Beautiful Girls

Dir: Ted Demme, 1996 (9.3*) Terrific small and heartwarming comedy of a high school reunion and "being guys", thanks to the screenplay and acting. Timothy Hutton returns home to find that his friends, notably Michael Rapaport, Matt Dillon, whose past heartthrob Mira Sorvino is now married to someone else (with 'surprise', more bucks), and haven’t really changed much. Hutton finds new next-door neighbor is a precocious 14-yr old beauty, engagingly played by Natalie Portman (probably her best work), who gradually befriends him, obviously attracted by his "older man" charms (he’s 27 at the time, and engaged "back in the big city"). Uma Thurman shows up to visit a cousin, and all the guys love her "one of the guys" persona. Rosie O’Donnell has a hilarious scene griping about men, always wanting a playmate-type woman, "who doesn’t exist". One of my favorite comedy romances.
Quote: Beautiful girls give us hope, that someday we might have a girlfriend like that. (Rapaport).