Barrymore doesn't deliver, and it doesn't help that she's forced to play the same scene of hysterical disappointment over and over.
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10/18/01
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Riding in Cars with Boys (2001)
48
%
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:107
Fresh:51
Rotten:56
Average Rating:5.2/10
Consensus: Riding in Cars With Boys suffers from mixing grit and pathos with cuteness and comedy. Ironically, many critics found Zahn's character more compelling and three-dimensional than Barrymore's.
Theatrical Release:Oct 19, 2001 Wide
Box Office: $29,601,298
Synopsis: Beverly loves boys, but she knows her limits: nothing below the waist (hers), if she doesn't know the boy. Ray, however, a sweet-natured but shiftless young man is the exception to her rule and... [More]
Starring: Drew Barrymore, Steve Zahn, James Woods, Brittany Murphy
Director: Penny Marshall
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Reviews for Riding in Cars with Boys
Marshall ... regularly downshifts the anger in Riding in Cars to low-gear cute every time the road gets good and tough.
10/18/01
Top CriticMarshall's film, hobbled by a miscalculated and often superficial script by Morgan Upton Ward, is mostly a wasted opportunity.
10/18/01
Top CriticMarshall has fashioned a well-acted diversion, and she wisely chooses humor over treacle in what could have been an overly sentimental tale.
10/18/01
Once the novelty wears off, you feel like you’ve been tricked into watching someone else’s home movies for two-plus hours.
10/18/01
Feels both forced and erratic, like an old Buick missing on all cylinders.
10/18/01
Top CriticThe kind of film ... that even as it dissolves narratively, still makes you dissolve emotionally.
10/18/01
Top CriticWhat ultimately dooms the film are one-dimensional and searingly bad performances.
10/18/01
It's nothing more than a hot fudge sundae -- warm, syrupy and quickly dissipating into a mess.
10/18/01
Would be the stuff of a Lifetime Channel movie-of-the-week if not for ...a phenomenal performance of extraordinary depth and range by Drew Barrymore.
10/18/01
It's never more than a random collection of moments that never pull together.
10/18/01
Top CriticClick to read the article
10/18/01
Man or woman, anyone can identify with these characters and these lives.
10/18/01
A cautionary tale of heartwarming, and irritating, proportions.
10/18/01
Always finding a way to lighten its weightiness with a chuckle, the film fields some pretty heavy subject matter -- like life.
10/17/01
While the film sags in spots, it is remarkably rich and robust, with a wealth of memorable performances.
10/16/01
Marshall's halting sob story strains for cry-till-you-laugh dark comedy.
10/16/01
Penny Marshall's panache for deftly mixing humor with pain prevents Riding in Cars from becoming too mawkish a cautionary tale.
10/15/01
Meeting the challenge is Barrymore, who portrays Beverly from ages 15-36 in her finest screen role.
10/15/01
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