It's been a quarter-century but I still remember the wide attention "My Girl" got at the time of its release. In French, the title was translated to "Copain, Copine", a derivation from classic French film "Cousin, Cousine" and whose translation is "Boyfriend, Girlfriend", the publicity focused on two elements: an unprecedented kiss between children (and I still remember when my friend showed me the picture on a magazine) and Macaulay Culkin playing the lucky boy. He was still emerging from his success in "Home Alone" that I wasn't the only one to think he was the star of the film, but I guess the original title wouldn't have mislead us.
Still, with a quick glance at the poster, you can tell that the film tried to capitalize on the popularity of Culkin who was the rising star of the early 90's, passing the torch to Anna Chlumsky in her acting debut, he doesn't even wear his nerdy glasses and has a dashing smile that is in total contradiction with the shy and Milhouse-like personality he displayed all through the film, and it's a fine performance and so is Chlumsky as little Velda, a 11-year old girl at the threshold of her teen years and dealing with the 'things of her age' such as death and love, with a widowed Dad (Dan Aykroyd) managing a funeral parlor and falling in love with his newly hired employee (Jamie Lee Curtis), she sure will have one notion or two coming. The title could have well been "My Girl's World".
Now, the reason I mentioned the whole marketing about the film is because it doesn't provide anything seminal in the coming-of-age department, even deaths of a beloved one was pretty well covered in "Stand by Me", the only moment the film makes you aware that this is told from a girl's perspective is when Velda, after a "hemorrhage" scare, has a talk with her Dad's fiancé about bees and flowers. The rest will inspire a few déjà-vu comments but what the film lacks in originality, is compensated by the good acting and a characterization that actually makes you care for these people, especially since the early 70's where the film takes place doesn't look much different from the early 90's when we saw it, or maybe kids didn't change much over this lapse of time.
There are a few awkward moments that don't belong to the level of intelligence and sweetness infused in the earlier scenes, the dad's level of denial when it comes to Velda's antics are sometimes contrived and I'm not sure a kid losing his glasses would have let the bees sting him like that, and I mean it from my own experience, but but the film manages to emerge above these shortcoming, because of the central performances of Chlumsky and Culkin who's the perfect counterpart to her fiery personality. The situations with adults are also full of humanity and genuine humor, the complicity with the Dad, the benevolent teacher played by Griffin Dune and Jamie Lee Curtis who finds the right note between warm and funny.
This is the kind of plot-less films that is more about things of your age, and it's a miracle that it managed to remain as captivating. You don't really see the sadness near the end coming, and I can't help but feel it was forced into to make such an impact the film would be reminded as a tear-jerker, it did a fine job for that, I fell for it too. That's how good it is, you know the intentions but you're ready to forgive them because a story needs to be good before being predictable.
Still, with a quick glance at the poster, you can tell that the film tried to capitalize on the popularity of Culkin who was the rising star of the early 90's, passing the torch to Anna Chlumsky in her acting debut, he doesn't even wear his nerdy glasses and has a dashing smile that is in total contradiction with the shy and Milhouse-like personality he displayed all through the film, and it's a fine performance and so is Chlumsky as little Velda, a 11-year old girl at the threshold of her teen years and dealing with the 'things of her age' such as death and love, with a widowed Dad (Dan Aykroyd) managing a funeral parlor and falling in love with his newly hired employee (Jamie Lee Curtis), she sure will have one notion or two coming. The title could have well been "My Girl's World".
Now, the reason I mentioned the whole marketing about the film is because it doesn't provide anything seminal in the coming-of-age department, even deaths of a beloved one was pretty well covered in "Stand by Me", the only moment the film makes you aware that this is told from a girl's perspective is when Velda, after a "hemorrhage" scare, has a talk with her Dad's fiancé about bees and flowers. The rest will inspire a few déjà-vu comments but what the film lacks in originality, is compensated by the good acting and a characterization that actually makes you care for these people, especially since the early 70's where the film takes place doesn't look much different from the early 90's when we saw it, or maybe kids didn't change much over this lapse of time.
There are a few awkward moments that don't belong to the level of intelligence and sweetness infused in the earlier scenes, the dad's level of denial when it comes to Velda's antics are sometimes contrived and I'm not sure a kid losing his glasses would have let the bees sting him like that, and I mean it from my own experience, but but the film manages to emerge above these shortcoming, because of the central performances of Chlumsky and Culkin who's the perfect counterpart to her fiery personality. The situations with adults are also full of humanity and genuine humor, the complicity with the Dad, the benevolent teacher played by Griffin Dune and Jamie Lee Curtis who finds the right note between warm and funny.
This is the kind of plot-less films that is more about things of your age, and it's a miracle that it managed to remain as captivating. You don't really see the sadness near the end coming, and I can't help but feel it was forced into to make such an impact the film would be reminded as a tear-jerker, it did a fine job for that, I fell for it too. That's how good it is, you know the intentions but you're ready to forgive them because a story needs to be good before being predictable.