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Editorial Review:
Amazon.com:
This town drama from Ted Demme centers on former classmates coming together for their 10-year reunion. Scott Rosenberg's (Things to Do in Denver When You're Dead) script thoughtfully passes over the usual grumblings of young adults who can't believe they still live in the same snowbound town. They accept--even welcome--their blue-collar jobs, whether plowing snow or cutting hair. Willie (Timothy Hutton), the lone wanderer, returns to his listless house in a state of flux, the piano-bar circuit wearing thin as is his relationship with Tracy, a well-off attorney (Annabeth Gish). He isn't the only one with problems. Tommy (Matt Dillon) occasionally sleeps with his now-married high school sweetheart Darian (Lauren Holly) while the earnest Sharon (Mira Sorvino) is left to wait. Paul (another thickheaded role for Michael Rapaport) refuses to commit to Jan (Martha Plimpton) until it's too late. Paul is enamored with the idea of the supermodel (the title's 'beautiful girls') that, he believes, can make life perfect. It's a very satisfying comedy, with some forced poignancy (Willie's description of Tracy as a 'seven and a half' comes off as a death sentence). Rosie O'Donnell's dissertation on why Playboy and Penthouse have ruined males' expectations is much like Meg Ryan's orgasm scene in When Harry Met Sally...: it's hilarious, even memorable, never wholly believable.
The two wild cards thrown into Beautiful Girls give the film its kick. Uma Thurman enters as the local barkeep's (Pruitt Taylor Vince) radiant cousin. From the big city, she can flirt with the awestruck guys and still keep her head. Willie's real emotional tug is from Marty, the precocious 13-year-old neighbor. If you didn't see Natalie Portman's sophisticated work in the The Professional, her performance here will come as a revelation. You deeply believe that Willie and Marty are connected despite their age difference. Their courtship will never come to be, but the way the two talk (and talk some more) about their lives is the most insightful part of Rosenberg's script. Everyone's so comfortable in his or her roles that you may truly feel sad when the film ends. --Doug Thomas
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - A tragedy of Elizabethan proportions
Beautiful Girls is an ensemble comedy, with star power to burn. Hutton and Sorvino are both Oscar winners, while Dillon Thurman, and Portman have Oscar nominations. The title of this movie, Beautiful Girls, should clue you in to what it's about. It is a celebration of the beauty of women, but at the same time, it is also a cautionary tale about how men put Beauty on a pedestal that sometimes interferes with them making a commitment to a mature adult relationship with a real woman. In spite of the ... Read More
Rating:  - Love my movie
I'v been looking for this hard to find movie for awhile. I love it. Delivery was fast. Perfect transaction
Rating: - Willie C! Stay cool! Stay cool forever
One of the best and a collectible & worth watching the movie for just this part
"Supermodels are beautiful girls, Will. A beautiful girl can make you dizzy, like you've been drinking Jack and Coke all morning. Se can make you feel high with the single greatest commodity known to man--promise. Promise of a better day. Promise of a greater hope. Promise of a new tomorrow. This particular aura can be found in the gaze of a beautiful girl. In her smile, in her soul, how she makes every rotten ... Read More
Rating: - I beg to differ (a little)
This is a fine film. The characters are older young adults, barely young enough to be able to characterize this as a "rite-of-passage" film. I disagree with those who suggest that the characters ultimately give up on the dreams of their youth and "settle" for an inevitable and dull adulthood. From my 58 year old vantage point, they are leaving their shallow and immature adolescence for the deeper and more meaningful commitments to mature, real (not mythologized) partners who love them for who they ... Read More
Rating: - Willie and Marty
This movie is about the growing relationship between a surprised, smitten Willie and beautiful girl Marty. It's all we care about. Everything else is window dressing to these two.
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