Don't bother inviting any guys for movie night when you rent Moonlight and Valentino; it's a major chic fest. If you liked Fried Green Tomatoes, Steel Magnolias, and Beaches, you'll love it. That being said, I didn't like either of those three, and I still loved it.
It focuses on two sisters, a stepmother, and a friend - an unusual bunch that's bound together, but with great chemistry and ties that are interesting and realistic. I could have easily watched two or three more movies featuring the same group of women and not grown bored. Elizabeth Perkins is the older sister and role model to Gwyneth Paltrow. She's married, a college poetry teacher, and stable. Gwyneth is an insecure college student with anorexia, who smokes to be cool, and has never seen herself nude. She's a very interesting character, and while much is explored and dealt with in two hours, I would have loved to see more. Whoopi Goldberg is Elizabeth's best friend, suffering through marital troubles with Peter Coyote. Kathleen Turner is the proverbial wicked stepmother, according to Gwyneth, but she desperately wants to be close to the two girls in her life. When Elizabeth's husband dies in an accident, the girls rally around her to help with grief and moving on.
Some parts of this movie have pure humor, like when Jon Bon Jovi comes to the house to appraise a paint job and Kathleen Turner compliments his derriere. Some scenes are extremely heavy, like when Elizabeth sobs and reveals a big fight she had with her husband before he died. In one scene, Elizabeth doesn't want anyone to touch her because she's in shock, and a few minutes later she's talking about a cute leather jacket rather than focus on her grief. In other words, it's a very realistic movie. With any group of friends, there's going to be a difference in temperaments that set patterns throughout the years. Gwyneth repeatedly insults Kathleen, but rather than get in a big blow-up fight like in a soap opera, Kathleen merely smiles her pain away and lets the young girl get away with it. Whoopi always puts her best friend first, so it makes sense that we see the resentment building up through the scenes.
Each actress (and to be fair, the few men in the movie as well) has her own moment of brilliance throughout the film. This movie isn't nearly as famous as other friendship flicks in the 1980s and 1990s, but it's one of my favorites. If you don't want to rent it for the acting, at least rent it for the eye candy. I'm sure every girl would break the 'don't date a guy with longer hair than you' rule for Bon Jovi.
It focuses on two sisters, a stepmother, and a friend - an unusual bunch that's bound together, but with great chemistry and ties that are interesting and realistic. I could have easily watched two or three more movies featuring the same group of women and not grown bored. Elizabeth Perkins is the older sister and role model to Gwyneth Paltrow. She's married, a college poetry teacher, and stable. Gwyneth is an insecure college student with anorexia, who smokes to be cool, and has never seen herself nude. She's a very interesting character, and while much is explored and dealt with in two hours, I would have loved to see more. Whoopi Goldberg is Elizabeth's best friend, suffering through marital troubles with Peter Coyote. Kathleen Turner is the proverbial wicked stepmother, according to Gwyneth, but she desperately wants to be close to the two girls in her life. When Elizabeth's husband dies in an accident, the girls rally around her to help with grief and moving on.
Some parts of this movie have pure humor, like when Jon Bon Jovi comes to the house to appraise a paint job and Kathleen Turner compliments his derriere. Some scenes are extremely heavy, like when Elizabeth sobs and reveals a big fight she had with her husband before he died. In one scene, Elizabeth doesn't want anyone to touch her because she's in shock, and a few minutes later she's talking about a cute leather jacket rather than focus on her grief. In other words, it's a very realistic movie. With any group of friends, there's going to be a difference in temperaments that set patterns throughout the years. Gwyneth repeatedly insults Kathleen, but rather than get in a big blow-up fight like in a soap opera, Kathleen merely smiles her pain away and lets the young girl get away with it. Whoopi always puts her best friend first, so it makes sense that we see the resentment building up through the scenes.
Each actress (and to be fair, the few men in the movie as well) has her own moment of brilliance throughout the film. This movie isn't nearly as famous as other friendship flicks in the 1980s and 1990s, but it's one of my favorites. If you don't want to rent it for the acting, at least rent it for the eye candy. I'm sure every girl would break the 'don't date a guy with longer hair than you' rule for Bon Jovi.