RIDING IN CARS WITH BOYS
US, 2001, 132 minutes, Colour.
Drew Barrymore, Steve Zahn, Adam Garcia, Britanny Murphy, James Woods, Lorraine Bracco, Rosie Perez, Peter Facinelli, Vincent Pastore.
Directed by Penny Marshall.
While you can guess what this film is about from its title, you won't guess how thoughtfully and emotionally the themes are explored. Some clues come when we hear that the director is Penny Marshall who has made such audience-pleasers as Big, Awakenings and A League of their Own. Another clue is that the running time is 132 minutes, quite long for a domestic comedy drama, so it must be confident that it will keep us watching with interest for so long. And it does.
The film is based on a true story, written by Beverly Donofrio who acted as a consultor. She is very frank about herself and what she did wrong. She does not pull punches about her husband, her family and the frustrations that her life brought to her hopes and dreams.
Yes, it is about a teenage pregnancy, about a girl who has to cope with a rushed marriage, motherhood and trying to grow up. What makes it very difficult is that she is only 15 when she has her baby and is barely twenty when she makes her heroin-addict husband leave home. He was only 18 when they married. This is the kind of situation that is easy to tut-tut about as well as lament about statistics for juvenile pregnancies. But the film asks us to look at the characters as persons, at the situations as real. What are Beverly Donofrio's years between 15 and 35 going to be like?
Over the years, Drew Barrymore has shown that she is not just the little girl from ET, but a maturing actress with a range for comedy and drama. As Beverly she has to play both teenage girl and mother to a 20 year old son. Beverly is not always a likeable character. She has verve, is intelligent and has her dreams. But, forced to accept responsibilities before she needed to, burdened with a nice but inadequate husband (an excellent performance by Steve Zahn) and learning what it is to be a mother by doing it, she is self-preoccupied, moody and often desperate. While her mother (Lorraine Bracco) helps her with household work, her policeman father (James Woods) who had idolised her, rejects her. Her equally young and pregnant best friend, Fay (Brittany Murphy), is her main support.
Penny Marshall keeps the film moving, often amusing, often sad. It also shifts from the present where Beverly is driving with her son, Jason (Adam Garcia), back to the past so that we can compare the young Bev with the 35 year old woman.
Another feature of the film is the emphasis that it places on the birth of a child rather than abortion, bringing up the child within a family (no matter how struggling) rather than adoption. It is a story that is, in the fullest sense, for life.
The film based on a true story, Beverly d'Onofrio and her writing her autobiography, keeping her own name? The style and the title?
The re-creation of two periods, the Vietnam War period, the small American town, life in the town, the police, homes, schools? The seasons and the score? The contemporary period, the winter, the drive, the highways, the run-down house? The contrast between the two? The musical score, the songs?
The structure of the film: Jason at twenty, his voice-over, his driving his mother to see Ray? The insertion of the flashbacks? The themes as related to Jason’s problems, Bev’s reactions? Her journey into understanding herself, Ray, Jason? The audience sharing this journey of understanding?
Jason and his perspective, his trying to relate with his mother, her dominance? His perception of his birth, not being wanted, her mistake? Her bringing him up, his love for her, his actually training and bringing her up rather than vice versa? The tension on the trip, his wanting to tell her about Amelia and moving out, his inability to do so, his making phone calls? Pleading for his mother not to get angry? The reminiscences of his own life story, conception, the difficulty in the pregnancy, his sudden birth, as a little boy, playing with Amelia, subject to Bev’s whims and her study? Ray and his love, his having to go? Friendship with Amelia, telling his grandfather about the marijuana?
Bev’s story, the strong performance, her perspective on life, her disappointment in her own life, her marriage? Her initial hopes, writing, literature? Her early expression of failure? Ultimate success? Her final sense of freedom? Reality? Her teenage, at home, her relationship with her parents, her studies? Her falling in love with boys, Ray defending her? The response to Ray, the night with Ray, her pregnancy? The effect of her pregnancy, on her own self-image, in trying to tell her parents? Her friendship with Fay, confiding in her? Her decision to go ahead to have the baby, to marry? The arguments about the marriage? The difficulties of the birth? Ray, his having to look after Jason, the good moments with Jason, his neglect? The babysitters, their comments? The parents and their looking after Jason? Fay’s mother, her interference, suspicions, information about the drugs? The police? The repercussions for her life, her reputation? The interview about the scholarship, the consequences? The girls in the town, their opinion, Fay, pregnancy? Her working as a waitress? Being looked down on? Ray, at home, her ultimatum? With her mother, the book, Ray and trying to deal with his personality, the separation?
The character of Ray, ordinary young man, in the town, at the party, friendly, his being less intelligent, coping with Bev, weak character, work? The pregnancy? His interaction with Bev’s father? The wedding, his growing irresponsibility, drinking, the range of friends, his missing the ultimatum, his love for Jason, his decision to go for the sake of Jason? His disappearance from their life? His marriage to Shirley, the later visit, the sewing, the son – and the pretence?
A portrait of the D'Onofrio parents? In themselves, their interactions with each other, their expectations for Bev? Disappointment? The father and his discussions with Ray? His love for his daughter – driving around, talking, confiding? Their having to cope?
Fay as Bev’s friend, support, listening, her pregnancy, her mother, reporting the drugs, the opportunities or not?
Bev’s world, work, drink, drugs, study?
The cumulative effect of the story, the finale with Bev going with Jason, trying to find Ray? A resolution to the problems? Jason and his relationship with his mother, his father? The blend of the funny and the serious? The achievement, the resolution?
