MOVIE REVIEW

Riding In Cars With Boys  (2001)

Starring: Drew Barrymore, Steve Zahn, Brittany Murphy

Director: Penny Marshall

Rating: PG-13

Studio: Columbia

Review Posted: 11.3.01

Spoilers: Minor

Rating: 2.5/4

By Craig Younkin

Drew Barrymore is known for playing these annoyingly
cute women in bad movies like "Charlie's Angels" and
"Never Been Kissed", but she has such a broader talent
than that, only the problem is she never receives roles good enough to satisfy it. There are only a couple of films that show her range as an actress, the enchanting "Ever After" standing out as her biggest achievement till now.

Here, she gets a good one as Beverly D'Onofrio, a true
life heroine who wrote a book called "Riding in Cars With Boys", chronicling her life from age 15 to 35. The film is told in flashback, by her teenage son (Adam Garcia), as he drives her up to see his father so he can sign away permission for the book to be published.

Beverly is the daughter of a Connecticut cop (James
Woods), who, too his chagrin, became interested in boys at a very young age. For Christmas one year, she
even asks her father to give her nothing but a bra so
she could attract a boy in her class.

This interest expanded during her teen years, only her
motto is that she would never go past second base with
a guy. But making out is ok, and that is what she hopes to be doing at the end of the night during a party with her school's quarterback. But as soon as she works up the courage to ask him, he blows her off, sending her crying to the bathroom. There she meets Ray (Steve Zahn), a charming half-wit who also happens to be nothing but trouble.

While making out in Beverly's car that night, Ray gets
her pregnant, leaving Beverly with a lot of tough choices. Upon telling her parents, her disgusted father forces her into marrying Ray, and doesn't even see the baby or the marriage as anything to be remotely happy about. Her mother (Lorraine Bracco) is a little more supportive, and when the baby is born, she helps Beverly take care of it.

But as if trying to get into college while taking care of a kid wasn't bad enough, Beverly is also given problems by Ray, who is skipping work and using all their money to fund his massive drug problem. Their is also a little sub plot of Beverly's friend Fay (Brittany Murphy) also getting pregnant the same right she did, but while director Penny Marshall tries to make this seem cute, it's really just unnecessary.

That being said, much of "Riding in Cars with Boys" does work, both as a comedy and as a drama. Beverly's
growing process from an irresponsible teenager into the decent, financially successful, and respectable mother she wants to be is loaded with compelling flaws and lessons. The script also shows all of Bev's missed
opportunities like junior prom and a shot at NYU.

This film is swimming in drama, although sometimes it
feels like it's not showing all that it could. Screenwriter Morgan Ward spends more time trying to make us feel sorry for Beverly, and less time making the audience think Beverly cares about her son. The relationship is only based on cuteness. After childhood, the script just abandons them, leaving the teenage years and how Beverly managed to put this kid through school left unexplained.

But nonetheless, Drew Barrymore carries the film with a very good performance, capturing both the character's strengths as well as her overwhelming desperation. Steve Zahn is also very surprising as Ray. He doesn't do the usual comic relief role here. He portrays Ray with great range, showing a pathetic, but deep down, good-hearted man whose life has mainly been about taking wrong turns. James Woods is, no surprise, perfect in the role of Beverly's father. Other than never taking some of the turns it should, "Riding in Cars with Boys" is a fairly decent drama that finally gives Drew Barrymore a chance to prove what she can do.

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