AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL MOVIES WITH EXCEPTIONAL SOUNDTRACKS Part 2

 The second part of this series looks at the movies Riding In Cars With Boys and Outside Providence, which were based on autobiographical novels by Beverly Donofrio and Peter Farrelly. In this post I first provide synopses of the films, then as I did in Part 1, discuss how their soundtracks flesh out the stories. Lastly, I posit ways in which the plots of all four movies in this series differ or converge. Of particular interest to me is whether there is a common theme.

 

Riding In Cars With Boys-2001 

This film comes from the autobiography by Beverly Donofrio, the first of over ten books that she wrote or co-wrote. Penny Marshall, who was one of the first commercially successful female directors directed and had hits that included Big, Awakenings, Renaissance Man, and my all-time favorite A League of Their Own, directed the movie. This was the last project she worked on, and she used it to revisit a theme that was of significance to her: the barriers that women encounter when they try to succeed in a society that men control.

 

The story opens in Wallingford, Connecticut at the Donofrio home where Beverly’s mother, Teresa (Lorraine Bracco), and her Uncle Lou (Vincent Pastore) are decorating for Christmas. Meanwhile, eleven-year-old Beverly (Mika Boreem) waits for her dad to pick her up to go Christmas tree shopping. As chief of police, Leonard Donofrio (James Woods) is an important man in town and is well aware of the public scrutiny he endures daily. He picks up Bev in his police car and as they ride, the two talk about Bev’s irrefutably bright future and sing along to the Everly Brothers’ signature song “Dream.” This scene emphasizes how extremely close father and daughter are, with him perceiving her as exceptional, and her doing her best to earn the title.

 

Four years later, fifteen-year-old Beverly (Drew Barrymore) has seen her aspirations congeal into a plan of moving to New York City and becoming a well-known writer. However, an obstacle, by the name of Sky (Gabriel Carpenter), has arisen. One evening, Bev and her best friend Fay Forrester (Brittany Murphy) are getting ready to go to a party. While dressing, Bev confesses that she wrote a letter to Sky expressing her intense feelings for him and slipped it to him at school. Bev’s father doesn’t like his daughter’s friend because she hangs around with a fast crowd, but Bev looks up to the girl. Fay’s a loyal ally and an experienced woman who is dating an older man named Bobby, and Bev believes she can provide guidance when Sky doubtlessly asks her out. However, when the girls arrive at the party, instead of asking her for a date, Sky reads the letter aloud, causing the other kids to laugh. Humiliated, Bev runs into the bathroom to hide and encounters high school dropout Ray Hasek (Steve Zahn), who is immediately attracted to her. In fact, he is so smitten that when she tells him what Sky did, he runs out of the bathroom and socks the rude boy in the face. Before Sky and his friends can retaliate, Ray, Beverly, Fay, and Bobby drive away. The two couples end up parking in a secluded spot and have sex.

 

Six weeks later, Beverly discovers that she is pregnant. When she tells Ray, he immediately offers to marry her because he believes they are supposed to be together. He reassuringly explains, “nobody will love you like me.” Not feeling the same way, however, Beverly is devastated, as are her parents when they find out. Her father responds, “You ruined your life, and you broke my heart,” and insists that she and Ray get married. At the wedding, Fay announces that she is also pregnant and getting married to Bobby. Reality sets in shortly after the girls’ nuptials, however, as they begin to regret missing events like prom and graduation. Fay has a little girl that she names Amelia (Skye Bartusiak; Maggie Gyllenhaal). Beverly, who hoped both she and Fay would have daughters that would be friends for life, is once again disappointed when she delivers a boy whom she calls Jason (Jason and Logan Arens; Logan Lerman). Considering the missteps that led to Beverly’s and Ray’s marriage, it’s not surprising that a baby isn’t enough to make the couple happy. Although he’s a good father, no matter how deeply he loves Bev, Ray isn’t a good husband. He can’t hold a job or meet his obligations. As a result, Beverly becomes embittered, and she screams at him, “I’m just another wife yelling at her husband in front of the entire neighborhood.” 

 

The breaking point comes when Beverly has a chance to obtain a writing scholarship and Ray fails to show up to watch Jason, so she can go to the interview. Unfortunately, her mother isn’t available either, and she has to take her son with her. Even though the boy behaves well, the interviewer refuses to admit Beverly because her life is too chaotic to meet the program’s considerable demands. She doesn’t exactly blame Jason for this, but she experiences a level of disappointment wrapped in a fury so hot it blisters everyone it touches, including her son. Needless to say, this leaves permanent scars on their relationship. Meanwhile, she and Ray stumble along a couple more years before he finally goes to Leonard and confesses that he is addicted to heroin.

 

Beverly tries to help Ray kick the habit, but he fails because he doesn’t really want to quit. Eventually, he moves out, relieved to be free from the responsibilities of marriage and parenthood. Like so many people who grew up in the 1930s and 1940s, Teresa and Leonard believe in the “you made your bed, you lie in it” philosophy, so although they know that Beverly is in an untenable situation, they don’t give her any money. She tries to get by waitressing, but her income barely covers the bills, much less provide funds for college. Then Bobby leaves Fay for another woman, and she convinces Beverly to join her in making money by working for a local Pot dealer. Jason, who feels neglected, tells his grandfather what his mom and Fay are up to, and Leonard arrests both women and throws them in jail. Fay’s brother Dennis offers to bail her out if she and Amelia move to Arizona with him, and she agrees never to see Beverly again. Reluctantly, she agrees, then takes the money Beverly has been saving for college and bails her out, too. Fay and Amelia accompany Dennis to Arizona, leaving Beverly and Jason more socially isolated than ever.

 

Fifteen years later, Beverly has managed to earn a college degree and write an autobiography about the trials she faced when she got pregnant young, and her husband left her to raise the child alone. To get it published, however, she has to convince Ray to sign a release. On a frigid Connecticut morning, she gets Jason up early and makes him drive her through a snow-covered landscape to see his father. When they get to his place, a run-down trailer with a junk strewn lot, Beverly makes her son come to the door with her. When she knocks, a groggy woman with tangled hair dressed in a dingy bathrobe opens it. Upon learning who the visitors are, she invites them in and begins picking up while trying to roust Ray out of bed. He and Beverly were never a good fit, but now there is a stark difference between the carefully coiffed young woman who looks young enough to be her son’s girlfriend and the ragged man with rotting teeth who looks old enough to be his grandfather. Ray has not forgotten his manners, however, and politely introduces the unkempt woman as his wife Shirley (Rosie Perez). In reply, no-nonsense Beverly introduces Ray to his son.

 

Bev, Jason, and Ray sit down at the kitchen table, and she explains that she’s authored a book about their lives but needs Ray to sign a release before anyone will publish it. In the background, Shirley surreptitiously eavesdrops as she straightens up the kitchen. Never one to cause waves, Ray readily agrees to sign, but before he can, Shirley interrupts and says he’ll only do it if Beverly pays them a hundred thousand dollars. As Ray lays the pen down, Beverly walks out, leaving Jason to catch up with her. Both upset, mother and son finally have the confrontation that has been brewing for years. She accuses him of not caring that her publisher won’t publish her book, and he accuses her of being insensitive to how he feels upon learning that his father is a total failure. Finding herself and her child once again at an impasse, Beverly stalks off, leaving Jason to figure out where to go from there. Just then, Ray comes outside to empty the trash. He calls Jason over and slips him the signed form. When Jason asks what Shirley will say, Ray tells him not to worry about it. “Women want to forgive” but “you have to tell them that you need their help…or else they won’t do it.”

 

Jason takes the paper and goes searching for Beverly. When he finds her and hands over the form, she points out that she must have been a good mother because he turned out normal. He tells her that he’s actually nothing like normal and, as an example, confesses that he wants to go to college in Indiana with Amelia, but can’t leave because Beverly might need him. They seem doomed to spend the rest of their lives ensnared in this age-old tangle, then Jason suddenly grasps what his father meant, and asks his mother for help. To his amazement, the dynamic between them immediately transforms. Beverly turns the car over to him and offers to take care of his apartment. After Jason drives away, she goes to a phone booth and makes a call. A while later, Leonard pulls up, and she opens the door and gets in. As he drives her back to Wallingford, she starts humming “Dream” and then they both start to sing the song because they are optimists at heart and know that it’s never too late to wish for something more.

 

Summary

Riding in Cars With Boys has worthwhile topics to contemplate. First, it reminds us how priorities change in the years between childhood and adolescence, especially for girls who have to deal with the possibility of unplanned pregnancy. This was certainly a concern for Beverly in the 1960s, when birth control wasn’t readily available, and the story clearly displays the impact that her pregnancy had on her life. Her parents insist that she marry a boy that none of them thinks is right for her. This results in her having to forego her goals to rear the child she didn’t want and marry a man she didn’t love. Even though Theresa and Leonard Donofrio are trying to protect the reputations of all concerned, they actually succeed in condemning their daughter and grandchild to a future that is dependent on a drug addicted drop out. And it’s all for naught because when people learn that Beverly is divorced it’ll ruin her reputation anyway.

 

One significant scene takes place at the college, when Beverly loses the writing scholarship because she has a child. In the Twenty-First Century, she could sue the school for discrimination, but in the sixties, it was common for schools and employers alike to turn away women who were married, pregnant, or had children. Another intriguing scene is at Ray’s trailer. Even though he and Beverly have been divorced for years, she still has to acquire his permission to do what she wants with her life. Being familiar with the social barriers women face, Shirley readily grasps Beverly’s dilemma, and out of jealousy makes a demand that she knows will stop Beverly from fulfilling her dream.

 

My favorite scene, however, occurs when Ray tries to make things right by signing the release despite what could happen if Shirley finds out. In so doing, he sets Beverly free and, at the same time, gifts the son he selfishly abandoned with the secret to coping with his strong-willed mother. “Women want to forgive.” Even though his philosophy is inexcusably sexist, when it comes to Beverly, it is correct, as Jason quickly learns. Hopefully, our society has quit teaching girls to be so forgiving because there are actions the words “I’m sorry” can never excuse. Even if we teach our boys that “no means no” nothing will change unless we teach our daughters that a guy worth having won’t walk away if he doesn’t get his way, and any guy who does walk away is not worth having.

 

The movie’s music not only symbolizes the era in which the story takes place but does an excellent job of capturing Beverly’s personality. Other than “Dream” the tracks are primarily from 1960s top one hundred hits including “I Got You Babe” by Sonny and Cher, “One Fine Day” by The Chiffons, and “Down in the Boondocks” by Billy Joe Royal. In fact, apart from “Piece of My Heart” by Janice Joplin, the songs are mainstream pop, the kind of music that “nice girls” listen to. They aren’t cool because Beverly isn’t cool; she’s a nerd, a smart kid, who gets good grades and has plans for a bright future. In fact, she’s a bit of a mess, with hair that needs a good brushing and clothes that are both unfashionable and ill-fitting. The soundtrack contrasts sharply with that of Outside Providence, which is about an entirely different type of kid.

 

Outside Providence-1999

Of the four films presented in this series, this one is the least well-known. Outside Providence comes from the autobiography of well-known screen-writer and movie director Peter Farrelly. Although he has made some projects by himself, the author is best known for work he’s done with his brother Bobby. Their films include hits from the 1990s and 2000s including Dumb and Dumber, There’s Something About Mary, and Kingpin. Their 2019 hit Greenbook even won the Oscar for Best Picture.

 

The plot is a pretty typical 1990s teen movie, with a lead character that is a pothead loser who gets one last chance to clean up his act and win the pretty girl. When looked at more closely, however (translated to watching it countless times) multiple layers appear. Protagonist Timothy Dunphy (Shawn Hatosy) is the motherless son of Old Man Dunphy ((Alec Baldwin), a man who thinks calling his son ‘Dildo’ is funny, and the older brother and surrogate father to Jackie Dunphy (Tommy Bone) who has been a paraplegic since falling off the roof while rescuing a football. Tim’s love interest is the charming Jane Weston (Amy Smart that you might recognize as Kayleigh from The Butterfly Affect) who is clearly out of his league.

 

Tim, who spends his time hanging out with drug addled friends in his hometown of Providence, Rhode Island, is headed for big trouble because he and his friends are starting to commit crimes to support their drug habit. To save Tim from himself, Old Man Dunphy enrolls him in snooty Cornwall Academy in Cornwall, Connecticut. Tim is understandably unhappy with his father’s decision because it’s his senior year and the school is two hours away, meaning he won’t be able to hang out with friends. To make matters worse, the school prides itself on being an ultraconservative institution that only takes high-achieving students from wealthy families, which hardly describes Tim. His biggest concern, however, is that his father, who spends most of his free time drinking and playing poker with friends, won’t take care of Jackie, who has been Tim’s responsibility since their mother died when Jackie was a baby.

 

No matter how much he grumbles, however, Tim can’t change his dad’s mind, so he crams his clothes into a plastic garbage bag, dons his favorite jean jacket that has a big American flag sewn on the back, and hops the bus to Connecticut. From the second he disembarks, Tim notes that, just as he feared, he is not going to fit in. The school has a campus with regal buildings, carefully trimmed grounds, and students who walk around in dress pants, ties, and blazers. He’s actually thinking of turning around and going back home when a Frisbee lands close to him and a pretty girl calls for him to throw it back. Immediately smitten, he decides it might not hurt to stick around, for a while at least. Possessing strong leadership qualities and blessed with a charismatic personality, Tim quickly makes friends with a group of other outcasts and wins Jane’s heart.

 

Jane is particularly good for Tim. She not only makes life at Cornwall bearable but is a serious student who is determined to attend Brown University, an Ivy League college located in Providence. Her dedication to her education rubs off on Tim, and he also starts to take school seriously, not only to hang onto Jane, but to become someone who deserves her. Soon the two spend every day together, studying as well as playing. When her parents come to visit, Jane invites Tim along, and in turn, when the school gives students a free weekend, he takes her back to meet his friends and family in Providence.

 

Unfortunately, dorm master Funderbunk (Tim Crowe) doesn’t think Tim is good enough to go to Cornwall and pulls numerous sneaky stunts to get rid of him. None of his schemes work until security finds drugs in Jack Wheeler’s room (Gabriel Mann, a James Spader look alike) who is one of Tim’s posse. Funderbunk sees his chance and offers to write a glowing recommendation to Yale for Jack if he will help get rid of Tim. One evening, when Jane joins the boys in Tim’s dorm room to drink alcohol and smoke pot, Jack excuses himself to make a phone call. A few minutes later, Funderbunk barges in, sends Jane packing, and threatens to expel Tim. Tim agrees to go quietly as long as the school doesn’t punish his friends. Funderbunk agrees, but his hatred for the boy is so great, that he breaks his promise by convincing the Dean to give Tim and the other boys chores and expel Jane. Then he writes to Brown’s Dean of Admissions and tattles on Jane. Appalled, the Dean cancels her acceptance.

 

At first, Tim feels that this is his fault, but when Jack, who is not a stellar student, reveals that he got into Yale because Funderbunk recommended him, Tim puts everything together. Accusing the boy of ruining Jane’s life, Tim grabs him and threatens to push him off the roof. Fortunately, he stops, and after telling the traitorous boy that his life will suck, regardless of where he goes to college, Tim walks away. The next day he hitches back to Providence, tells the Dean at Brown that Jane is innocent, and convinces him to reconsider letting her attend. In the end, everything turns out well for all concerned. Brown reinstates Jane, The Community College in Providence (which accepts everyone) accepts Tim, and he and Jane make long-term plans for the future.

 

Summary

From the beginning, Tim seems wild and rebellious, possibly because his mother is dead, and his father isn’t a good role model. Old man Dunphy has so little interest in his kids, in fact, that he lets Tim raise his baby brother. While Tim’s love for Jackie is admirable, we can’t help but worry that his hands-off approach to child-rearing will end up getting the kid killed. As the plot unravels, however, it becomes apparent that Tim’s theory is based on the likelihood that he will not always be around. His mother died young, and he gets in so much trouble he’ll end up in jail eventually. And while he makes Jackie navigate busy streets and staircases unaided, the kid actually handles himself pretty well, signifying that Tim might be right.

 

A big mystery in Tim’s family is the circumstance surrounding his mother’s demise. Since Jackie was so young when she died, he has to depend on Tim for information. The trouble is Tim can’t tell him much because all he has are flashbacks, slivers of the family celebrating Christmas together or sharing a sumptuous home-cooked meal. The movie doesn’t reveal the ugly reality about Mrs. Dunphy’s death until Tim goes home to confront his father about causing his mother’s death when he filed for divorce. The accusation not only exposes the root of Tim’s contempt for his father but gives his father an opportunity to finally tell his side of the story. Near tears, he begs Tim to understand that his mother was mentally ill, and her symptoms were making him crazy. Thus, rather than not caring about his wife, Mr. Dunphy has kept her secret, so the kids would remember her favorably.

 

Throughout the movie, there are snippets of Old Man Dunphy and his poker buddies sitting around the kitchen table playing cards and chatting. One night the topic of homosexuality comes up and one of the guys (George Wendt) says that he’s actually gay. His friends laugh because it can’t be true, but the next time they get together, he says it again. In a show of camaraderie, the men declare that they don’t care whether he is or not because they are friends and friends don’t judge. The scenes don’t make sense until Tim and his dad talk about what happened with Tim’s mother, and then the point becomes clear. People don’t have to hide the truth from those who love them because love is acceptance. In point of fact, Tim has always been in trouble over the years, but his father has always been there for him, and now it’s time for Tim to do the same for his father. That is how unconditional love works.

 

Because the characters are edgier in this film, the music is rawer. The lyrics of the first track “Won’t Get Fooled Again” by The Who suggests that things won’t be what they seem. Much of this has to do with the way Tim idolizes his mother and condemns his father. Once he and his father open up to one another, however, Tim comes to understand that his mother was not perfect, no one is, and that his father, though flawed, has done his best to be a good parent. Other songs from bands like the Eagles, Yes, and Steely Dan fit well with the progression of the plot, and the last track “Free Bird” by Leonard Skynyrd sums things up nicely. There has been a lot of “fooling” going on in the story, especially the lies that Tim has been telling himself. Once he sees things from his father’s perspective, however, he lets go of his self-imposed grudge against the world, squares his shoulders, and does what his father did not do. He stands up for the girl he loves.

 

Discussion

It's pretty easy to see how the four films in this series differ: the ages, races, family types (single parents vs. married parents), social statuses, and goals are varied. Two of the protagonists are female, and the other two are male. However, there is one strong similarity. All four films try to answer the question: what makes a person grow up? In each case, the answer is: the character must come face to face with a life limiting conundrum and overcome it. Troy has to help her family, William has to save Penny’s life, Beverly has to show her son that she loves him, and finally, Tim has to learn how to do the right thing.

 

In Sociology, there is a concept called, “Taking the role of the other.” This consists of looking at circumstances through another person’s eyes and trying to feel what that person is feeling. In these four films, the main characters don’t begin to grow until they put themselves in someone else’s place. Troy imagines how Carolyn’s death has affected her family members; William imagines how Penny feels after seeing Russel with his fiancé; Beverly imagines what it must be like for Jason after witnessing the disaster his father has made of his life, and lastly, Tim imagines what it must have been like for his father to love someone who was self-destructive.

 

As usual, people like some of these movies better than other. Almost Famous comes out on top with scores of 89% by critics and 92% by the audience on Rotten Tomatoes, and an overall score of 7.9/10 on IMDB. In second place is Crooklyn, which comes in at 78% and 90% on Rotten Tomatoes and 7/10 on IMDB. Riding in Cars with Boys ratings are a disappointing 49% and 66% in Rotten Tomatoes and 6.5/10 on IMDB, which is actually slightly less than the ratings or Outside Providence that scores 51% and 65% on Rotten Tomatoes and 6.4/10 on IMDB. I find the rankings for Riding in Cars with Boys particularly disappointing because the cast includes Drew Barrymore, James Woods, Brittany Murphy, Steve Zahn, Rosie Perez, and Lorraine Bracco who were all pretty popular actors at the time the film was made.

 

Currently, you can watch Crooklyn for free on Starz and Spectrum, or rent it on Prime Video, Apple TV, and VUDU. If you want to own it, it’ll cost around nine bucks at Amazon, eBay, and Walmart. You can find Almost Famous on Showtime, Spectrum, Amazon Prime, VUDU, Redbox, and Apple TV, but do some comparison shopping because rents are higher on some streaming services than on others. A new DVD runs about $6 to $7 at eBay, Walmart, and Amazon. Best Buy even offers the 4K Bluetooth version, but it’s around $18. Riding in Cars With Boys is available at the usual places, but right now is free to watch on Tubi, and eBay has used copies for $3 or $4. Lastly, most streaming services have Outside Providence to rent, but unless you still own a VCR, a used DVD will cost eleven to twelve dollars on Amazon. Since the movie has become something of a cult classic over the years, a new DVD will cost you $30 or more.

 

In a couple of months, I will start a new series. I haven’t decided what just yet, but the movies will be good, or that I consider good. Until then, stay cool.