My Girl (film)
 |
| My Girl | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Howard Zieff |
| Written by | Laurice Elehwany |
| Produced by | Brian Grazer Joseph M. Caracciolo David T. Friendly |
| Starring | Dan Aykroyd Jamie Lee Curtis Macaulay Culkin Anna Chlumsky Peter Michael Goetz |
| Narrated by | Anna Chlumsky |
| Cinematography | Paul Elliot |
| Music by | James Newton Howard |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Columbia Pictures |
Release date | November 27, 1991 |
Running time | 102 min. |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $15 million |
| Box office | $59,847,243 |
My Girl is a 1991 American drama film directed by Howard Zieff and written by Laurice Elehwany. The film depicts the coming-of-age of a young girl who faces many different emotional highs and lows and stars Dan Aykroyd and Jamie Lee Curtis in their first film together since 1983's Trading Places. The film also stars Macaulay Culkin and Anna Chlumsky in her feature film debut.
A sequel, My Girl 2, was released in 1994.
Plot
The film is set in Madison, Pennsylvania, in the summer of 1972. Vada Sultenfuss (Anna Chlumsky) is an 11-year-old tomboy and a hypochondriac. Vada's father, Harry Sultenfuss (Dan Aykroyd), is an awkward widower who does not understand his daughter, so he constantly ignores her. His profession as a funeral director, for which the Sultenfuss' residence serves as a funeral parlor, has led Vada to develop an obsession with death. She thinks that she killed her mother, who died giving birth to her. Vada regularly tends to her invalid grandmother Gramoo (Ann Nelson), who suffers from Alzheimer's disease. Harry's brother Phil (Richard Masur), who lives nearby, also stops by frequently to help out the family.
Vada is teased by other girls and her best friend is Thomas J. Sennett (Macaulay Culkin), an unpopular boy who is allergic to "everything." One day, Vada gets squirted with a water gun by Thomas J., which makes Vada chase Thomas J. into the woods. Once there, they throw rocks at a beehive and end up getting chased by bees. During the encounter, Vada loses her mood ring.
Vada's summer begins well. She befriends Shelly DeVoto (Jamie Lee Curtis), the new make-up artist at her father's funeral parlor, who provides her with some much needed guidance. She is also infatuated with her teacher, Mr. Bixler (Griffin Dunne), and steals some money from Shelly's trailer to attend a summer writing class that he is teaching. However, soon things start to fall apart.
Her father and Shelly start dating and get engaged. Vada experiences her first menstrual cycle; Shelly explains it after Vada runs around the house yelling that she is hemorrhaging. A couple of days later, Vada and Thomas J. sit at the dock by the river and end up kissing. Then, Thomas J. goes into the forest to look for Vada's mood ring and finds it, but gets stung by the bees and dies of an allergic reaction. Soon after, Vada discovers that Mr. Bixler is about to get married to someone else. Shelly and Harry get into an argument at Thomas J.'s funeral, and Shelly angrily tells Harry that life isn't just about death, as well as not to ignore the living, especially his daughter.
Vada's grief, however, manages to mend the rift between her and her father. She learns that her mother's death after her birth wasn't her fault (since her father tells her that things like mothers dying in childbirth aren't anybody's fault; they just happen without explanation). Eventually Vada makes a new friend, and not only comes to terms with her pain and grief, but also overcomes some of her previous issues as well.
Cast
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Anna Chlumsky | Vada Sultenfuss, an 11-year-old tomboy. |
| Macaulay Culkin | Thomas James Sennett, Vada's best friend. |
| Dan Aykroyd | Harry Sultenfuss, Vada's father, a tuba player and funeral director. He falls for Shelly and takes her out to play bingo. They eventually start dancing, dating, and kissing, and later become engaged, much to Vada's dismay. |
| Jamie Lee Curtis | Shelly DeVoto, a make-up artist who acts as Vada's female role model. She is in love with Harry. They go on a date and later get engaged. |
| Richard Masur | Phil Sultenfuss, Harry's brother and Vada's uncle, who often stops by to help the family. |
| Ann Nelson | Gramoo, Vada's grandmother, who has Alzheimer's disease. |
| Griffin Dunne | Mr. Bixler, Vada's engaged summer writing teacher with whom she is in love. |
Music
The soundtrack of the film contains many classic 1960s and 1970s pop hits in addition to the title song, including such oldies-radio staples as "Wedding Bell Blues" (The 5th Dimension), "If You Don't Know Me by Now" (Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes), "Bad Moon Rising" (Creedence Clearwater Revival), "Good Lovin'" (The Rascals), and "Saturday in the Park" (Chicago). When she gets upset, Vada plugs her ears and sings "Do Wah Diddy Diddy", the Manfred Mann version of which is also included on the soundtrack album. In addition, Vada and Thomas J. play "The Name Game" and sing "Witch Doctor" in the film, and Vada has posters of The Carpenters and Donny Osmond on her bedroom wall.
In other languages
- Arabic فتاتي
- Chinese – 小鬼初恋 – Xiǎoguǐ Chūliàn – (literally Imp First Love)
- English – My Girl
- Portuguese – O Meu Primeiro Beijo – (literally My First Kiss), Meu Primeiro Amor – (literally My First Love) – (Brazil)
- Finnish – Tyttöni Mun – (literally My Girl)
- French – Copain Copine – (literally Boyfriend Girlfriend), L'Été de Mes Onze Ans – (literally The Summer of My Eleven Years) – (Canada)
- German – My Girl – Meine Erste Liebe – (literally My Girl – My First Love)
- Hungarian - My Girl – Az Első Szerelem – (literally My Girl – The First Love)
- Italian - Papà, Ho Trovato un Amico – (literally Daddy, I Found a Friend)
- Japanese - マイ ガール – Mai Gāru – (phonetically equivalent to My Girl)
- Polish - Moja Dziewczyna – (literally My Girl)
- Russian - Моя дочь – Moya dochʹ – (literally My Girl)
- Spanish - Mi Chica or Mi Primer Beso – (literally My Girl or My First Kiss)
- Turkish - Kız Arkadaşım – (literally My Girl Friend)