My Girl (film)
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- For other uses, see My Girl.
| My Girl | |
|---|---|
 Promotional movie poster for the film |
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| Directed by | Howard Zieff |
| Produced by | Brian Grazer Joseph M. Caracciolo David T. Friendly |
| Written by | Laurice Elehwany |
| Starring | Dan Aykroyd Jamie Lee Curtis Macaulay Culkin Anna Chlumsky |
| Music by | James Newton Howard |
| Distributed by | Columbia Pictures |
| Release date(s) | November 27, 1991 (USA) |
| Running time | 102 min. |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $15,000,000 US (est.) |
| Followed by | My Girl 2 |
| IMDb profile | |
My Girl is a 1991 coming-of-age dramatic comedy starring Dan Aykroyd, Jamie Lee Curtis, Macaulay Culkin and Anna Chlumsky. It was written by Laurice Elehwany and directed by Howard Zieff.
A sequel, My Girl 2, was released in 1994.
Contents |
[edit] Plot
Set in Madison, Pennsylvania in the summer of 1972, My Girl is a story of first love and loss.
Vada Sultenfuss (Chlumsky) is a precocious 11-year-old tomboy and a hypochondriac. Vada's father, Harry Sultenfuss (Aykroyd), is an awkward widower who doesn't seem to understand his daughter, and as a result, constantly ignores her. His profession as a funeral director has led Vada to develop an obsession with death and disease.
Vada is also teased by other girls because her best friend, Thomas J Sennett (Culkin), is a boy. Their summer adventures - from first kiss to last farewell - introduce Vada to the world of adolescence.
Vada's summer begins well. She befriends Shelley Devoto (Curtis), the new make-up artist at her fathers funeral parlour, who provides her with some much needed guidance. She is also infatuated with her teacher, Mr Bixler, and steals some money from Shelley's trailer to attend a summer writing class that he is teaching.
But before long, things start to fall apart. Her father and Shelley start dating, she finds out that Mr Bixler is engaged and then she loses her best friend.
Her grief, however, manages to mend the rift between her and her father, and by the end of the movie, Vada has not only managed to deal with her pain, but overcome some of her previous issues.
[edit] Cast
- Harry Sultenfuss - Dan Aykroyd
- Shelly Devoto - Jamie Lee Curtis
- Thomas J Sennett - Macaulay Culkin
- Vada Sultenfuss - Anna Chlumsky
- Phil Sultenfuss - Richard Masur
- Jake Bixler - Griffin Dunne
- Gramoo Sultenfuss - Ann Nelson
[edit] Trivia
- This film marked the first on-screen kiss for both Macaulay Culkin and Anna Chlumsky.
- Named after the 1965 Temptations song My Girl.
- To capture summertime Pennsylvania in the midst of a winter production schedule, the film was shot in Orlando, Florida and its surrounding communities.
- The house used as the Sultenfuss' residence is actually a bed & breakfast inn in Bartow, Florida.
- Macaulay Culkin and Anna Chlumsky won an MTV Movie Award for "Best Kiss" and were nominated for "Best On-Screen Duo" in 1992. Anna Chlumsky was also nominated in the "Best Breakthrough Performance" category.
- Thomas J's death is referenced in a season 1 episode of The OC. After crying during an intense conversation with ex-girlfriend Marissa, Luke later tells her that he hasn't cried like that 'since Macaulay Culkin died in My Girl'.
- The working title for this film was "Born Jaundiced".
