Beautiful Girls

A film set in a small town in the north of America. Willie works as a pianist in New York. His career is not going as he wanted and he has come to a decision point in his relationship. He goes home for the tenth anniversary of his high school class. His friends are in the town. All of them stayed: one plows snow, one works in his father's business, one is about to marry and one is still after his old girlfriend. The reunion lasts a few days. They sit in the bar, drive around in the snowplough, old scores are opened and everyone says something about their own life. The matter at the centre is not being able to decide: all of them are in their thirties and all have put off the next step. Willie's neighbour is a girl of thirteen. Marty is clever, sharp-tongued and talks beyond her years. The two become friends, and that relationship is the most argued-about part of the film; the narrative marks the line but keeps the matter in an uncomfortable place. Snow is a constant part of it; every scene was shot in winter. Timothy Hutton, Matt Dillon, Noah Emmerich, Michael Rapaport, Uma Thurman, Mira Sorvino, Rosie O'Donnell and Natalie Portman are in the cast. Ted Demme directed. A warm choice for anyone who likes the character films of the 1990s and stories about small towns. For a viewer looking for plot, the film consists almost entirely of conversations.