there's a very select list of movies that i find unappealing; being a devoted fan of the medium, most movies would probably rate above average in my mind, in the same way that college students tend to receive grades better than c; i can rationalize my decisions based on the fact that so many other people are critical in other ways; not that i'm the joel-siegl-summer-rollercoaster-ride reviewer; merely that i take pleasure in some movies that are, empiracally, constructed with poor production values and/or lots of explosions;

into this mix comes Riding in Cars with Boyz. I didn't see it in the theatre, which made a considerable difference to the entire viewing experience, because I don't ever walk out of movies in the theatre. No matter how bad a movie might seem, I feel it's at least worth it to watch it all the way through at least once, mainly because otherwise you would have wasted your money. Videos other people rent, or purchase for me, are another story, although to be honest I can't remember the last movie that I've stopped watching before the end. I can however, remember the last movie I've watched that was as bad as RICWB, namely, Girl Interrupted. But I digress. The main plot of RICWB follows a young mother (played by Drew Barrymore) through her coming of age in the late sixties, seventies, and beyond. The troubles of getting pregnant before marriage, of tearing her family apart, and of general bad luck seem to strike her constantly. The few moments of humor seem to revolve around her lazy, forgetful husband (Steve Zahn) who seems unable to complete even the simplest of tasks. Mix in some scenes of Drew almost drowning her kid while high, everyone and their second cousin going to NYU except the main character, and some po-mo chronology shifts, and the movie takes shape. Unfortunately, the story just isn't that compelling...aside from seeing James Woods play the conservative cop/father role well, the movie just languishes. In fact, as the evening wore on, my interest fell below zero, and the video was stopped. Penny Marshall, who brought us Big and A League of Their Own seems to have struck out with this movie. Her ability to make us connect with characters simply didn't take place for me, and I found myself wishing that they'd all just go away. The inability to keep the story fresh and exciting kills any hope of interest in the end. Perhaps the ending redeems the film, perhaps not. I'll probably never know.