Big Girls Don't Cry... They Get Even

Description

Family problems have never been this hilarious! What's a teenage girl to do with a crazy new stepfamily, except escape? That's exactly what Hillary Wolf (Home Alone) does. And it brings all her moms, dads, and step-siblings out in force to find her.

Customer Reviews:

the way some familys are these days.......2007-01-12

This could happen to many family's these days as there are more and more multi parent familys

Really Good!.......2006-09-10

I just finished watching this movie on ABC Family:
It's really good! I didn't even realize that Sam was Ben Savage!
Kinda weird, because i love Boy Meets World!
Definitely watch this movie! It reminds me of Tune In Anytime by Caroline B. Cooney.

A Meaningful Sojourn.......2004-06-10

In this engaging serio-comedy, an intelligent-looking Hillary Wolf plays 13-year-old Laura Chartoff, the frustrated daughter of two self-absorbed much-married parents (Griffin Dunne and Margaret Whitton) who currently resides with her mother, stepfather(David Straithairn), and half-siblings,the military school student, Kurt, child prodigy Sam, and the overindulged beauty queen, Corrine (Trenton Tigen, Ben Savage, and Jenny Lewis) in a Beverly Hills mansion.
The story begins with Laura introducing her family situation via home video and narration of the events depicted in the video, and then deals with Laura's daily home situation, in which she laments the loss of her father's companionship. Currently, her artist father lives with his spacey girlfriend(Adrienne Shelley)who is pregnant with his twins, after being kicked out of the house for his affair by his schoolteacher wife, Barbara (Patrica Kalember) with whom he has a beautiful redhaired three-year-old(Jessica Seeley) who, like Laura, has also learned not to rely on him.
While Laura's mother and stepfather are out one evening, she gets a welcome respite from her lonely situation by the return of her estranged stepbrother Josh (Dan Futterman), with whom she'd had a good relationship. A series of incidents resulting from Josh's return leads to the breakage of Mrs. Powers' good china, and Laura's being blamed for it.
Hurt and sent over the edge, Laura decides to run off with Josh, who finds her in the back of his pick-up truck the next day.
The action then moves to the beautiful Yosemite Valley where Josh works at a camp resort. When the Powers family, who are irritated by Laura's waylaying their trip to Hawaii by her behavior,arrive at the camp to bring her home, Laura feels that Josh has reneged on his promise not to call her stepfather, and runs away again. Summoned by young Sam, David Chartoff and Shelley, arrive as well, as do Barbara and little Jessie.The decision to stay and find Laura is made only because the boy-crazy and shallow Corrine sees a hunk emerging from the lake and is prompted to make a phony speech about not abandoning her in her hour of need.
As the family gradually learn to put aside their differences for the sake of finding Laura, and seek the help of a seen-it-all before Sherriff and his ditzy assistant, Laura encounters a large conventional family, led by Josh Mostel. She spends time with them, but I found her glib attitude towards them to be a realistic one, taken by many children of divorced parents, and was glad to see a movie that dealt with that.
The trip to Yosemite turns out to be more meaningful than any planned trip to Hawaii would have been because the adults learn to resolve their long-held grievances, and decisions about whether or not to end certain relationships are made. As they wait for Laura, who encounters a group of hoodlums and displays her own tough side as a result of that encounter, relationships between the parents and children strenghthen. Along the way the snotty Corrine is humbled as well.
After an incident that finally brings her to tears, Laura returns to Josh's cabin to find something very special and priceless waiting for her, and she is finally given the answers about her family history that she had yearned for.In running away, she has brought her estranged family together, and she learns to value them as much as they do her.

Insist Upon Yourself.......2001-12-31

It's a shame that Hillary Wolf gave up acting for Judo because she is such a spectacular actress, but Hollywood can be rough and I can't help but understand.

This movie hit's close to home for those with or without a step family. You can relate to Laura Chartoff (Hillary) on some level in any part of the movie. Whether it's after her step sister Corrine (Jenny Lewis) states that she is "So drab" and she looks in the mirror and says "My body just hangs there like a boy, not even a good-looking boy. I wouldn't go out with a boy that looked like me that's the sad thing." or the way her step father Keith (David Strathairn) blames her for everything that goes wrong. There is also her father (The great actor and director Griffin Dunne) who has been married more times then he can soberly remember, his last wife (Patricia Kalember from "Sisters") left him with his three year old daughter Jessie (Jessica Seely) because he had an affair where the girl(Adrienne Shelley) became pregnant with twins or her mother (Margaret Whitton) who now treats Corrine like her real daughter in effect neglecting her REAL daughter in the process. Laura also has a half brother brainiac Sam (Ben Savage way before "Boy Meets World")

After being blamed for her stepbrothers breaking of her mothers China Laura runs away with her other stepbrother, whom she thinks of as her real brother and who has left the family he despises, Josh (Dan Futterman)to the mountains the day before the rest of the family is scheduled to go to Hawaii. This causes the entire family, stepmothers brothers and all to come together in the mountains to search for the run away who eventually runs away from Josh after he called her mother and stepfather on her.

Laura finds herself on her own forcing the rest of her family to stay together in one small cabin while the police look for the missing girl, which in effect causes the estranged family members to grow closer and learn to love one another again. Being on her own Laura discovers who she is and that she really does need all whacky members of her family.

This movie is good for families and more and I highly recommend it to anyone who thinks their family is dysfunctional; which is practically every family on the planet.

eleven year olds opinion.......2001-04-01

Big girls don't cry is a grate movie that I can relate to.my family is sorta like that. The charecter who plays Laura, reminds me of myself. any way this movie is a funny,somewhat toughing and you can really put your self in Lauras shoes.What Im trynig to say is the carecters are esay follow along with.The movie semed like it was one adveter after another.if I a could rate this move it would deffently be a ten.

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Wowza!
Many Teen Issus for Parents to Discuss with Them
Big Girl's Don't Cry
Big Girls Don't Cry
complex tale of morally adrift teens

Big Girls Don't Cry
Starring: Anna Maria Mühe , Karoline Herfurth , David Winter , Josefine Domes , and Tillbert Strahl-Schäfer
Director: Maria von Heland
Manufacturer: Sony Pictures
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ASIN: B0000AOV4J
Release Date: 2003-09-23

Customer Reviews:

Wowza!.......2007-02-21

I really enjoy this movie; probably because I myself am an angsty teenage girl.

Many Teen Issus for Parents to Discuss with Them.......2006-06-27

It is very hard to pigeonhole this movie. In it there is lots of smoking, use of drugs, teen sex, and nudity, including fully shown bodies. At the same time it is an entertaining and even suspenseful move, and there are so many good issues to discuss with teens that it excels in that area for traditional values parents.

Kati and her family are shown praying three times, and from the pictures in the home one would conclude that she is Catholic. One issue for families to discuss with their teens is Steffi's anger at her father's infidelity, and especially her vengeance toward the woman's family. Kati begins to question her friendship with Steffi when she is willing to take her anger out on the woman's innocent daughter, Tessa. Parents might wish to discuss if that is at all fair. Another interesting quality to discuss is the fact that things don't always go as planned; in this case, what Steffi thought would be just a mean prank turned into a life and death situation. Parents might also wish to discuss Steffi's attempted suicide and how she might have been able to better handle the feelings that made her think it was an option. A few other issues include using someone's boyfriend, especially sexually, in anger against that person. Dating older guys is another issue parents can discuss and talk about how the girls were put into situations beyond their maturity.

There is a lot in this movie that traditional values families would object to, but there are so many issues to discuss with their kids I think the movie is well worth showing to mid to older teens if parents are willing to discuss the movie with them.

Big Girl's Don't Cry.......2006-05-30

A German film (Grosse Madchen Weinen Nicht) made in 2002, with English subtitles, Big Girls Don't Cry is one of the best films ever made concerned with the topic of growing up through one's teens. The strapline 'A provocative new film about what we go through to find out who we are' sums it all up. The story line is entirely believable and acting superb, and you'll probably find yourself watching the movie several times. Highly recommended.

Big Girls Don't Cry.......2006-03-21

This movie is outstanding! I was not expecting such an interesting, well acted, well directed and totally riveting story. It's about 2 friends, Kati and Steffi, whose lives spiral out of control after they discover that Steffi's father is having an affair. Steffi's scheme to avenge her mother and herself have devastating results. This movie is definitely a "must see"! You will not be disappointed.

complex tale of morally adrift teens.......2005-12-04

In most movies about teens - at least those made in America - we usually don't have to spend a great deal of time trying to figure out who are the "good" people and who are the "bad." The filmmakers are usually kind enough to do that for us. This is obviously not the case in Europe, however, for in the German film "Big Girls Don't Cry," the adolescents we meet are anything but morally and ethically clear-cut.

The two best friends, Steffi and Kati, seem like fairly typical middle class teens - somewhat mischievous, obsessed with boys, and faintly rebellious against the authority figures of the adult world. They also drink, party and experiment with drugs - nothing too radical for teens anywhere in the world today. However, one night Steffi inadvertently discovers that her father is having an affair. At this point, all hell breaks loose, as Steffi decides to take her anger and revenge out on the innocent daughter of her father's mistress, an aspiring singer named Tessa. Steffi sends Tessa to a potentially dangerous local pornographer, leading her to believe that he is actually a record producer searching for new talent. This single action leads to a series of cascading events that winds up, in some way or other, adversely affecting most of the people in Steffi`s life.

Steffi and Kati are both fully realized and complex characters who refuse to be pigeonholed at any given point in the movie. Steffi begins her crusade of vengeance convinced that she is acting strictly out of righteous anger, especially since, in her mind at least, her actions are as much a way of protecting her mother's honor as her own. And if innocent victims have to be sacrificed along the way, well, so be it. What Steffi doesn't realize, until it's too late, is that we can't always control how the human dramas we set in motion will ultimately act themselves out. Kati, who is far more rebellious and far more promiscuous than Steffi, finds herself torn between her loyalty as a friend and doing what she knows is right. It is Kati, the less self-assured one, who, ultimately, becomes the moral beacon that Steffi will be forced to follow if she hopes to survive in the world.

Anna Maria Muhe as Kati and Karoline Herfurth as Steffi give brilliant, well-rounded performances, as does the rest of the talented cast. The acting, writing and directing are so good and true, in fact, that the movie is able to override the occasional implausibility or touch of melodrama that wanders into the storyline.

I just wish American movies about teenagers were this thought-provoking, interesting and impressive.

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Big Girls Don't Cry (Special Edition)

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