Search - Riding in Cars With Boys on DVD

MPAA Rating: PG-13 Content Advisory: Adult Situations, Questionable for Children, Profanity, Sexual Situations, Drug Content Movie Release: 2001 DVD Release: 03/19/2002 Format: DVD - Enhanced Wide Screen Letterbox for 16x9 TV Edition: Special Collection Audio Tracks: English, French Subtitles: English, French, Korean, Thai SwapaDVD Credits: 1 Number of Discs: 1 Run Time: 2 hrs 11 mins Studio: Columbia TriStar Total Copies: 65 Genres: Comedy Drama, Marriage Drama, Coming-of-Age

Penny Marshall directed this serio-comic story, based on the memoir by Beverly Donofrio, about a young woman who finds her life radically altered by an event from her teen years. Born in 1950, Beverly (Drew Barrymore) grew up bright and ambitious in a working-class neighborhood in Connecticut; her father (James Woods) was a tough but good-hearted cop with an understanding ear for his daughter's problems, and her mother (Lorraine Bracco) was a nervous woman eager to imagine the worst. From an early age, Beverly displays a keen intelligence and an interest in literature, and she dreams of going to college in New York and becoming a writer. However, she also develops a precocious interest in boys, and at 15 finds herself madly in love with a boy from her high school. However, an attempt to get his attention leads to an embarassing incident at a party, and Ray Hasek (Steve Zahn), a sweet but thick-headed 18-year-old, steps forward to defend her. Beverly and Ray end up making out, and after one thing leads to another, Beverly discovers she's pregnant. Telling Ray is only marginally less difficult than informing her parents, and at 16, Beverly is a wife and mother. Against the odds, Beverly is determined to still finish high school and go on to college, but that goal becomes more difficult with time, especially after Beverly's marriage begins to fall apart; while Ray tries to do the right thing, he has trouble holding a job, and circumstances become all the more difficult when Beverly learns her husband is addicted to heroin. Riding in Cars With Boys also stars Brittany Murphy as Beverly's best friend Fay; Beverly's son Jason is played, at various points in his life, by Adam Garcia (age 20), Logan Lerman (age eight), Cody Arens (age six), and Logan Arens (age three). ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Drew Barrymore - Beverly Donofrio
Steve Zahn - Ray Hasek
Brittany Murphy - Fay Forrester
Adam Garcia - Jason Donofrio
Lorraine Bracco - Mrs. Donofrio
Sara Gilbert - Tina
Maggie Gyllenhaal - Amelia

Drew Barrymore finds life, love, and pregnancy difficult in director Penny Marshall's Riding in Cars With Boys. Featured in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen, this transfer looks very nice with only a few visible signs of defects (including some edge enhancement and artifacting). Otherwise, this picture displays warm colors and dark black levels. The audio is presented in Dolby Digital 5.1 in English and is appropriate for the film it supports. Since this is primarily a dialogue-driven comedy-drama, the directional effects are confined mainly to the front and center speakers with only a handful of effects leaking out of the rear channels. Also included on this disc are subtitles in English, Chinese, French, Korean, and Thai, as well as a Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack in French. Extra features consist of: a humorous commentary track by star Drew Barrymore (who is both bubbly and professional); an HBO making-of featurette that is only mildly interesting; four featurettes ("Drew's Trailer Tour," "Bev and Ray's House: Re-creating Reality," "The Cars," and "Beverly and Jason: Sons and Lovers") which add up to a grand total of around 13 minutes; a few theatrical trailers; and some cast and crew filmographies. ~ Patrick Naugle, All Movie Guide