An unconventional single mother relocates with her two daughters to a small Massachusetts town in 1963, where a number of events and relationships both challenge and strengthen their familial bonds.
Loretta Castorini, a bookkeeper from Brooklyn, New York, finds herself in a difficult situation when she falls for the brother of the man she has agreed to marry.
In order to get out of the snobby clique that is destroying her good-girl reputation, an intelligent teen teams up with a dark sociopath in a plot to kill the cool kids.
Director:
Michael Lehmann
Stars:
Winona Ryder,
Christian Slater,
Shannen Doherty
After yet another failed relationship, Mrs. Flax (Cher) ups her family to the east coast to start all over again. Reluctantly dragged along with her is her daughter Charlotte - going through a very confusing time of her life - who wants to become a nun, and instead falls in love with a quiet, mild-mannered church employee, to the mixed response of her mother. Set at around the time of the Kennedy Assassination.Written by
Paul Skerry <pauls@miles33.co.uk>
At the costume party, Lou (Bob Hoskins) was dressed as a pirate. He would later go on to play the pirate Smee in director Steven Spielberg's Hook (1991). See more »
Goofs
Although the latter portion of film takes place in January, we never see any evidence of snow, even though the film is set in Massachusetts. Also, the characters don't always seem to dress appropriately for winter in Massachusetts, dressing more as if it were autumn. See more »
Quotes
Charlotte Flax:
A word about Mrs. Flax and food: the word is "hors d'oeurves." Fun Finger Foods is her main source book and it's all the woman cooks.
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I first saw this film as a preteen and have loved it ever since. Endlessly entertaining performances are the best thing about this underrated and understated coming-of-age comedy that features Cher doing what she does best--convincing you she rules the world, and she really does. As Rachel Flax, a headstrong and independent mother of two (Winona Ryder, Christina Ricci), she thinks nothing of jumping into her car at the slightest sign of trouble and moving to another town ("Life is change", she says). Ryder is excellent as the fifteen year-old Charlotte, a girl who thinks that the best way to fight her burgeoning hormones is to devote her life to the Catholic church as a nun, despite the fact that she's Jewish. Of course, the boy next door (the sadly now retired Michael Schoeffling) gets in the way of her holy ambitions. Bob Hoskins is also a riot as the awshucks shoe salesman who falls over himself for Rachel, first out of fascination, and then out of love. Great music, great period feel and very light, warmhearted direction by Richard Benjamin.
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I first saw this film as a preteen and have loved it ever since. Endlessly entertaining performances are the best thing about this underrated and understated coming-of-age comedy that features Cher doing what she does best--convincing you she rules the world, and she really does. As Rachel Flax, a headstrong and independent mother of two (Winona Ryder, Christina Ricci), she thinks nothing of jumping into her car at the slightest sign of trouble and moving to another town ("Life is change", she says). Ryder is excellent as the fifteen year-old Charlotte, a girl who thinks that the best way to fight her burgeoning hormones is to devote her life to the Catholic church as a nun, despite the fact that she's Jewish. Of course, the boy next door (the sadly now retired Michael Schoeffling) gets in the way of her holy ambitions. Bob Hoskins is also a riot as the awshucks shoe salesman who falls over himself for Rachel, first out of fascination, and then out of love. Great music, great period feel and very light, warmhearted direction by Richard Benjamin.