Entertainment
Critics Hated It, But This Netflix Movie Lives Rent Free In Every Millennial’s Head
By Chris Snellgrove
| Published
By definition, child actors are often typecast by the roles that helped make them famous. The perfect example of this is Macaulay Culkin. He’s done great work in everything from Saved to Fallout, but everyone will always associate him with Home Alone. That’s a shame because most of this talented actor’s best work occurs far outside that seminal holiday classic.
For example, My Girl (1991) is a movie that taught an entire generation of moviegoers to cry thanks to its poignant portrayal of adolescent love and heartbreak. Culkin is excellent throughout, and his co-lead Anna Chlumsky helped cement this drama as the must-see children’s film of the ‘90s. When you’re ready to summon some serious nostalgia and see two of the best child actors in Hollywood history performing their hearts out, all you have to do is stream My Girl on Netflix.
Your Childhood Is Just A Click Away
The premise of My Girl is that the titular girl, Vada Margaret Sultenfuss, is the daughter of the local funeral parlor owner, and she’s dealing with constant hypochondria and a general obsession with death. What takes her mind off things is her growing friendship with a local boy who is allergic to just about everything. But even with their powers combined, she’ll have trouble accomplishing her primary goal: keeping her widower father from finding love with his new makeup artist.
For one of the ‘90s most impactful films, My Girl has a lean cast filled with big names, starting with Dan Aykroyd (best known for Ghostbusters) as a widower struggling with raising a daughter and running a funeral parlor. His life perks up when he begins dating a funeral makeup maven played by Jamie Lee Curtis (best known for Halloween). Together, these veteran actors provide a kind of emotional anchor for what is basically a children’s movie.
The Mac Is Back
Speaking of which, the performances from McCaulay Culkin (best known for Home Alone) and Anna Chlumsky (best known for Veep) provide the heart and soul of My Girl. They give powerful performances that belie their young ages, and they each capture the pangs of adolescent awkwardness in different ways. The actors have wonderful chemistry with each other, and they do a great job of portraying the best thing in the world for an outcast kid: feeling less alone because you finally found a fellow weirdo to hang out with.
While it ended up being a critical disappointment (more on this in a moment), My Girl was a major box office success, earning $121.5 million against a budget of only $17 million. This made a sequel downright inevitable, but the follow-up film My Girl 2 ended up being both a critical and commercial bomb. Fortunately, the sequel’s failure didn’t overshadow the importance of the original film, one which demonstrated just how heartfelt and emotionally impactful a children’s movie could be.
Critics Pronounced It Dead
Even though it’s considered a masterpiece by millennials, the reviewers weren’t kind to My Girl when it first came out. On Rotten Tomatoes, it has a 57 percent, with critics primarily complaining about the needlessly tearjerking climax of the film. Those same critics did acknowledge, however, that the sweet story was quite appealing and that the film is elevated by surprisingly nuanced performances from lead actors Macaulay Culkin and Anna Chlumsky.
In revisiting My Girl, I am more struck than ever before by the simple fact that the reviewers got it completely wrong with this one. Obviously, the movie is a tear-jerker, and it has a jaw-dropping ending that absolutely ruined those of us who watched the film as children. But given how many profoundly sad films (ranging from Schindler’s List to Moonlight) have gone on to win Best Picture Oscars, it’s clear that making audiences cry doesn’t mean that a film is bad.
All The Feels, All The Tears
While My Girl doesn’t pack the full weight of those Academy Award winners, it does deserve its flowers for telling an almost universally relatable coming-of-age story. There’s a reason that so many of us see ourselves in Anna Chlumsky’s character. All of the heartbreak and confusion that she goes through is an echo of what all of us experience growing up. This is our collective childhood onscreen, and seeing your own awkward youth captured so perfectly onscreen may have you crying long before this film’s shocking climax.
Plus, My Girl packs a surprising amount of warm nostalgia and genuine comedy into its relatively svelte runtime. The soundtrack helps you perfectly immerse yourself in its period setting, bringing the early ‘70s to vibrant life with confidence and style. Thanks to its heart, humor, and show-stopping performances, My Girl is like a warm childhood blanket that you’ll want to wrap yourself in while completely tuning out the outside world.
Will you agree that My Girl is a perfect coming-of-age classic, or would you rather fight off a swarm of bees than watch this one through to the end? You won’t know until you grab the remote and stream this 90’s heartbreaker for yourself on Netflix. Just be sure to keep a few tissues handy, because your eyes will definitely get misty before the credits roll!
