Girls, Girls, Girls!

When I first heard of Beautiful Girls, I wondered how a two-hour view of het romance from the male perspective could hope to include so many women characters. Well, let's take a roll call: Holly plays a slutty temptress whose come-ons must be overcome by the Dillon character; Portman functions as the last temptation of a seemingly closeted pedophile; Plimpton is deemed to be not worth one's effort; Thurman is incredibly attractive and therefore unattainable; Sorvino has an eating disorder; Annabeth Gish proves herself a good cook who also has a "great rack" and a "nice ass"; and O'Donnell, either because she's overweight or speaks her mind, is never once considered as a potential partner. By default, the sole bit of female characterization here comes when Thurman's character confesses that she dreams of having a boyfriend who'll say four words to her before she goes to sleep: "Good night, sweet girl." But of course--isn't that what all sweet girls want?