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Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
Beautiful Girls

Generally favorable reviews
Based on 18 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 3 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie >
Movie Info
Genre(s): Drama
Written by: Scott Rosenberg
Directed by: Ted Demme
Release Date:
Theatrical: February 9, 1996
DVD: April 20, 1999
Running Time: 112 minutes, Color
Origin: USA
Summary
RATING: R for strong language and nude pin-ups
Starring Matt Dillon, Noah Emmerich, Annabeth Gish, Lauren Holly, Uma Thurman, Timothy Hutton, Rosie O'Donnell, Max Perlich, Martha Plimpton, Natalie Portman, Michael Rapaport, and Mira Sorvino
An all-star cast sparks this comedy about a group of old friends whose 10-year high school reunion creates some unexpected surprises. (Miramax)
Also On Metacritic
FILM: A Decade Under the Influence Blow Life Monument Ave.
Also On The Web: Internet Movie Database Official Studio Site
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
Time Richard Schickel
Beautiful Girls is always in touch with reality but never drowned in it. [19 February 1996, p.64]
Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert
The movie was directed by Ted Demme, with a light touch that allows the humor to survive in spite of the gloomy thoughts and the bleak, dark, frozen winter landscape.
Read Full Review >Empire Darren Bignell
The film really succeeds with its warm treatment of ordinary hang-ups - no life-shattering revelations or pain repressed since childhood, just the genuine, everyday trials of life.
Read Full Review >Rolling Stone Peter Travers
What saves director Ted Demme's comic talkfest from sitcom slickness is a quirky script by Scott Rosenberg and an appealing cast.
Read Full Review >USA Today Mike Clark
Easy to tumble for. [9 February 1996, p.D4]
The New York Times Elvis Mitchell
Has warmth and good cheer. The film is loosely focused, but its ensemble cast is as affable as anything on television these days.
Read Full Review >Washington Post Desson Thomson
The movie is wry, touching and fun to sit through, thanks to Rosenberg's amusing script, Ted Demme's vital direction and zesty performances from everyone.
Read Full Review >Austin Chronicle Steve Davis
With beauty and talent to spare, Portman is something to behold: It's as if Elizabeth Taylor and Jodie Foster were somehow genetically melded at an early age. She's definitely a beautiful girl to watch for.
Read Full Review >The New Yorker Sara Kerr
It's too long by half an hour, and the director, Ted Demme, can't hold onto a rhythm, but the actors are uniformly sharp, and so are the actresses.
Read Full Review >TV Guide Staff (Not credited)
Wavers between being condescending and downright preposterous, but there are redeeming moments.
Read Full Review >Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum
Directed, with overfondness for the goofy ways of guys, by Ted Demme and written, with overfondness for the sound of guys pontificating about nothing, by Scott Rosenberg.
Read Full Review >Los Angeles Times Jack Mathews
Beautiful Girls follows the boys as they work their way through these crises, and it's about as much fun as a neighborhood bar on a Tuesday night. Its crisis: not much happening.
Read Full Review >San Francisco Chronicle Edward Guthmann
Forget Beautiful Girls. The title ought to be "Jerky, Messed- Up Dudes With Nowhere to Go"
Read Full Review >ReelViews James Berardinelli
Despite its name, Beautiful Girls is actually about a group of irritating, twenty-something males whose adolescent attitudes have remained with them well into adulthood.
Read Full Review >Variety Todd McCarthy
A great title in search of a movie to live up to it, this startlingly uneventful compendium of thick-headed boy-talk and female tolerance squanders a fine cast on incredibly ordinary characters and situations.
Read Full Review >San Francisco Examiner Barbara Shulgasser
Something in Hutton's wounded puppy look always communicates an untapped intelligence or wasted potential, both of which are perfect for this role.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this movie is 7.6 (out of 10) based on 3 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Mike gave it an8:
Portman, Plimpton and O'Donnell make the film. The only one of Portman's films I've seen that measures up to The Professional.
Jed gave it an8:
This is a good movie about real people. It's not action packed, it's not incredibly insightful... it's a character study of average people who may relate to people you know.
Marc D. gave it a7:
This is another one of those movies that I feel compelled to watch whenever it's on cable. It features Noah Emmerich's best performance in any movie, in my opinion, and Natalie Portman's interaction with Timothy Hutton is a lot of fun. Go ahead and check it out.
