Riding in Cars with Boys

Grade: B-

Penny Marshall tries so hard not to make another drippy, sappy story that the Marshall clan have become famous for, that instead she’s come up with an incredibly gray, unhappy little tale indeed. Nobody smiles, especially not Drew Barrymore, fine as a teen and as a twentysomething, far less convincing as a mom with a twenty year old son. She’s so damn unhappy that she’s downright unpleasant to be around, making it all really difficult to care that much about her and her plight. Steve Zahn does an Oscar-caliber job as Drew’s nare-do-well but well-meaning husband, although his addiction to heroin plotline feels contrived and over the top as well. Still, this is a generally well-acted and well-meaning film, and it’s nice to see Drew stretch herself beyond the goofy but sweet bubblehead characters she usually portrays on film. Sweet, overlong, pleasant failure.

More Movie Info: http://imdb.com/title/tt0200027/