Cons: A little slow in spots, no clear resolutions but that's life.
The Bottom Line: See this film if you've ever had any relationship that didn't quite work out. You'll find you're not alone, get some insight, and have a few laughs along the way.
"I'll never grow up, not me!". So sings Peter Pan, the boy from Never-Never Land. But in the real world, plenty of boys never grow up. Or at least they take a long time to do it.
Timothy Hutton plays Willie Conway, the only one of his High School clique that made it out of their small home town. He's come back for a reunion with his cronies and he soon discovers that they are all in various stages of crisis with their female companions. This is appropriate because Willie himself has a relationship dilemma. He is engaged to a nice pretty girl, Tracy (Annabeth Gish), but is having serious doubts about commitment (where have we heard that one before?). Actually, the precocious 13 year old girl next door sums it up quite nicely. She says to Willie, after only knowing him a few minutes, "If I'm not mistaken, you've come back here to the house of loneliness and tears, to Daddy Downer and Brother Bummer, to come to some sort of decision about life, a life decision if you will."
That young girl is Marty, played by Natalie Portman. Marty is easily the most beautiful of the beautiful girls in this movie. That includes Andera (Uma Thurman), Sharon (Mira Sorvino), Tracy (Annabeth Gish) and Darian (Lauren Holly)! Now I know there will be plenty who disagree with me but please bear with me. I said Marty not Natalie. Marty, as played by Natalie, is not just a pretty face. They are all pretty faces, but she has a beautiful character and a personality that's easy to like. She describes herself as an 'old soul', has all the best lines and steals every scene she is in hands down. One good example of her wit is when Willie is looking down from a second floor window. Marty looks up and says "Romeo and Juliette, the dyslexic version"!
Marty is so attractive that it causes problems for Willie. She develops a crush on him even though he is considerably older and in his emotional crisis he begins to have feelings for her too. He's rational enough to know it's stupid (and illegal) and he doesn't overstep his bounds, but it adds confusion to an already complicated time for him.
The other members of Willies old group have their own problems, Tommy (Matt Dillon) keeps cheating on his girlfriend, Sharon, by seeing his married ex-girlfriend, Darian. Paul (Michael Rapaport) keeps proposing to Jan (Martha Plimpton) but gets turned down repeatedly because he doesn't "understand romance". And Kev (Max Perlich) and Stinky (Pruitt Taylor Vince) seem destined to be eternal bachelors. But as confused and messed up as these guys are, the girls aren't much better off.
The movie shows the guys immaturity, how each deals with it or doesn't deal with it and how some grow out of it a little. The guys are universally portrayed as nearly Neanderthal in their actions and thoughts who are only interested in the 'Beautiful Girl' instead of in relationships or commitments. They follow their groins more than their heads in most decisions. To emphasize that point, we are introduced to Andrea (Uma Thurman) as a single and beautiful Model who gets most of the guys going with only the teeniest tiniest flirtations.
The one exception is Willie who is searching for answers and who handles young Marty's crush with real style. Late in the film, she expresses her feelings, and explains that she knows there is a problem "Alas poor Romeo, we can't do diddly". Then she suggests he wait 5 years for her to be old enough. Willie lets her down easy by saying "I can't be Pooh to your Christopher Robin", going on to explain that Christopher outgrew Pooh as he got older and changed. She responds "That's the saddest thing I ever heard" and Willie goes on to say that she most likely would also change and not be interested in him 5 years later. She is disappointed, but satisfied with the answer and we feel good for Willie for having done, not just the right thing, but done it with caring and compassion.
The boys all have problems, but the girls aren't the winners here. They are portrayed as stronger willed and more rational than the guys, but willing to let their lives be thrown into chaos in the name of Love. These aren't exactly your 90's independent 'I don't need a man' women. More like your 60's 'I have my own mind, I am my own person, but I still need a man to be complete' women.
Rosie O'Donnell get in a few good lines. With her typical sardonic wit she blasts the guys for their shallow values, pointing out a mens magazine centerfold and claiming "They're not real! No woman is built like that!". Martha Plimpton, David Arquette) and Noah Emmerich also turn in fine performances in this star studded ensemble about love in all it's most agonizing forms. But I've spent the most time in this review talking about Willie and Marty. And for a good reason.
While the rest of the film is good, if they had thrown away all of it except the interactions of Willie and Marty, it would still be a good film. Natalie Portman's pre-Star Wars role alone is worth paying the price to buy or rent this film. She does 10 times more real acting here that she gets a chance to do in that Sci-Fi epic and she does it well. And Hutton's role, while a little understated, is as good as anything he's done since 'Ordinary People'.
I'll leave this review with one of my favorite lines, near the end of the film Paul (Rapaport) finally meets Marty who Willie has been going on about. The following exchange says volumes about both characters:
Paul: So you're the little neighborhood Lolita.
Marty (with a BIG smile): So you're the alcoholic high school buddy sh*t for brains.
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