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RIDING
IN CARS WITH BOYS
Drew
Barrymore plays the lead character, Beverly D'Onofrio. Smart, pretty
and with big dreams to be a writer in New York, Beverly proves you
don't have to be dumb to make dumb mistakes.
Reviewed
by Annette Wierstra
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RIDING IN CARS
WITH BOYS
(2001)
This
page was created on May 5, 2001
This page was last updated on
May 22, 2005
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Credits
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Directed by Penny Marshall
Book by Beverly D'Onofrio (Riding in Cars with Boys)
Screenplay by Morgan Ward
Drew
Barrymore .... Beverly D'Onofrio
Sara Gilbert .... Tina
Steve Zahn .... Raymond
Mika Boorem .... Young Beverly
Brittany Murphy .... Fay
Adam Garcia .... Jason
Skye McCole Bartusiak .... Amelia (age 8)
Lorraine Bracco .... Beverly's mother
James Woods .... Beverly's father
Vincent Pastore .... Uncle Louie
Cody Arens .... Cody Arens (Jason 6)
Logan Arens .... Jason (age 3)
Sophia Barricelli .... Janet's youngest daughter, Sophia
Carl Capotorto .... Uncle Ralph
Gabriel Carpenter .... Sky Barrister
John DeGrazio .... Louie
Produced
by Julie Ansell (producer), Timothy M. Bourne (co-producer), James
L. Brooks (producer), Sara Colleton (executive producer), Beverly
D'Onofrio (co-producer), Bridget Johnson (executive producer), Amy
Lemisch (co-producer), Laurence Mark (producer), Richard Sakai (producer),
Morgan Ward (executive producer)
Original music by Hans Zimmer
Cinematography by Miroslav Ondr?cek
Film Editing by Lawrence Jordan and Richard Marks
MPAA:
Rated PG-13
for thematic elements, drug and sexual content.
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Riding in Cars With Boys
Various Artists - Soundtrack - 2001
1. Dream - Everly Brothers 2. I Got You Babe - Sonny and Cher 3.
I Want To Love Him So Bad - Jelly Beans 4. Down In The Boondocks
- Billy Joe Royal 5. One Fine Day - The Chiffons 6. She's About
a Mover - Sir Douglass Quintet 7. Piece Of My Heart - Janis Joplin
8. End Of The World - Skeeter Davis 9. The 5 Stairsteps - Ooh Child
10. Cincinnati The Dancing Pig - Vic Damone 11. I Just Want To Celebrate
- Rare Earth 12. Girls Just Wanna Have Fun - Cyndi Lauper 13. Score
track
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The
story of a girl who did everything wrong,
but got everything right.
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STUDIO
SYNOPSIS:
RIDING IN CARS WITH BOYS, based on the autobiography by Beverly Donofrio
about her youthful days of revelry, rebellion, and teenage motherhood,
stars Drew Barrymore. |
Riding
in Cars with Boys
Reviewed by Annette Wierstra
Email Me
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Riding in Cars with Boys is based on a true story ? and it shows.
There is a realism about the characters that might not come across
in a fictional work. None of the characters are black and white when
they so easily could have been. The film is loaded with characters
that teeter at the edge of stereotypical, from the domineering father,
to the no good junkie husband, to the struggling teenage mom. But
instead of toppling over into flat characters, they remain full of
personality and shades of gray. |
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Drew Barrymore plays the lead character, Beverly D'Onofrio. Smart,
pretty and with big dreams to be a writer in New York, Beverly proves
you don't have to be dumb to make dumb mistakes. At fifteen she gets
pregnant and is strongly urged by her parents to get married. Her
husband ? equally young and ill-prepared for parenthood ? is Ray (Steve
Zahn). |
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Beverly's parents are disappointed in her, but they help the young
couple find a house and get a start together. Beverly's father (James
Wood) is most affected by the pregnancy. He can hardly believe his
pride and joy could make such a mistake. |
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The movie takes an interesting perspective. It starts through the
eyes of Beverly. The story builds sympathy for the young woman who
has to pay the consequences for her mistakes. She is strong minded
and determined to build a better life for her self than the shoddy
house and poverty she has started in. But about half-way through the
movie, the perspective begins to shift over to her young son Jason.
He sees a struggling young mom, but he also sees a self-absorbed one
who has little time for her son or husband. |
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Riding in Cars with Boys is as much about Jason as Beverly. He needs
to forgive his mother for her overbearing love. Jason has to stand
up to her and make his own choices, not live her lost dreams. While
Beverly felt resentment to her own parents for being less than perfect,
she shows her immaturity in parenting and makes plenty of her own
mistakes. Jason learns to forgive and let go and Beverly and her father
are able to re-establish their closeness over time. |
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This movie is about life ? the struggles, the joys, the mistakes and
the good choices. Riding in Cars with Boys shows us that life isn't
fair. Sometimes people make poor decisions and then have to pay the
consequences for them. |
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But the movie doesn't paint Beverly's life as a failure. It doesn't
even say that Beverly's life would have turned out better if she'd
never been pregnant. With the bad comes the good. With out the pregnancy
she would not have had Jason, the one thing that keeps her together.
Beverly balances poor judgement and immaturity with determination
and love. |
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We are all like Beverly. We form our lives by the choices we make,
good or bad. But in the background we have a support of family and
friends who try their best to help us. Even better than that we have
a God the Father holding us up through our good times and bad. Like
Beverly's father, He loves us through our mistakes and wanderings.
But unlike Beverly's father He never fails us. That close, loving
relationship with our Father is there anytime we reach out to Him.
It doesn't mean we'll have a flawless life or make all the right choices.
But it does mean we will have unconditional love and support ? no
matter what happens. |
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In Riding with Cars with Boys, Beverly and Jason survive. In fact,
they do better than that. They find happiness in the lives and relationships
they've made for themselves. |
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MOST
TRUE TO LIFE
Subject: Riding_In_Cars_With_Boys
Date: Tue, 27 Nov 2001
From: Laurie Magnusson
This movie is
one of the most true to life films I have seen. It was good to see
the depravity of man without making it seem as though their lives
weren't worth anything. They showed the good and bad of every character
which is the way things are in reality.
Laurie
Magnusson
EXCELLENT
MOVIE
Subject: Riding_In_Cars_With_Boys
Date: Sun, 4 Nov 2001
From: "Don Dawson"
Just saw this
movie last night, and I was very impressed. Probably the most important
message the movie gives comes at the end: don't be afraid to ask
for help when you need it. Everyone in the movie is too hung up
on trying to do things on their own, and their relationships all
suffer as a result. Only when they reach out to one another for
help do they find healing for those relationships.
Don Dawson
don@palmbay.presbychurch.net
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OFFICIAL
SITE
Riding in Cars With Boys ? 2001 Columbia Pictures.
All Rights Reserved.
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