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Uptown Girls
by
debbie lynn elias
Writers Julia Dahl, Mo Ogrodnik and Lisa Davidowitz take co-producer Allison Jacobs' story and do an "okay" job with the concocted premise but fall short in many areas, losing out on golden opportunities to expand on what is clearly a film about the interaction and growth of two personalities. They have several set-ups that are never followed through, leaving the audience to sit and go "huh?", not to mention giving little snippets into various aspects of the main characters, particularly Molly, but then dropping the ball. The team does, however, maintain a fantasy-like, but not predictable, premise when writing the relationship between Molly and Ray and that's a good thing, making you believe that these two lost souls, with similar backgrounds and lack of parental guidance and concern, despite their fourteen year age difference, could be best friends.
Superfluous characters distract from the story - and in one case due to mis-casting. Molly's romance with her wanna-be boyfriend Neal has no chemistry and lacks believability, looking more like an ink plot on a page, a distraction rather than enhancement. Likewise, Molly's best friend Ingrid is so irritatingly written that you can see why Molly is bonding with an 8 year old. And Ray's mother, another wasted plot line that could have been developed so much better.
The real joy here is in the work of
Brittany Murphy and Dakota Fanning. Murphy, who gave a riveting
performance in "Don't Say A Word" and who I was less than
thrilled with in "Just Married", shows some real talent here
as Molly. Deliciously colorful, Murphy exhibits an effortless and
mischievousness naivety with a comic twist. Dakota Fanning is
indescribable as Ray. Referred to by some as one of the most, if not the
most, adult child actor captured on film, I must agree. Here, as the
character's bravado exterior is cracked, we see Dakota's delicately
layered performance as she exposes the young lost, and even frightened,
child that was hidden inside. Wasted on an under-developed role is
Heather Locklear as Ray's mother Roma. Talented and still flawlessly
beautiful, it's hard to believe she's taking on roles of mothers. Still,
it would have been nice to see her be able to run with the part.
Locklear has an incredible sense of comic timing and the ability to
bring dimension to any character she plays given the chance. Here, the
writers failed to give her that
chance. What a loss.
Director Boaz Yakin, who did such an excellent job with "Remember the Titans" and 1994's "Fresh", must have been absent a lot when shooting "Uptown Girls." Although Murphy and Fanning click, the rest of the movie doesn't click with them and actually gets in the way of this delightful pairing. Extremely rough around the edges with some obvious bad editing choices in the final cut that detract from the main storyline, Yakin could have taken what is an overall average cute film and made it a good film. He didn't. Despite its flaws, "Uptown Girls" is a cute film with some charming moments and emotional complexity thanks to two standout lead performances by Murphy and Fanning that shouldn't be missed.
Molly Gunn: Brittany Murphy
Ray Schleine: Dakota Fanning
Roma Schleine: Heather Locklear
Ingrid: Marley Shelton
Neal: Jesse Spencer
MGM Pictures presents a film directed by Boaz Yakin. Written by Julia Dahl, Mo Ogrodnik, Lisa Davidowitz and Allison Jacobs. Rated PG-13 (for sexual content and language). Running time: 93 minutes.