User Reviews

SPOILERS THROUGHOUT: I thought this was a good movie, quite thought provoking, with good performances from everyone particularly Zahn. Much as I love Barrymore I do prefer her in other movies though she does a good job here. The movie is at times very bleak and difficult to watch but also well done in the sense that the characters seem real and never over the top. I had no idea what Riding In Cars with Boys was about when I sat down to watch it, I'd heard of it but knew little about it. I found it to be a very good movie.

Many of the characters did inspire anger at times with their actions but the thing is, I think it's better to watch this movie without taking sides with the characters. The movie wasn't perfect at all but what it WAS good at doing was showing the difficulties and hardships involved in all these peoples' lives.

There were a few things that puzzled me and which I still don't get. Number one is the fact that Drew never seems to age or change physically during the whole movie and it was rather puzzling and did take away from the believability factor. There were times people who were supposed to be years apart in age looked to be the same age. It was just rather odd. The other thing is the ending. I am SO into endings, if they don't flow with the rest of the movie it's annoying. It seemed to me that the final confrontation between mother and son ended to abruptly and the next scene it almost seemed like everything was all hunky dory which again challenged the levels of believability but I have to admit I did enjoy the last scene of the movie so that's a plus.

Third-How in the world was this lumped in as a COMEDY? I mean it makes no sense. If this was supposed to be a comedy I'd give it a 1 or 2 because I didn't laugh much. As it is, I am Giving this DRAMA a 7, it had it's moments and was quite touching, though I hope nobody watches this thinking their getting "The Wedding Singer."

Despite a rather routine story, this film works better than you'd think after a cursory glance at the plot.

Its main strength lies in some truly excellent acting. Drew Barrymore (as Beverly Donofrio) tackles her role, aging from a teenager to a thirty-something woman, with more gusto than we're used to seeing from her. The result is enthralling. Meanwhile, the ever dependable Steve Zahn (as Beverly's husband, Ray Hasek) is equally as good, showing us a well-meaning youth, then man, who just hasn't got what it takes to make a worthwhile life, even at a low level.

The script is replete with pleasing one-liners, with the best exchange almost at the end. Beverly and her son Jason (Adam Garcia) finally have it out and when she tells him he is wrong to think she blames him for ruining her life and then thanks him for actually saving it, he says "You're welcome" with more emotional force than you'd think possible in such a phrase.

The thin story and unmemorable music neuter these strengths somewhat, but this is well worth seeing nonetheless.

Rating: 6/10.

OK so there was this woman named Beverly D'Onofrio, who got pregnant as a teenager and found it interfered with her dreams of going to NYU and being a great writer. And she decided that since her son "ruined her life" she would force him to make it up to her and make him suffer his whole life. And then she wrote a book which is intended to make us care about her, and then Drew Barrymore and Penny Marshall made a movie out of that book which not only tried to present that as a heartwarming story, but tried to throw in some light comedy and period music to make the thing more "charming".

Possible spoilers ahead:

I HATED this movie. I have never hated a movie so much in my life, and I can't imagine how many I have seen. And that's because this movie morally offended me, trying to make me love a person who is so deserving of contempt. There were many points in this film where I literally cringed or gasped at the way Beverly treated or spoke to Jason, and the utter hatred she was displaying towards him. And that continued throughout his life. I have never seen such a selfish woman depicted in a flattering light; even when he was 20 Jason couldn't have 10 seconds to make an important personal phone call. Not when poor precious Beverly wanted him to take her somewhere. I wanted to strangle her during that horn honking scene. And to the fans of the movie who say "Beverly redeemed herself at the end" I say

NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That's exactly what she did not do. After two hours of watching her torment her son, it was horrifying when he tried to confront her and she hit him and yelled "I was a GOOD MOTHER!" And after actually showing him bursting into tears and pouring his heart out about how much he was suffering, the filmmakers tacked on some 10 second attempt at Beverly being nice on there and that was supposed to make up for everything. No, I think that was completely forced and didn't make me loathe this movie any less. Any minimal impact it might have had was undone by next showing Beverly talking to her father and acting amused/offended at the notion that she caused Jason's problems.

Beverly had sex. It was HER fault she didn't get to do everything she wanted before suddenly becoming a mother. Jason didn't asked to be born; he was an innocent child who clearly had a good heart and just needed to be loved like the rest of us. He deserved all the sympathy in this story, Beverly none. And some might say that maybe I'm being judgmental; it's incredibly difficult to be a teen mom. I'm sure it is; I don't know any personally so maybe I would have had a little compassion for Beverly IF the movie didn't also show Faye, who become pregnant at the same age and still loved her child unconditionally. To anyone who dare try and justify that by saying that Faye was lucky enough to have a girl, and Beverly got stuck with a boy (and looks like that was supposed to be a big deal, I've seen that shot of Beverly looking at her newborn and crying so many times), that makes Beverly even worse in my eyes. Maybe some people are unstable and can't help how they act, but if Beverly would have been nicer to a daughter, then that means she quite deliberately chose to mistreat her son, and I find that despicable. Frankly if I was Jason and my only parent felt that way towards me, I think I literally would have committed suicide. I heard this story was changed considerably from D'Onofrio's memoirs; I hope her actual behavior wasn't much worse. I also hope Jason turned out all right and there really was an Amelia.

Some miscellaneous thoughts: -I read that Beverly was really 17 when she gave birth. By changing the age, I guess they intended to make us sympathize with her even more. Certainly didn't work for me, especially since, again, Faye was the same age. It didn't help matters any that Drew Barrymore did not look 15 at all; all that that make-up and hair did was make her look like a really idiotic grown woman.

-Certain scenes such as Beverly throwing herself down the stairs, which was played for laughs, were clearly meant to endear her to us. The effort only made me hate her more in retrospect.

-Steve Zahn drew infinitely more sympathy out of me with his character. Yes, Ray was a drug addict, and a bum, and a terrible husband, but beneath it all I got the feeling that he really truly loved Jason, a feeling Beverly never once gave in spite of how many times she licked her hand and fixed his hair.

Yes I am a guy, and I've read that this was the type of movie for which the label "chick flick" was virtually invented. But don't let my gender taint the validity of my opinion; I'm writing simply as a person whose mother loves and cares for him tremendously and feels all moms should be like that. And if they're not, they shouldn't be treated as nice people whom we're supposed to care for. I find it very sad that there are teen mothers out there who, in spite of the circumstances, do their best to raise their children in a loving, nurturing environment, and are trapped in poverty, while Beverly D'Onofrio gets a major motion picture made about her.

'Riding in Cars with Boys' is a rather heavy movie. It quite possibly goes through the entire spectrum of human emotion in the two hours you're sitting there watching it. It does a marvelous job of tiring you out; of making you feel exactly what the on screen character is feeling. But this film is far from perfect.

The biggest problem here is that you're a little unsure of who the movie is about. Is it about the son's resentment of his mother? Is it about the mother's anger towards her son, her father, herself? Is it about this once daddy's girl's fall from grace and how she not only had to make a living for herself and her son but also had to try to win back her father's love which she once had in spades? The movie tackles so many emotions that radiate from so many different characters that it's hard to keep straight who the main one is in the moment.

However annoying this problem is it in no way detracts from the enjoyment of the story being told though. You will either find yourself rooting for Barrymore (who showed such range and empathy in this role, proving herself to be more that the Rom-Com queen we know her to be) to achieve the life she wants or you will side with her son who thinks that she did a poor job of mothering him.

This movie shows us that life can be brutal and unfair. It can be upsetting and demanding. But it also tells us that life is worth living, and if done right nothing can stand in the way of you and your dreams. This movie is underrated (Possibly rightly) but is a gem nonetheless. 6.4/10