A film like this is refreshing and startling in the way it cuts loose from formula and shows us confused lives we recognize.
Comment
10/19/01
Riding in Cars with Boys (2001)
48
%
Tomatometer
How does the Tomatometer work 
Reviews Counted:107
Fresh:51
Rotten:56
Average Rating:5.2/10
Consensus: Riding in Cars With Boys suffers from mixing grit and pathos with cuteness and comedy. Ironically, many critics found Zahn's character more compelling and three-dimensional than Barrymore's.
Runtime: 2 hrs 11 mins
Genre: Dramas
Synopsis: Beverly loves boys, but she knows her limits: nothing below the waist (hers), if she doesn't know the boy. Ray, however, a sweet-natured but shiftless young man is the exception to her rule and... [More]
Starring: Drew Barrymore, Steve Zahn, James Woods, Brittany Murphy
Director: Penny Marshall
Reviews for Riding in Cars with Boys
Top CriticAs a flawed but lovably lionhearted woman, Barrymore triumphantly comes of age as an actress.
10/19/01
From Barrymore [Marshall's] drawn a performance that can grate but that also, in spite of the age limitations, sparkles.
10/19/01
Suffers from an uncertain and sometimes inappropriate tone, as well as a rather unwieldy length.
10/19/01
Through the very lengthy story, Barrymore and troublesome hubby Steve Zahn stumble a few times, too, but manage to be convincing by the conclusion.
10/19/01
Top CriticGenerosity of spirit -- typical of director Penny Marshall's work -- makes Riding in Cars less edgy (or progressive) than it might have been.
10/19/01
For all its characters' weaknesses, it believes in their essential decency and capacity for love -- and for a good deal of the time it makes us believers, too.
10/19/01
Top CriticA trip that has an entirely predictable destination, and tugs far too insistently on the heartstrings in getting there.
10/19/01
Delivers a gentle and understanding slice of Americana while tackling some very tough subject matter.
10/18/01
Top CriticZahn puts in a sterling performance well worth the price of admission.
10/18/01
An uneasy mix of comedy and soap-opera bathos, only partly redeemed by some strong performances.
10/18/01
There are moments of real truth and genuine emotion in the goo.
10/18/01
A funny, poignant adaptation of Beverly D'Onofrio's autobiography, and a chick flick that's refreshingly sap-free.
10/18/01
Chalks up victories for Drew Barrymore, Steve Zahn, director Penny Marshall, and almost its entire supporting cast.
10/18/01
After a successful comedic hour or so, the movie makes a sharp turn and becomes a long piece of shameless schmaltz that doesn't know when to stop.
10/18/01
Buried under the miscalculations, the shamelessness, the off-putting and inappropriate broadness are sporadically visible souvenirs of a good project gone bad.
10/18/01
Top CriticA funny and sometimes aching movie that treads familiar dysfunctional family turf but still manages to eke out an emotionally toned balance.
10/18/01
Left a lot of the book's plot on the cutting-room floor in the transition from the page to the screen.
10/18/01
Top CriticLost in a void between rendering tears of joy and tears of laughter.
10/18/01
There is a complex heroine in here somewhere, but Barrymore and director Penny Marshall are so intent on making her likable that the movie flounders in cheap pathos.
10/18/01
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