My Girl

God knows, good family entertainment is hard to come by. In my considered opinion, My Girl is an outstanding exception from this rule. I have not read the book the film is based on. I would not be surprised, if it turned out to be much more superior to the film version; I, for one, find it unfortunately too often a case. However, judged on its own merits, the movie scores as high a rating as 8 in my book--in terms of achieving its purpose: pleasing the whole spectrum of possible viewers. The story-line is nicely balanced, with just the right mixture of the human situation drama, realism, insight into child psychology and optimism. One might argue that in the film finale Veda is shown as having too quickly recovered from her supposedly terrible and tragic loss, but children are indeed this way, and the depth of her earlier suffering is sure evidence that this chapter of her life will be forever locked into her conscience. It is exactly the balance I want my daughter exposed to. The dialog is fine: mature enough to show Veda's precociousness without overdoing it and to give the parents some intellectual pleasure and simple enough, on the other hand, for children to follow without losing themselves in its complexities. I regard myself as a poor judge of acting, but having said that, I find the acting in My Girl totally satisfying. If I may venture a guess, I'd say that, e.g., Jack Nickelson at his best would be to a large extent lost on the younger audience and would not be missed by adults who expected just to have great time with their kids together. That my wife and I have had.

'My Girl' is a rare treat in that it is a moving family drama that never descends into being overly-sentimental or cloying in the messages it's trying to deliver. It is a very bittersweet look at the joys and tears a girl faces when she stands on the cusp between childhood and adolescence.

Set over the summer of 1972, the film centres on Vada Sultenfuss, a motherless eleven-year-old tom-boy who has enough problems coping with impending adulthood on top of having to contend with her oblivious mortician father Harry and her senile grandmother Gramoo. And if things were not bad enough, Harry hires an assistant in the form of the funky Shelly leaving Vada feeling her place in her father's life is threatens by this new woman. Thankfully she is not alone as seeing her through her troubles is her loyal best friend Thomas J.

While Dan Anckroyd and Jamie Lee Curtis, as Harry and Shelley respectively, were great in their roles as two adults who both care for Vada and who have a growing attraction to each other, it was the child actors who stole the show. Anna Chlumsky, in this her film debut, delivered a first class performance as Vada, depicting the all the little nuances of the character from the confusion a tom-boy feels as she tentatively embraces her girly side in deference to her first crush to the desolation of bereavement to the loneliness she feels due to her father's thoughtless neglect. She was excellent in showing Vada's childish innocence and rare maturity that comes when a child has dealt with the harsh side to life.

Macaulay Culkin was another surprise as he portrayed the guileless Thomas J. It was a pleasant change to see him in a role other than the obnoxious kid he usually depicted in previous films such as 'Home Alone' and 'Uncle Buck', and he rose to the occasion with flare, perfectly displaying the bumbling but sensitive and caring nature of his character. His performance here proves that, had he chosen to, he could have been one of the rare few who succeed in the seamless transition from being a child actor to a teen/young adult actor.

'My Girl' is so involving for a wide age group because it not only conjures up nostalgic memories of summers gone by in adults who occasionally long for the carefree bliss of childhood but it engages younger viewers into considering the lessons of loyalty, love, loss and growing up. It definitely strikes a cord in those who are eleven years old themselves (I was eleven when I first saw this film and felt as if I could identify with Vada on many things). Most girls of eleven will probably empathise with Vada's views that nothing happens to boys! Highly recommended.

I remember watching this movie with my Grandmother when I was around three or four years old. I could only remember two parts of it; when Vada does the sassy type walk across the porch, and when Thomas J. goes to find the mood ring, and nothing else. Not even the name. I watched it again for the first time in eleven years (I am now 14). This movie is a perfect mixture of comedy, romance and drama, for me at least. I think this movie teaches great values and lessons, that everyone should learn. Loyalty, friendship and love, are only a few things about this movie that I love. Everyone should at least give it a chance and see for themselves. I also recommend 'My Girl 2'.

I just finally watched My Girl last night, never saw it before, never really had the opportunity too, but my friend mentioned it while we were renting over at Hollywood Video and she said it was a really cute movie that could bring a few tears to my eyes, I wasn't in the mood for sad, but I have heard quite a bit about this film. I have to say that despite the fact that I wasn't blown away by the movie, it was a nice and honest film that you don't see in today's films, not to many are genuine like this.

Vada is a little girl who basically surrounded by death in some aspects, her mother passed away and her father works in a funeral home. When a make up artist, Shelly, comes to work for her dad, Harry, Vada is a little threatened that her dad might be taken away from her. But she has another love, an English teacher who's class she starts taking just to impress him, but another little boy, Tommy, has a little crush on Vada, but as soon as she realizes what she has lost, maybe she should take a closer look at things.

My Girl is a sweet and charming film that could make anyone feel very good and just makes you want to hug someone afterwards, as cheesy as it may sound. Even though I didn't cry, it does have some sad little moments, Macaulay shined in this movie, you could just tell this kid was star bound, wish someone would give him a break, because he is slowly climbing to top again. But he and Jamie were the stars of the film and really made it worth a watch.

6/10

"My Girl" is one of those small treasures that, on outward appearance, seems like something it is not. Any general synopsis of the film would lead most people (including myself) to excuse the film as a dine-a-dozen coming-of-age drama with first kisses, raging hormones, and middle school bullies.

The truth is, "My Girl" has all of those elements (except for the latter; the film takes place during summertime). It isn't the most original story, and it doesn't try to be a masterpiece. Its goal is to entertain the younger viewer and to remind the older viewer of the nostalgic days of innocence and the heartbreaking first encounters with the loss of it.

Summer, 1972. Vada Sultenfuss (Anna Chlumsky) is a plucky 11-year-old who spends her summer days with her best pal, Thomas J. (Macaulay Culkin, who is far better here than anything else he's ever done). She dotes on her father, Harry (Dan Aykroid), who works as an in-house mortician. Subsequently, the Sultenfuss house (a grand old Victorian, naturally) is filled with the stench of death, made only worse by Vada's grandmother (Ann Nelson) whose only way of communicating is through her sporadic breaks into popular songs from the 1940s. It's only natural that Vada is also a hypochondriac who often believes she is dying.

This is, of course, the summer that Vada grows up. Signs of change first begin when a new woman shows up. Her name is Shelly De Voto (Jamie Lee Curtis), and she works as a makeup artist for the dead bodies. At first she is discouraged by the fact that her clientele are deceased, but when sees that Harry and Vada need an outlet, she gladly takes the job (`They're dead. All they have are their looks,' she cheerfully gleams.) Vada likes Shelly, but when she sees that Harry has developed a crush on her, she feels threatened. She does not want Shelley to take the place of her late mother, who died two days after Vada was born. Her only outlet is Thomas J., with whom she rides her bike to the lake and discusses all of the Big Issues (the meaning of life, love, death, which ‘70s TV family they'd live with.)

The other momentous event of the summer is Vada developing her first crush. It isn't Thomas J. (who idolizes her), but her teacher, Mr. Bixler (Griffin Dunne). He teaches a summer writing class at the local college, and Vada enrolls. Besides being the youngest in the class, she is also the only one who hasn't been taken over by 1970s psychedelia (one day, the class takes part in a group meditation.)

The strength of "My Girl" isn't its story, but its little nuances of innocent bliss. Vada willingly shows a group of glowing boys a dead body. As the ride their bikes, Vada and Thomas J. sing `The Name Game'. When writing poems `from the soul', Vada writes an ode to ice cream. The relationship between Harry and Shelly is sweet, too. Before their first date, Harry's womanizing brother points out that since Harry's last date, a sexual revolution has occurred. Of course, Shelly only desires a proper and old-fashioned gentleman, which very much complicates their first date.

Well, I loved this film. As a viewer, I try to watch for inconsistencies in the performances and the script, but this film had none. Dan Aykroid and Jamie Lee Curtis bring a low-key charm to their roles. Both have their flaws, and it sometimes seems they have nothing in common. But for some inexplicable reason, they are brought together and their encounters are tactful, witty, and very real.

As for Anna Chlumsky, it can only be said that this young actress sets the standard for all child performances. This is not a performance, in a traditional manner; she eludes all cutesy standards of the traditional child performance, and becomes a complex, multi-dimensional person with true needs. This little girl is extremely intelligent, and when Chlumsky delivers lines beyond her years, she doesn't do it with sarcasm or adorability, but with the oblivious nature that 11-year-olds find themselves in. The world may be changing around her, but she tries her hardest to maintain her sanity and cheerfulness.

Though "My Girl" is advertised as a kid's film, and kids would probably like it, this film is for adults. It isn't always a happy film, and there is a major tragedy toward the end of the film. But rather than sentimentalize, the tragedy serves as a bridge for young Vada in between the realms of innocence and childhood and the real world of loss and sadness. And as dark as "My Girl" may sometimes be, there is always a sense of charm and warmth brought to the screen by the characters. This is a wonderful, wonderful film.