly paid fashion model who usually has a worldwide reputation and often a background in ''haute couture'' and commercial modeling. The term ''supermodel'' became prominent in the po ...

s and pornography. Willie feels jealous when he sees that Marty has a boyfriend. Darian shows up at Tommy's surprise party drunk and openly tries to seduce him, causing Sharon to leave, heartbroken. Tommy drives Darian home but refuses her advances, and unsuccessfully tries to patch things up with Sharon. Willie tells Mo about his feelings for Marty, but is reminded how young she is and says that he just doesn't want to grow up. Willie again encounters Marty, who says that she has broken up with her boyfriend because she is interested in him, asking him to wait five years until she is 18 and they can be together. Willie declines, saying that she will outgrow her feelings for him as she matures. Paul takes Andera out, trying to make Jan jealous. Andera plays along, but when Paul tries to kiss her she smacks him and leaves. Willie chastises Paul about his obsession with supermodels; he responds that beautiful girls represent hope and promise. Tommy breaks things off with Darian, but she states her intent to win him back at the reunion. Andera approaches Willie, turning down his flirtations but accompanying him to Paul's

ice shanty An ice shanty (also called an ice shack, ice house, fishing shanty, fish house, fish coop, bobhouse, ice hut, or darkhouse) is a portable shed placed on a frozen lake to provide shelter during ice fishing. They can be as small and cheap as a pla ...

, where they discuss their respective relationships. He misses the emotional rush of new love, but she feels truly happy with her boyfriend and returns to Chicago the next day. Tracy arrives from New York, and Willie's feelings for her are rekindled. Marty is downhearted by this, but Willie assures her that she will grow up to do amazing things. At the reunion, Darian is confronted by a former classmate who she bullied; he tells her that she was beautiful, but "mean as a snake". Tommy skips the reunion to avoid Darian, but encounters her husband Steve and his friends at a bar. Steve reveals he knows about the affair; a fight ensues, and Tommy is badly beaten. Learning of this, the guys rush to Steve's house to confront him. Steve calls his friends, but Willie pushes their car into a snowbank using Paul's snowplow. Mo is about to beat Steve up, but stops when Steve's daughter comes to the door. Darian arrives home in the aftermath of the confrontation. Tommy ends up in the hospital with a concussion and two broken ribs. Sharon stays with him overnight, and they make up. Paul, overcome with emotion, clears Jan's driveway of snow. Willie says his goodbyes the next day, having decided to head back to New York with Tracy and not take the sales job. Paul announces that Jan and Victor are engaged. Willie introduces Tracy to Marty, and kisses Marty on the cheek before departing.

Cast

as Tommy "Birdman" Rowland, a former high school football star turned snowplower *

as Michael "Mo" Morris, a textile plant manager and family man *

Annabeth Gish Anne Elizabeth "Annabeth" Gish (born March 13, 1971) is an American actress. She has played roles in films ''Shag'', ''Hiding Out'', ''Mystic Pizza'', ''SLC Punk!'', '' The Last Supper'' and '' Double Jeopardy''. On television, she played Specia ...

as Tracy Stover, an attorney and Willie Conway's girlfriend *

as Darian Smalls, Tommy's high school girlfriend, now married with a daughter and having an affair with Tommy *

as Willie Conway, a New York City pianist visiting his hometown *

as Gina Barrisano, the outspoken friend of several of the characters *

Max Perlich Max Perlich (born March 26, 1968) is an American film and television actor. In 1990, Perlich won the Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Male for his performance in the hit indie film '' Drugstore Cowboy'' and was nominated for the same ...

as Kev, a snowplower employed by Tommy and Paul *

as Jan, Paul Kirkwood's ex-girlfriend *

as Marty, the Conways' 13 year-old neighbor, a witty, self-described "old soul" who connects with Willie *

as Paul Kirkwood, a snowplower *

as Sharon Cassidy, Tommy's girlfriend *

as Andera, Stanley Womack's attractive cousin from Chicago *

Pruitt Taylor Vince Pruitt Taylor Vince (born July 5, 1960) is an American character actor. He became best known for his roles in the films '' Shy People'' (1987) and ''Mississippi Burning'' (1988). He also appeared in ''Jacob's Ladder'' (1990), '' Nobody's Fool'' ...

as Stanley "Stinky" Womack, proprietor of a local bar *

Anne Bobby Anne Marie Bobby (born December 12, 1967, in Paterson, New Jersey) is an American actress, voice artist, playwright and author, best known for her role as Lori Winston, the heroine in Clive Barker's ''Nightbreed'' and Brigid Tenenbaum in the ' ...

as Sarah Morris, Mo's wife * Richard Bright as Dick Conway, Willie's father *

Sam Robards Samuel Prideaux Robards (born December 16, 1961) is an American actor, best known for his role as Henry Swinton in the film ''A.I. Artificial Intelligence''. Early life and education Robards was born in New York City, the son of actor Jason Roba ...

as Steve Rossmore, Darian's husband *

David Arquette David Arquette (born September 8, 1971) is an American actor and former professional wrestler. He is best known for his role as Dewey Riley in the slasher film franchise ''Scream'', for which he won a Teen Choice Award and two Blockbuster En ...

as Bobby Conway, Willie's younger brother *

Adam LeFevre Adam LeFevre (born August 11, 1950) is an American character actor, poet, and playwright who works in cinema, television, theater and commercials. Biography LeFevre was born in Albany, New York, the son of Helen (née Rhodes), a hospital patient ...

as Victor the meat cutter, who is dating Jan *

John Carroll Lynch John Carroll Lynch (born August 1, 1963) is an American character actor and film director. He first gained notice for his role as Norm Gunderson in '' Fargo'' (1996). He is also known for his television work on the ABC sitcom '' The Drew Carey ...

as Frank Womack, a bartender *

Tom Gibis Thomas Wayne Gibis (born August 22, 1964) is an American film, television, voice actor, and Emmy-nominated writer/producer. Gibis is best known as the voice of Shikamaru Nara from ''Naruto,'' Takumi Nomiya from ''Honey and Clover'', and Mushra f ...

as "Peter the Eater", a former classmate of Darian's whom she bullied about his weight *

John Scurti John Martin Scurti is an American actor. Scurti attended Fordham University, where he received a bachelor's degree in Fine Arts. One of his early major film roles was ''The Ref'' in 1994, in which he appeared with Denis Leary. He maintained a fr ...

as a

Greyhound Lines Greyhound Lines, Inc. (commonly known as simply Greyhound) operates the largest intercity bus service in North America, including Greyhound Mexico. It also operates charter bus services, Amtrak Thruway services, commuter bus services, and ...

ticket agent * Greg Dulli, lead singer of

the Afghan Whigs The Afghan Whigs are an American rock band from Cincinnati, Ohio. They were active from 1986 to 2001 and have since reformed as a band. The group – with core members Greg Dulli (vocals, rhythm guitar), Rick McCollum (lead guitar), and John Cu ...

, as himself in a scene with the band performing * Harold "Happy" Chichester, lead singer of Howlin' Maggie, as himself in a scene with the band performing Additional minor roles were played by Kristen Rossmore as Steve and Darian's daughter Kristen; Camille D'Ambrose as Sharon's mother; Martin Ruben as Jan's restaurant boss Chip; Allison Levine as a waitress; Earl R. Burt as a bartender; Trent Nicholas Thompson and Nicole Ranallo as Mo and Sarah's children Michael and Cheryl; Joyce Lacey and Matthew Nathen Castens as classmates at the reunion; Ollie Osterberg, Sterling Robson, and Edward Kaspszak as Steve's friends who beat up Tommy; Herbert Ade as a bar owner; Ben Gooding as a customer; and Frank Anello as Irv. "Lucky the Saint Bernard" is credited as Paul's dog "Elle Macpherson", named after the supermodel.

Production

Screenwriter Scott Rosenberg was living in

Needham, Massachusetts Needham ( ) is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts. A suburb of Boston, its population was 32,091 at the 2020 U.S. Census. It is home of Olin College. History Early settlement Needham was first settled in 1680 with the purchase of a ...

, waiting to see if

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

would use his script for ''

Con Air ''Con Air'' is a 1997 American action thriller film directed by Simon West and starring Nicolas Cage, John Cusack and John Malkovich. Written by Scott Rosenberg and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, the film centers on a prison break aboard a ...

''. He said in an interview, "It was the worst winter ever in this small hometown. Snow plows were coming by, and I was just tired of writing these movies with people getting shot and killed. So I said, 'There is more action going on in my hometown with my friends dealing with the fact that they cannot deal with turning 30 or with commitment'—all that became ''Beautiful Girls''." Originally,

James L. Brooks James Lawrence Brooks (born May 9, 1940) is an American director, producer, screenwriter and co-founder of Gracie Films. His television and film work includes ''The Mary Tyler Moore Show'', ''Taxi'', ''The Simpsons'', '' Broadcast News'', ''As G ...

was interested in directing the film, according to actress

Leslie Mann Leslie Jean Mann (born March 26, 1972) is an American actress. She has appeared in numerous films, including ''The Cable Guy'' (1996), ''George of the Jungle'' (1997), '' Big Daddy'' (1999), '' Knocked Up'' (2007), '' 17 Again'' (2009), '' Funn ...

, who auditioned for a role but was not cast. Ted Demme had the entire cast come to

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origin ...

and live together for two to three weeks so that they could bond. Filming took place in the Twin Cities Metro Area communities of

Edina EDINA is a centre for digital expertise, based at the University of Edinburgh as a division of the Information Services Group. Services EDINA front-end services (those accessed directly by the user) are available free at the point of use fo ...

, Marine-on-St. Croix and Stillwater, with Demme wanting to make sure that the setting was a character unto itself. He "wanted to make it look like it's Anytown USA, primarily East Coast. And I also wanted it to feel like a real working class town". To this end, Demme drew inspiration from

Michael Cimino Michael Antonio Cimino ( ; February 3, 1939 – July 2, 2016) was an American filmmaker. One of the " New Hollywood" directors, Cimino achieved fame with ''The Deer Hunter'' (1978), which won five Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Bes ...

's ''

The Deer Hunter ''The Deer Hunter'' is a 1978 war drama film co-written and directed by Michael Cimino about a trio of Slavic-American steelworkers whose lives were upended after fighting in the Vietnam War. The three soldiers are played by Robert De Niro ...

'' (1978). "The first third of the film is really an amazing buddy movie with those five actors. You could tell they were best friends, but they all had stuff amongst them that was personal to each one of them". Principal filming took place between February 28 - May 7, 1995.

''October Road''

Scott Rosenberg co-produced and co-wrote for the 2007-2008 TV series '' October Road''. The show is loosely based on what happened after ''Beautiful Girls'' came out and how his friends reacted to a movie about their lives. Both ''Beautiful Girls'' and ''October Road'' take place in the fictional

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...

town of Knight's Ridge, and have similar characters, jobs, plot lines.

Soundtrack

Additional tracks (not included on soundtrack)

Reception

Box office

The film was released on February 9, 1996 in 752 theaters, grossing $2.7 million on its opening weekend. It went on to make $10.5 million in North America.

Critical response

The film received fairly positive reviews and currently has a 77% rating on

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wan ...

, based on 48 reviews.

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...

of the ''

Chicago Sun-Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has the second largest circulation among Chicago newspapers, after the '' Chicago ...

'' wrote: "What's nicest about the film is the way it treasures the good feelings people can have for one another." In ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large n ...

'', Desson Howe praised Natalie Portman's performance: "As a self-described 'old soul' who connects spiritually with Hutton (they're both existential searchers), she's the movie's most poignant and witty presence." However, Jack Mathews, in the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the ...

'', wrote that the film was "about as much fun as a neighborhood bar on a Tuesday night. Its crisis: not much happening." In her ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' review

Janet Maslin Janet R. Maslin (born August 12, 1949) is an American journalist, best known as a film and literary critic for ''The New York Times''. She served as a ''Times'' film critic from 1977 to 1999 and as a book critic from 2000 to 2015. In 2000 Maslin ...

wrote that

got the film's "archest dialogue", and called her "a budding knockout, and scene-stealingly good even in an overly showy role."

References

External links

* * * *
Screenwriter Scott Rosenberg interview
at Kid in the Front Row Film Blog {{DEFAULTSORT:Beautiful Girls (Film) 1996 films 1999 compilation albums 1990s romantic comedy-drama films American romantic comedy-drama films Elektra Records compilation albums Elektra Records soundtracks Films directed by Ted Demme Films set in Massachusetts Films shot in Minnesota Films with screenplays by Scott Rosenberg Miramax films 1996 comedy films 1996 drama films Class reunions in popular culture 1990s English-language films 1990s American films