My Girl (1991) User Reviews

Touching insight into the trials of growing up

[cosmic_quest · 8/10 · 16 April 2006]

'My Girl' is a rare treat in that it is a moving family drama that never descends into being overly-sentimental or cloying in the messages it's trying to deliver. It is a very bittersweet look at the joys and tears a girl faces when she stands on the cusp between childhood and adolescence.

Set over the summer of 1972, the film centres on Vada Sultenfuss, a motherless eleven-year-old tom-boy who has enough problems coping with impending adulthood on top of having to contend with her oblivious mortician father Harry and her senile grandmother Gramoo. And if things were not bad enough, Harry hires an assistant in the form of the funky Shelly leaving Vada feeling her place in her father's life is threatens by this new woman. Thankfully she is not alone as seeing her through her troubles is her loyal best friend Thomas J.

While Dan Anckroyd and Jamie Lee Curtis, as Harry and Shelley respectively, were great in their roles as two adults who both care for Vada and who have a growing attraction to each other, it was the child actors who stole the show. Anna Chlumsky, in this her film debut, delivered a first class performance as Vada, depicting the all the little nuances of the character from the confusion a tom-boy feels as she tentatively embraces her girly side in deference to her first crush to the desolation of bereavement to the loneliness she feels due to her father's thoughtless neglect. She was excellent in showing Vada's childish innocence and rare maturity that comes when a child has dealt with the harsh side to life.

Macaulay Culkin was another surprise as he portrayed the guileless Thomas J. It was a pleasant change to see him in a role other than the obnoxious kid he usually depicted in previous films such as 'Home Alone' and 'Uncle Buck', and he rose to the occasion with flare, perfectly displaying the bumbling but sensitive and caring nature of his character. His performance here proves that, had he chosen to, he could have been one of the rare few who succeed in the seamless transition from being a child actor to a teen/young adult actor.

'My Girl' is so involving for a wide age group because it not only conjures up nostalgic memories of summers gone by in adults who occasionally long for the carefree bliss of childhood but it engages younger viewers into considering the lessons of loyalty, love, loss and growing up. It definitely strikes a cord in those who are eleven years old themselves (I was eleven when I first saw this film and felt as if I could identify with Vada on many things). Most girls of eleven will probably empathise with Vada's views that nothing happens to boys! Highly recommended.

Real

[thebrandedswordsman-34028 · 7/10 · 9 April 2020]

Despite being a guy, I find this movie to be a very accurate depiction of an 11-year old girl and the way she would deal with everything surrounding her. Granted, Vada is played by a girl who's 11 anyway, but remember, her dialogue was written by an adult. And speaking of kids, they do a great job! Everyone in this movie is very natural in their performance. I guess you could say there's not really a story per say, it's more of a character study than that. And it doesn't take too long for the characters to receive more development. It's just a good drama all around.

Sweet, emotional, unpretentious movie about love and loss

[grantss · 8/10 · 8 October 2016]

1972. Vada Sultenfuss (played by Anna Chlumsky) is an intelligent, bubbly, hypochondriacal 11-year old girl. Her father, Harry (Dan Aykroyd), is a mortician and a widower. Her best friend is Thomas J Sennett (Macaulay Culkin). Then her father hires a new receptionist, Shelly (Jamie Lee Curtis) and life will never be the same again.

Wonderful movie, and so much better than I expected. From the title and synopsis I thought it was going to be some sort of romantic drama made for teens/pre-teens. However, it is much much more than that. A great examination of love and loss, life, death and renewal and growing up. Very emotional, especially in the final few scenes.

Anna Chlumsky is great as Vada. Most child characters end up being irritating, as they tend to be written for children and acted in bratty fashion. Vada's character is wonderful and Anna Chlumsky, in her second movie and first major role, gives a superb performance. Sadly, unlike her co-star Macaulay Culkin, her career never really took off after this and it took until the series Veep in 2012 before she got the sort of role she deserved.

On that note, Macaulay Culkin's role is more subdued, has less screen time and less dialogue-intense than Chlumsky's. He does a solid job though.

Dan Aykroyd and Jamie Lee Curtis put in good performances too.

A timeless tale about your first love

[Smells_Like_Cheese · 6/10 · 30 December 2006]

I just finally watched My Girl last night, never saw it before, never really had the opportunity too, but my friend mentioned it while we were renting over at Hollywood Video and she said it was a really cute movie that could bring a few tears to my eyes, I wasn't in the mood for sad, but I have heard quite a bit about this film. I have to say that despite the fact that I wasn't blown away by the movie, it was a nice and honest film that you don't see in today's films, not to many are genuine like this.

Vada is a little girl who basically surrounded by death in some aspects, her mother passed away and her father works in a funeral home. When a make up artist, Shelly, comes to work for her dad, Harry, Vada is a little threatened that her dad might be taken away from her. But she has another love, an English teacher who's class she starts taking just to impress him, but another little boy, Tommy, has a little crush on Vada, but as soon as she realizes what she has lost, maybe she should take a closer look at things.

My Girl is a sweet and charming film that could make anyone feel very good and just makes you want to hug someone afterwards, as cheesy as it may sound. Even though I didn't cry, it does have some sad little moments, Macaulay shined in this movie, you could just tell this kid was star bound, wish someone would give him a break, because he is slowly climbing to top again. But he and Jamie were the stars of the film and really made it worth a watch.

6/10

Professional Expertise Constructs A Hollywood Tearjerker

[museumofdave · 6/10 · 18 May 2013]

This is a kid's film. Or, if you are over eighteen and not not too critical about a realistic approach to tot acting, and want an easy-to-watch family tearjerker with some major stars going through their paces with professional expertise, this is your ticket to what Hollywood wants us to experience as a "Heartwarming Experience."

Having recently also watched "Ali Azoua--Price Of The City," "I'm Not Scared," and "Children of Heaven," I'm made acutely aware of the studio-taught limitations of Tinseltown tots, particular Culkin, who doesn't have much to do but react cutely and alter the direction of the plot; young Chlumsky has been trained perfectly and doesn't miss a beat, but the spontaneous reality of kids you find in Stand By Me, say, or Ali Zouoa, has been traded off for predictability. Jamie Lee Curtis has a warmth that enlivens much of the film, and strikes a notable balance that made most of the film work for me. It's a kid's film, and on that basis, it succeeds very well.

My Girl

[chrisonlineofficial · 17 January 2020]

My Girl is one of the best favorable 90's films of all time, it was very touching, funny, sweet, dramatic, and sad. Anna Chlumsky and Macaulay Culkin was delightful to watch their chemistry overall loving connection was incredible. As child actors they were solid. Jamie Lee Curtis and Dan Aykroyd were great. My Girl would hit you hard and bring tears to your eyes. An all-star Hollywood favorite. A must see!

If not flawless, a genuinely sensitive coming-of-age story...

[ElMaruecan82 · 7/10 · 5 June 2017]

It's been a quarter-century but I still remember the wide attention "My Girl" got at the time of its release. In French, the title was translated to "Copain, Copine", a derivation from classic French film "Cousin, Cousine" and whose translation is "Boyfriend, Girlfriend", the publicity focused on two elements: an unprecedented kiss between children (and I still remember when my friend showed me the picture on a magazine) and Macaulay Culkin playing the lucky boy. He was still emerging from his success in "Home Alone" that I wasn't the only one to think he was the star of the film, but I guess the original title wouldn't have mislead us.

Still, with a quick glance at the poster, you can tell that the film tried to capitalize on the popularity of Culkin who was the rising star of the early 90's, passing the torch to Anna Chlumsky in her acting debut, he doesn't even wear his nerdy glasses and has a dashing smile that is in total contradiction with the shy and Milhouse-like personality he displayed all through the film, and it's a fine performance and so is Chlumsky as little Velda, a 11-year old girl at the threshold of her teen years and dealing with the 'things of her age' such as death and love, with a widowed Dad (Dan Aykroyd) managing a funeral parlor and falling in love with his newly hired employee (Jamie Lee Curtis), she sure will have one notion or two coming. The title could have well been "My Girl's World".

Now, the reason I mentioned the whole marketing about the film is because it doesn't provide anything seminal in the coming-of-age department, even deaths of a beloved one was pretty well covered in "Stand by Me", the only moment the film makes you aware that this is told from a girl's perspective is when Velda, after a "hemorrhage" scare, has a talk with her Dad's fiancé about bees and flowers. The rest will inspire a few déjà-vu comments but what the film lacks in originality, is compensated by the good acting and a characterization that actually makes you care for these people, especially since the early 70's where the film takes place doesn't look much different from the early 90's when we saw it, or maybe kids didn't change much over this lapse of time.

There are a few awkward moments that don't belong to the level of intelligence and sweetness infused in the earlier scenes, the dad's level of denial when it comes to Velda's antics are sometimes contrived and I'm not sure a kid losing his glasses would have let the bees sting him like that, and I mean it from my own experience, but but the film manages to emerge above these shortcoming, because of the central performances of Chlumsky and Culkin who's the perfect counterpart to her fiery personality. The situations with adults are also full of humanity and genuine humor, the complicity with the Dad, the benevolent teacher played by Griffin Dune and Jamie Lee Curtis who finds the right note between warm and funny.

This is the kind of plot-less films that is more about things of your age, and it's a miracle that it managed to remain as captivating. You don't really see the sadness near the end coming, and I can't help but feel it was forced into to make such an impact the film would be reminded as a tear-jerker, it did a fine job for that, I fell for it too. That's how good it is, you know the intentions but you're ready to forgive them because a story needs to be good before being predictable.

A wonderful and truly moving experience

[zachsaltz · 10/10 · 9 July 2004]

"My Girl" is one of those small treasures that, on outward appearance, seems like something it is not. Any general synopsis of the film would lead most people (including myself) to excuse the film as a dine-a-dozen coming-of-age drama with first kisses, raging hormones, and middle school bullies.

The truth is, "My Girl" has all of those elements (except for the latter; the film takes place during summertime). It isn't the most original story, and it doesn't try to be a masterpiece. Its goal is to entertain the younger viewer and to remind the older viewer of the nostalgic days of innocence and the heartbreaking first encounters with the loss of it.

Summer, 1972. Vada Sultenfuss (Anna Chlumsky) is a plucky 11-year-old who spends her summer days with her best pal, Thomas J. (Macaulay Culkin, who is far better here than anything else he's ever done). She dotes on her father, Harry (Dan Aykroid), who works as an in-house mortician. Subsequently, the Sultenfuss house (a grand old Victorian, naturally) is filled with the stench of death, made only worse by Vada's grandmother (Ann Nelson) whose only way of communicating is through her sporadic breaks into popular songs from the 1940s. It's only natural that Vada is also a hypochondriac who often believes she is dying.

This is, of course, the summer that Vada grows up. Signs of change first begin when a new woman shows up. Her name is Shelly De Voto (Jamie Lee Curtis), and she works as a makeup artist for the dead bodies. At first she is discouraged by the fact that her clientele are deceased, but when sees that Harry and Vada need an outlet, she gladly takes the job (`They're dead. All they have are their looks,' she cheerfully gleams.) Vada likes Shelly, but when she sees that Harry has developed a crush on her, she feels threatened. She does not want Shelley to take the place of her late mother, who died two days after Vada was born. Her only outlet is Thomas J., with whom she rides her bike to the lake and discusses all of the Big Issues (the meaning of life, love, death, which ‘70s TV family they'd live with.)

The other momentous event of the summer is Vada developing her first crush. It isn't Thomas J. (who idolizes her), but her teacher, Mr. Bixler (Griffin Dunne). He teaches a summer writing class at the local college, and Vada enrolls. Besides being the youngest in the class, she is also the only one who hasn't been taken over by 1970s psychedelia (one day, the class takes part in a group meditation.)

The strength of "My Girl" isn't its story, but its little nuances of innocent bliss. Vada willingly shows a group of glowing boys a dead body. As the ride their bikes, Vada and Thomas J. sing `The Name Game'. When writing poems `from the soul', Vada writes an ode to ice cream. The relationship between Harry and Shelly is sweet, too. Before their first date, Harry's womanizing brother points out that since Harry's last date, a sexual revolution has occurred. Of course, Shelly only desires a proper and old-fashioned gentleman, which very much complicates their first date.

Well, I loved this film. As a viewer, I try to watch for inconsistencies in the performances and the script, but this film had none. Dan Aykroid and Jamie Lee Curtis bring a low-key charm to their roles. Both have their flaws, and it sometimes seems they have nothing in common. But for some inexplicable reason, they are brought together and their encounters are tactful, witty, and very real.

As for Anna Chlumsky, it can only be said that this young actress sets the standard for all child performances. This is not a performance, in a traditional manner; she eludes all cutesy standards of the traditional child performance, and becomes a complex, multi-dimensional person with true needs. This little girl is extremely intelligent, and when Chlumsky delivers lines beyond her years, she doesn't do it with sarcasm or adorability, but with the oblivious nature that 11-year-olds find themselves in. The world may be changing around her, but she tries her hardest to maintain her sanity and cheerfulness.

Though "My Girl" is advertised as a kid's film, and kids would probably like it, this film is for adults. It isn't always a happy film, and there is a major tragedy toward the end of the film. But rather than sentimentalize, the tragedy serves as a bridge for young Vada in between the realms of innocence and childhood and the real world of loss and sadness. And as dark as "My Girl" may sometimes be, there is always a sense of charm and warmth brought to the screen by the characters. This is a wonderful, wonderful film.

I See Dead People

[view_and_review · 7/10 · 3 April 2020]

"My Girl" is about a very complicated 11-year-old girl. I say that because I don't remember being eleven as being as complicated as it was for Vada Sultenfuss (Anna Chlumsky).

Anna was a slightly different eleven-year-old girl. Her mother died giving birth to her, her father runs a funeral parlor out of the house, and she is a hypochondriac. Other than that, her life is normal. One of the normalcies of her life is her best friend Thomas J. (Macaulay Culkin). The two of them do all the things that normal kids in a small town in 1972 would do.

The movie is a precious movie. I don't know if it over-complicated girlhood or not because I'm not a girl and never was. The essence of the movie was death: preparing for it, observing it, and getting past it. It's a morbid topic if you think about it, but "My Girl" toned down the morbidity of it by having a child star. "My Girl" is cute, sad, happy, and heartwarming and the dearest character Macaulay played in his formative years.

Too real to life, especially mine

[joeestlinbm · 10/10 · 15 February 2005]

When I watched this movie, I didn't know what to expect. So after I watched it, I vowed never to watch it again. This exact same thing happened to me when I was young, except I as the survivor, I was the boy instead of the girl.

I don't mean to discourage others from seeing it. It's just too painful for me to have to endure it again. The acting was superb, in fact so surperb, that it had me left with tears that I didn't know I had left to cry. It's a good movie, and I hope everyone who sees it understands its meaning. It amounts to a lot more than a young girl who looses her best friend through a freak accident.

Thanks for letting me express my opinion.

A movie from my childhood

[lisafordeay · 7/10 · 18 December 2015]

I remember this movie since I was a kid. It was about a young girl who happened to be a tomboy who befriends a boy played by Macaulay Culkin from the Home Alone franchise and the pair are inseparable. Her mom passed away a long time ago and her father played by Dan Aykroyd is getting married again to Jamie Lee Curtis and of course we follow this girl as the film progresses. Bottom line I enjoyed this as a kid and I haven't seen it in years since I was a kid. I remember the song My Girl(hence the name of the film)and the part where Culkin's charcther dies after getting stung by bees and I remember crying when I seen that part and before that he gave the young girl a mood ring and he and her were fighting and that.

My advice to you is to track it down on DVD and watch it. Its a touching movie from my childhood and I enjoyed it.

I feel that this is a touching movie.

[clgap91 · 9/10 · 3 May 2005]

I remember watching this movie with my Grandmother when I was around three or four years old. I could only remember two parts of it; when Vada does the sassy type walk across the porch, and when Thomas J. goes to find the mood ring, and nothing else. Not even the name. I watched it again for the first time in eleven years (I am now 14). This movie is a perfect mixture of comedy, romance and drama, for me at least. I think this movie teaches great values and lessons, that everyone should learn. Loyalty, friendship and love, are only a few things about this movie that I love. Everyone should at least give it a chance and see for themselves. I also recommend 'My Girl 2'.

Good Movie to relax

[lordsubro · 7/10 · 2 September 2016]

It is a nice movie to watch when you wanna relax. The romance between two kids is shown in a kids' way. Showing the summer time and the ordinary things in kids' life, movie is not making u tensed. Even though it is not the kind of movie which builds up suspense and makes you curious about the ending, is very successfully captures the attention from beginning. You don't need to be patient to watch this movie.

Veda is a little girl growing up in a funeral home who is pretty normal kid but growing up in funeral home and knowing her dad is working on dead bodies in their basements, has some effects on her. on the other hand, Thomas J. is very simple fragile kid who is allergic to everything and follows his routine all the time.

The movie might sound common and boring but it has a twist on it. Worth watching

terrible movie

[madisonroman · 1/10 · 20 September 2021]

This movie was god awful, i have never cried harder about some little boy i do not know. I do not recommend this movie to the emotionally vulnerable.

excellent

[lauraisabimbo · 16 August 2003]

This is such a gorgeous movie. I remember seeing it for the first time when I was about six years old, and it's been a favourite ever since.

The cast is perfect, Anna Chlumsky does an excellent performance considering her age and it being her first major role. The funeral scene always gets me, and who wouldn't choke up during this? You'd have to be pretty heartless. 9/10.

Oh, and for people who say that Vada gets over her friend's death too quickly at the end of the film, did you listen to the poem she wrote? I think it explains how she feels exactly.

Cute

[Calicodreamin · 7/10 · 7 August 2021]

A cute movie about life and death and life of a young girl. The cast have great chemistry and it's hard not to love Culkin and Chlumsky, they are so adorable. The storyline is unique and the ending is heartbreakingly good.

I enjoyed

[Paranoid_Indifference · 7/10 · 12 April 2020]

Watching this on PBS Hollywood at Home tonight. Mi Madre reminded me that this was one of the first movies I ever saw in theaters. I would have been a cherub at the time. I only remembered the funeral scene, that was pretty unforgettable. Put the glasses on the young corpse, please.

Morbid, but oddly sweet

[gizmomogwai · 7/10 · 7 November 2011]

I certainly remember this one as a kid, it was the movie where Macaulay Culkin dies- enough to shock any Home Alone fan. My Girl is, in fact, generally very concerned with death, as its main character Vada is an 11-year-old girl who has the misfortune of growing up in a funeral parlour. Unsurprisingly, she is not a normal little girl.

The movie begins with Vada announcing she has cancer to her father, who ignores it. That's dark. She constantly thinks she's ill; she is obsessed with her own mortality. She portrays her grandmother as a zombie to scare some other kids. On the plus side, she loves reading and writing, much like I did. (I never read War and Peace, though.) When she joins a writing class, it's amusingly awkward when a woman reads a story inappropriate for an 11-year-old to hear. It's followed immediately by an immature ode to ice cream.

I was surprised that this movie's IMDb rating is in the 6s, as people seem to love this movie. I don't think I fully understood it as a kid, but it is a sweet movie, with satisfying writing and performances.

Quality as a plot and a score

[nethaven · 10/10 · 27 February 2006]

Something about this movie sucks you in. Even if you take away the guts, it has its own little world. I believe this might be so more for me, since I didn't live through the time it takes place, but I found the atmosphere one that almost makes you forget about the "adult world," which is charming.

The story is also very well done. This movie is typically revered as one more enjoyed by children, but I think adults can get something out of it too, from the psychological depth of the characters. The plot also is not very cliché at all...so little that it stands out, and is inimitable enough that no one has even tried to rip it off.

The acting is also pristine. Lastly, what tops off this movie is the music. As important as the movie itself is, even a good movie can be dulled out a little if the music isn't good. James Newton Howard outdoes himself here. The 70s tunes complete the effect of forgetting you're in a relatively punked out society where you won't find as many friendly streets. Also, several spots, such as Vada walking on the tree branches late in the movie, the music composed is an example of talent that few composers have to so fluently use music as a translation of emotions.

The story is good, and the execution, which is equally important (and often neglected in would-be awesome movies), is next to flawless. It is not by any means mind-blowing, but it is not meant to be, and you will remember it.

Dark Dark Story Of Growing Up In The Worst of Tragedies

[DKosty123 · 7/10 · 28 July 2009]

I thought I remembered the advertising for this movie as mainly about the music. When I recently saw this for the first time on AMC (with commercials) I was surprised. This movie takes a lot of time developing characters & a story. That doesn't happen often with films today as too many are focused on actions rather than story.

Vada is a girl growing up with the most depressing of circumstances. Her mother died when she was born. Dad (Dan Achroyd in a rare straight role) rather than explain it too her, gives her the message that these things happen, deal with it. That is because he is a Funeral Director who is totally wrapped with death and has refused to deal with his wife's loss himself.

Jamie Lee Curtis plays a women's make up artist who comes into their lives and tries to straighten everything out as she becomes dads girlfriend & the closest thing to a mother Vada has ever had. Jamie looks very shapely in this movie though I like her figure even when she actually wears jeans that are not real tight in one scene.

Vada seems to have tragedy all around in her life as she has a grandma who is out of touch. She has a crush on her English teacher so she wants to become a writer. She has a boy as her best friend & together with her Uncle, she is trying desperately to sort things out.

This film is well performed & really is quite touching. The only fault might be that Vada could show more emotion in some sequences though it does coming flowing out late in the film. This seems quite logical though given that her dad doesn't let his emotions flow until late in the movie either.

Touching film that I still love

[DunnDeeDaGreat · 9/10 · 16 June 2003]

I recall seeing My Girl eleven years ago and fully understanding what was going on in the film. The chemistry between Culkin and Chumskly is good considering they are both kids. The film is funny and is heartbreaking because it was one of the first films to make me cry. I love this movie , but stay away from the sequel.

A cute, funny and at times poignant tear-jerker

[fredrikgunerius · 7/10 · 7 August 2023]

Death is what mainly pre-occupies little Vada Sultenfuss (Anna Chlumsky), who is about to hit puberty with all the usual insecurities - and a few additional ones to boot. She is handled sensitively by veteran director Howard Zieff, who directs this coming-of-age film just on the right side of manipulative and reels home a cute, funny and at times poignant tear-jerker. Utilizing Laurice Elehwany's script, he is not afraid to demonstrate his fondness for the spirit of the sexual revolution. Chlumsky gives a spirited, intelligent performance in her feature film debut. She stands out among a fine cast.

If you don't cry, you have a heart of stone.

[jonnythemoose · 10/10 · 10 October 2005]

This film is fantastic. Honestly, i have never cried so much watching a movie, and i don't cry at movies much. But even though the bits towards the end which will have you bawling are what the film is remembered for, everything in this film is just...fantastic. parts are hilarious,parts are just sweet, and by the end of the film, you are genuinely caring for the characters.

If you haven't seen this film, WATCH IT. But don't find out what happens, watch it first. I lent the video i have to some friends, and all of them loved it, and told me they cried.

Seriously, this film will make you cry. big time.

Touching.

[arreis-eathacks · 7/10 · 22 October 2014]

The story of friendship in this movie is so beautiful and I can't restrain myself from crying towards the end of the movie. Both Vada and Thomas is a good actor.

The movie is great, but I think the friendship of Vada and Thomas J. is not concrete enough to make it heart-wrenching at the end maybe because there isn't enough laughter in their days that makes people reminisce about when the tragedy happen. but still, the tragedy is good enough to make people cry.

But their friendship is great and so tragic that it is almost unfair to Vada for losing important people from her life.

Sticky-sweet insult!

[meepozoid · 1/10 · 26 October 1998]

This was a waste of money to see in the theater and I urge everyone out there to see a REAL tearjerker like Ghost or The Cure instead of this sticky-sweet insult to good filmmaking. Or read the book version of "My Girl", which was a worthwhile read.

Why did I dislike this film so much?

It was predictable. Too much time went into warning parents that My Girl had a sad ending, at the expense of a darned good surprise.

The performances, frankly, stunk; except for a few choice moments by Veda's uncle. The dialogue was immature. The plot was choppy and tended to focus more on what a horrific brat the main character was, rather than the friendship between Veda and Thomas J.

I read the original script. The film was SUPPOSED to end with the line "My mother will take care of him!" screamed from a distance; when Thomas J's mother returns Veda's ring. It was a heartbreaking, emotional way to end a movie, and might have saved it; but someone chose to end My Girl with Veda and her "new best friend" getting on their two-wheelers and riding away. This, I presume, was meant to reassure all those little kiddies out there watching the film that Veda was "gonna be OK". How insulting. Those of us who have lost childhood sweethearts know better. We never see Veda mourn.

Other complaints: The filmmakers try too hard to make us see Veda's dad as a "nice guy", even though in the original script, he was portrayed as a cold, heartless man who ruined Veda's childhood, which would have been much more believable. Shelly was supposed to be about 20 years younger than she was portrayed in the film.

The filmmakers also switch rapidly back and forth between how "adult" the children are, and how "childish" the children are. Some films do this artfully and realistically (see "Welcome To The Dollhouse" for a good example); however, with Thomas J and Veda, it felt like an utter lack of decisiveness: "Should we cater to the kids who will watch because of Culkin or should we cater to the adults who will watch because of Curtis? Oh, well, let's try and cater to both."

This film could have been all kinds of things: thought-provoking, heartbreaking, funny, nostalgic . . . Instead we're handed one adjective that sums up My Girl all too well:

Sappy.