Review of Riding in Cars with Boys (2001) by Jennifer B — 29 Aug 2010

"Riding in Cars with Boys" illustrates the challenges unplanned teenage pregnancies pose. "Laverne & Shirley" comedian Penny Marshall, whose credits include "A League of Their Own" and "Awakenings," pulls no punches in this sappy but unglamorous big-screen adaptation of real-life protagonist Beverly Donofrio's autobiography. Told largely in flashbacks, this cautionary yarn paints a bleak but rewarding picture about Donofrio's struggle raising a son with an undependable dad. When she learns about her husband's addiction to heroin, Donofrio kicks him out and raises her son alone. Not only does she take menial low-paying jobs, but also she sacrifices her dreams about college. Hollywood hellion Drew Barrymore of "Charlie's Angels" fame knows something about life's hard knocks from her highly publicized substance abuse problems, so she makes a believable single mom. Clocking in at well over two hours, "Riding in Cars with Boys" blends comedy with tragedy and features a first-rate cast including Rosie Perez, Brittany Murphy, and "Sopranos" star Lorraine Bracco. Indeed, this down-to-earth, realistic tearjerker should serve as required viewing for lusty high schoolers whose obsession with sex fails to factor in small town New England the consequences when a booty call backfires.

Drew Barrymore plays the disaster-prone oldest daughter of strait-laced police chief Leo Donofrio (James Woods of "Once Upon a Time in America") growing up in small town New England in the turbulent 1960s. Young Beverly displays a knack for writing poetry. After school one evening, best friend Fay (Brittany Murphy of "Don't Say A Word") and she crash a "Can't Hardly Wait" house party. Starry-eyed Beverly reads a poem she penned for an egotistical football athlete she has a crush on. Callously, the stereotypical letter-jacket jock lambastes her literary efforts. A grief-stricken Beverly locks herself in an upstairs bathroom, only to find herself confined with lovable low-life Raymond Hasek (Steve Zahn of "Joyride"). Eventually, not only do they hit it off as friends, but also they become lovers. Ray gets fifteen-year old Beverly pregnant, and a shotgun marriage follows. Well-meaning but infantile, Ray isn't fit for fatherhood. Foolishly, he gets hooked on heroin, and Beverly divorces him. Our sympathetic heroine doesn't fare much better as a single mom. She blames all her failures on her son. As Jason gets older, he takes care of her. Beverly and Jason (Adam Garcia of "Coyote Ugly") are driving out-of-town to visit Ray, who has since remarried, when the film opens with a flashback. Although Beverly has written a memoir about her misadventures, her publisher wants her to obtain a signed release from Ray before the book can be printed.

Marshall and writer Morgan Upton Ward refuse to sugarcoat this ambitious but downbeat PG-13 saga about the perils of teen parenthood. The wedding scene when Beverly's embarrassed father thanks his friends for showing up is a classic bittersweet moment. Although the pace becomes sluggish and uneven, with characters drifting in and out of the story, the message about unplanned pregnancies loses none of its impact. Altogether, "Riding in Cars with Boys" qualifies as a must-see movie for parents, teenagers, and high school guidance counselors.