Big Girls Don't Cry... They Get Even (1992)

A girl fed up with her quirky, disfunctional family runs away from home, casusing all of them to spend time with eachother.

Director:

Joan Micklin Silver

Writers:

Frank Mugavero (story), Mark Goddard (story)

Stars:

Griffin Dunne, Dan Futterman, Patricia Kalember

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Griffin Dunne	...	David
Dan Futterman	...	Josh
Patricia Kalember	...	Barbara
Jenny Lewis	...	Corinne
Ben Savage	...	Sam
Jessica Seely	...	Jessie
Adrienne Shelly	...	Stephanie
David Strathairn	...	Keith
Trenton Teigen	...	Kurt
Margaret Whitton	...	Melinda
Hillary Wolf	...	Laura Chartoff
Sean Blackman	...	Runaway Boy #1
Joe D'Angerio	...	Mr. Zordani
Cory Danziger	...	Leonard
Leslie Kendall Dye	...	Melissa (as Leslie Engelberg)

Storyline

Laura's parents divorced when she was eight. Now, at thirteen, she lives with her mother, her stepfather, two stepbrothers, a stepsister, and a half-brother. She used to visit her father, stepmother (third stepmother) and half-sister, but now *another* divorce is in the works, so Laura visits her father and his pregnant girlfriend -- who's only six years older than she is. Who should she feel loyalty to? And is it any wonder she wants to run away from home?

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Plot Keywords:

cult film | divorce | stepfather | girl | f rated | 

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Genres:

Comedy

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

8 May 1992 (USA)

Also Known As:

Stepkids

Filming Locations:

Arroyo-Seco Ranger District, Angeles National Forest, California, USA

Box Office

Gross USA:

$271,327

Company Credits

Production Co:

New Line Cinema,MG Entertainment,Perlman Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

96 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Most people remember this movie because of the trailer that appears on the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II Secret of the Ooze vhs tape.

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Goofs

On the DVD release, on the outside jacket's plot synopsis, the studio mistakenly uses the lead actress' real name - Hillary - to describe her in the fictional story line. Hillary Wolf's character's name was Laura.

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Quotes

Laura Chartoff: If these are the best years of my life, I must have some serious third degree burns in my future.

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Connections

References The Elephant Man (1980)

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Soundtracks

Everybody Gets A Second Chance
Written by Mike Rutherford and B.A. Robertson
Performed by Mike + The Mechanics (as Mike and The Mechanics)
Courtesy of Atlantic Records

User Reviews

the movie needs a relationship map

Laura Chartoff is a teenager with body issues and dysfunctional families. She lives with her mother Melinda who is in her third marriage. Melinda is closer to her present husband Keith Power's pretty daughter Corinne. Keith also has Kurt who spent a year in military school and adult son Josh. Josh and Keith don't get along. Melinda and Keith have young genius son Sam. Laura's father David has three ex-wives, getting divorced to Barbara who is the mother of their young daughter Jessie, and living off of pregnant girlfriend Stephanie. He's an artistically blocked painter. Family dramas are inevitable. Laura runs away to live with her blacksheep stepbrother Josh.

This could be a functional teenage coming-of-age story. Hillary Wolf's big role is Macaulay Culkin's sister in Home Alone. She doesn't have it or the big screen charisma to lead a big cast. Expositions are sometimes a necessary evil and this is definitely one of those times. This movie needs a fun two minute animation of all of her parents' marriages and kids. It's simply too much work to write down the org chart while trying to get involved with the story. It would also allow Laura to stay at the center of the screen instead of going off with the other family members. It gets to a point where Laura doesn't seem to be the lead character. This simply has too much going on.