Customer Reviews

Riding in Cars with Boys (Special Edition)

5 star:		(29)
4 star:		(19)
3 star:		(14)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(10)

 

 

The acting, cinematography, and overall filmmaking for this movie were fine. What I fail to comprehend, however, is why this movie was even made in the first place.

I found nothing special about Beverly Donofrio's life that would make me interested in hearing about it. In fact, the fact that she wrote a book about her situation (having a kid while still being a kid)--a situation that is in no way unique in this country--is illustrative to me of the fact that she never did grow up.

I'm not saying that this woman's life is not important, or that her struggles were not very real and tragic ones. However, how are they different from what hundreds of thousands of women go through in life? What supposedly makes her special? I can think of nothing except the fact that she was a terrible, self-absorbed mother, whereas most mothers are willing to make sacrifices for their children.

My life is nothing like Beverly Donofrio's was. I did go to college, and received my Master's degree before getting married. Then I had my family. And you know what? I still have to make sacrifices. That's what being a mother is about. Even though I got to do the things Beverly didn't get to do, there are still things I would like to do. Like voice lessons, violin lessons, dance lessons, even own my owm business. But I can't do these things, because if I did, I couldn't be a good mother. But then, I guess it was different for her because she didn't love her son; she just resented him and the burden he was to her. The only problem with her attitude is that, HE didn't make the choice to ruin her life--SHE did! And then at the end of the movie, she has the nerve to declare "I was a good mother!" Then I must be a saint.

I usually judge a movie by whether it makes me a better person having watched it. Not only do I consider that this movie was a complete waste of my time to watch, but it actually took something away from my life and made me feel dirty and low. I could never recommend this movie to anyone.

Over 2hrs and i never wanted it to finish. I am a mad drewbie fan, so i could sit and watch her films allday. Anyone who likes her, will enjoy this film i can garantee it. A MUST SEE ITS BRILL

I honestly wasn't expecting to be totally blown away by this movie. It didn't create much hype in theaters, and I only rented it now for two reasons - a friend recommended it, and I'm a fan of Drew Barrymore, so I thought I'd give it a try. I'm glad I did, as I absolutely loved it. Based on the life of Beverly Donofrio, as written in her memoir (which I haven't read, and cannot compare the movie to), this film tells the story of a girl who gets pregnant at the age of fifteen. Through a series of flashbacks and narration by Donofrio's adult son, we see her struggle to raise her child while still growing up herself. She is determined to make a life for herself against all odds. And oh what odds they are!

Guilted by her father into marrying the boyfriend who knocked her up, Beverly finds herself with a loving yet dim-bulb husband. He drinks excessively, routinely forgets things he should have remembered, shows up for work only when he feels like it, and ultimately succumbs to a drug addiction. Meanwhile, Beverly is estranged from her own parents, particularly her father, and is all alone save for her one loyal best friend. And when her friend is forced to move away, Beverly has only her son. And she was certainly not the best of mothers. When the tag line says "She did everything wrong," it's no joke. But somehow the two of them are able to keep going, and Donofrio's story turns into one of the most inspirational and heartwarming I have ever seen.

The entire cast was excellent, but Drew Barrymore was simply amazing. She must portray Beverly from the age of fifteen all the way up through thirty-six (a decade younger and a decade older than Barrymore herself at the time), and she does it beautifully. At each stage of the film, she nails down all the little nuances that define that partcular age. I think this is one of Barrymore's very best performances. Brittany Murphy also shines as Faye, Beverly's best friend. The two of them are a perfect match. Steve Zahn does an exceptional job as Ray, the husband. He manages to add a great sensitivity to his otherwise deadbeat character. Adam Garcia turns in a moving performance as the grown son, and James Woods does an excellent job as the father who truly does love the daughter who so disappointed him.

The whole film has a great realism to it that is touching. These are real people. They have flaws, and make mistakes. Boy do they make mistakes! But we can relate to them, because we've all made mistakes. Donofrio's ability to keep going, to pick herself up and keep striding forward until she makes something of her life is truly inspirational. And not only that, but there is a real humor to the film. Through all her mistakes, Donofrio is able to laugh at the absurdity of it all, and I think this is a large part of what got her through.

The DVD also has some nice extra features. In addition to audio commentary by Drew Barrymore, there is an HBO "Making Of" featurette in which we meet the real Donofrio and learn how her story was transfered onto film, and are given further insight into Donofrio's own life. There are also featurettes on the cars in the movie, the set for the house where Beverly and her son lived, and Donofrio's relationship with her son, as well as the theatrical trailers. This is a great story, and is executed to perfection. Even the soundtrack adds depth and feeling to the film. I'd highly recommend the movie to anyone, and intend to add it to my own collection.

Riding in Cars With Boys, is a great movie directed by Penny Marshall. Drew Barrymore plays the main character, Beverly Donofrio. She is a very spunky little girl who is dying to grow up. James Wood plays Beverly's conservative but loving father and the town's police chief.
When she finally is old enough, she falls for a popular jock that has no interest in her. She is devastated and heart broken over this that she falls for the next guy she meets. Her involvement with him lands her pregnant. Trying to make the right choice she decides to have the baby. Her family then insists that she marry the guy. She doesn't want to marry him and has a very miserable wedding.
Beverly is then a very unhappy teenage mother with a drug-addicted husband who blames her baby boy for the terrible life that she has. The story shows the happy, terrible and disappointing times in their lives. This movie is based on what happens when you make the right and the wrong choices. It shows how the different relationships in your life can influence the choices that you make.
I feel this is a great drama-comedy to watch, especially to all the young girls who are just dying to grow up.

Riding in Cars With Boys, is a great movie directed by Penny Marshall. Drew Barrymore plays the main character, Beverly Donofrio. She is a very spunky little girl who is dying to grow up. James Wood plays Beverly's conservative but loving father and the town's police chief.
When she finally is old enough, she falls for a popular jock that has no interest in her. She is devastated and heart broken over this that she falls for the next guy she meets. Her involvement with him lands her pregnant. Trying to make the right choice she decides to have the baby. Her family then insists that she marry the guy. She doesn't want to marry him and has a very miserable wedding.
Beverly is then a very unhappy teenage mother with a drug-addicted husband who blames her baby boy for the terrible life that she has. The story shows the happy, terrible and disappointing times in their lives. This movie is based on what happens when you make the right and the wrong choices. It shows how the different relationships in your life can influence the choices that you make.
I feel this is a great drama-comedy to watch, especially to all the young girls who are just dying to grow up.

A friend told me I would hate this movie. "It was supposed to be funny," she said, "but it was just awful. The character that Drew Barrymore plays is just a horrible, horrible mother."

And it's true. Bev Donofrio, the main character played by Barrymore and the woman who penned the memoirs behind this movie, is not a "good" mother. She's a real mother, who approaches much of her life from the same self-absorbed perspective that she had when she was 15 and became pregnant. She's dramatic, possessed of a sense of self-importance and smugness that would never put her in running for Mother of the Year. She has said horrible, heartless things to her baby boy and instilled him with the sense that his arrival ruined his mother's life. And yet she was able to raise him, build her life, and evolve-at least a smidge-into a better person.

When children take on the role of adult in the parent-child relationship, the responsibilities of caregiving become blurred. That dynamic is at the heart of this film. Jason, Bev's son, recognizes early on that he has to take the burden of responsibility in their relationship. Bev is a teenager for the first five years of his life, locked into a marriage with the man who knocked her up. He's a sweet, charming, drug-using dunce who doesn't understand or support Bev's strident desire to get an education and change her life. Bev chose to marry him because of pressure from her own father, who rejects her for her mistakes and who is largely unable to show his love for her. She recreates the same relationship with her son, not realizing until the end of the movie that she has done so.

But through it all, Bev remains a force of nature. She stumbled along in her self-absorbed way, but learned enough about how to see other people that she could understand her effect on the lives of others. The movie isn't so much about becoming the perfect mother, but more about finding a sense of self-acceptance and clarity, and sharing that enveloping sense of acceptance with the people who need to know you love them. It's comedic, dramatic, and scalding-a truthful, well-acted story of mothers, sons, fathers and daughters. I didn't hate this movie, as my friend predicted. I admire it and respect its honesty, and would recommend it to anyone who has come to the stunning realization that their parents are not only people, but people who are growing and evolving alongside their children.

This movie was dragged on and stretched out to far. The only good part of the movie was Desmond Harrington.

This is NOT a great movie. Nope. Not even close.

If it were a great movie, it'd be "Terms of Endearment." But it's not. The framing device is lame, the guy who plays the grown-up son needs to go back to acting school immediately, the story is overly condensed in parts so that it doesn't actually make any sense in terms of a narrative... it's just not a very good movie.

But...

Steve Zahn is outstanding as Drew Barrymore's loser boyfriend/husband. In the scenes where they're supposed to be teenagers, Drew Barrymore looks like Drew Barrymore pretending to be a teenager, but Steve Zahn IS that character. Totally authentic. And as the years pass, and when we finally see him in his late 50's or so, he is STILL totally authentic. The man is a damn good actor.

I can't really recommend this movie because there's too much about it that is sub-par, but it's not a complete waste of time. Drew Barrymore has some good scenes (when she's not pretending to be a teenager) and Steve Zahn is superb... it's too bad the rest of the movie wasn't a bit better.

Sweet Drew Barrymore, plays Beverly in this wonderful movie.
Beverly is the daughter of a police sergeant who just can't wait to grow up and when she does she falls madly in love with a guy that doesn't love her. She even writes poems about him then in one party she gives him one of her poems and by this she becomes a laughing object. Her disapointment with the guy she loves makes her feel she has a huge gap inside herself and this "gap" gets filled up with the first boy she meets and as fate would have it she gets pregnant.
A police sergeant's honor was suffering so her father wont talk to her anylonger.
Beverly is a good girl so she doesn't decide on abortion.
Instead against her wishes she marries the boy who got pregnant and then the story unfolds - mind you the True Story that is.

Highly Recommended to Everyone - especially to girls who just can't wait to grow up. There is a great lesson in here.

I was very impressed with the film, "Riding in Cars with Boys". It was a very heartwarming story about a girl who gets pregnant at a very young age and has to struggle raising her son while trying to grow up herself.

Drew Barrymore does an excellent job as Beverly. Steve Zahn is also very good as Ray, Beverly's heroin-addicted husband.

The relationship between Beverly and her son, Jason, is also very interesting as well. Because of Jason's birth while in her teens, Beverly never really had the chance to grow up and be a "normal" teenager. She struggles wondering if she really loves her son because she's supposed to or because she wants to. Sometimes Beverly got the feeling that her son was pulling her down more than he was uplifting and helping her, but by the end of the film, Beverly realizes that even though it was hard, Jason's birth was probably one of the best things to happen in her life.

I would definitely recommend this film to anyone who wants to see a good, heartwarming, intelligent film with a great cast and great acting. You won't be disappointed!!!