Riding in Cars with Boys (2001)

Release date: 2001-10-19
Country: USA
Language: English
Director: Penny Marshall
Production Co: Columbia Pictures, Gracie Films, Parkway Productions
Genre: Biography, Comedy, Drama
Rating: 6.5/10
Length: 2h 12min

Storyline

Seriocomic story based on the memoir by Beverly Donofrio, the movie follows a young woman who finds her life radically altered by an event from her teen years. Born in 1950, Beverly grew up bright and ambitious in a working-class neighborhood in Connecticut; her father was a tough but good-hearted cop who listened to his daughter's problems, and her mother was a nervous woman eager to imagine the worst. From an early age, Beverly displays a keen intelligence and an interest in literature, and dreams of going to college in New York and becoming a writer. However, she also develops an early interest in boys, and at 15 finds herself madly in love with a boy from her high school. However, an attempt to get his attention leads to an embarassing incident at a party, and Ray, a sweet but thick-headed 18-year-old, steps forward to defend her. Beverly and Ray end up making out, and after one thing leads to another, Beverly discovers she's pregnant. Telling Ray is only marginally less difficult...

Plot Keywords

single mother, based on novel, manic depression, 1960s, coming of age, teenage pregnancy, drug addiction, father daughter relationship, pregnant teenager, writer, teenage girl, education, dysfunctional marriage, based on autobiography, defecation, unrequited love, friendship, flashback, flash forward, family relationships

Short Review

Beverly is supposed to be a bad girl running with the wrong crowd, but most of the time she seems to be right out of a serioso episode of Laverne & Shirley.