Beautiful Girls

 

Beautiful Girls 

A 1996 Romantic Comedy-Drama

I wrapped up the Bentley Pontoons photoshoot this past week, and over the weekend, I gave myself permission to simply unwind. I had a punch list of tasks waiting, but I barely made a dent in it. Instead, I found myself drawn to rewatching familiar movies…there is comfort in nostalgia. 

One of them was Beautiful Girls…a classic. Great cast, unforgettable soundtrack, and a storyline that makes the relationships feel real: friendships, romances, even the messy affairs.

The story unfolds during a ten-year high school reunion in a snow-covered Massachusetts town where most of the graduates never strayed too far…except Willie (Timothy Hutton), a struggling pianist who finds himself at a crossroads…professionally…romantically and existentially.   

For me, it’s Marty, Natalie Portman, who steals the show. An impossibly wise 13-year-old who sets her heart on Willie. “I’m 13, but I have an old soul,” she says. And “My name is the bane of my existence.” She calls Willie “a dude in flux.” Her intellect, charm, and emotional depth are far beyond her years. And yes, she is…was…a beautiful girl.

The scenes between Willie and Marty are brief but tender. Innocent, yet deeply affecting. Their connection becomes the emotional heartbeat of the film…genuine, endearing, and unforgettable.

The ice pond scene stands out most for me. Marty asks Willie to be her boyfriend, saying, “If your feelings for me are true, you will wait,” and “Yep, wait five years for me… I’ll be 18.” Then the line that lingers: “We can walk through this world together.”

It made me wonder…do we look back with longing for what might’ve been, or do we lean into the unknown of what’s next? Do we cling to the wild, untamed spirit of youth, or embrace the steadiness of commitment and growth?

Overall…the movie is a snapshot of small-town life and the emotional growing pains of men who haven’t quite grown up.  It seems relatable…funny and deeply human. 

One obsesses over supermodels…one clings to his past glory…and then there is Willie…paralyzed by indecision. 

"Supermodels are beautiful girls, Will.  A beautiful girl can make you dizzy, like you've been drinking Jack and Coke all morning.  She can make you feel high...full of the single greatest commodity known to man...promise.  Promise of a better day.  Promise of a greater hope.  Promise of a new tomorrow. This particular aura can be found in the gait of a beautiful girl.  In her smile, in her soul, the way she makes every rotten little thing about life seem like it's going to be okay.  The supermodels, Willy?  That's all they are.  Bottled promise.  Scenes from a brand-new day. Hope dancing in stiletto heels." - Paul

There’s something hauntingly poetic about this. Beneath the romanticism lies a subtle melancholy...as if Paul knows that this “promise” is fleeting. Bottled promise isn’t just a clever phrase; it’s the emotional undercurrent of the entire film. It threads through the characters’ longing, their nostalgia, their quiet desperation to hold onto something pure before it slips away.

It felt...to me...like a quiet rebellion against growing up. A race to figure out what life is supposed to be before the weight of adulthood settles in. The film doesn’t mock that yearning...it honors it, even as it gently nudges its characters toward reality.

Maybe it really is that simple. Like Uma Thurman’s character says: “All she needs is to hear four words before she goes to sleep. Four little words. ‘Good night, sweet girl.’ That’s all it takes. I’m easy, I know, but a guy who can muster up those four words is a guy I want to stay with.”

Do we overcomplicate things? Maybe. Maybe not. That’s for you to decide. As for me, I’ll keep hitting play on Beautiful Girls. Again, and again.

Good night, sweet readers.