This is an entertaining enough movie, definitely a chick flick. Call me old fashioned, but I'm going to start out by putting in my disclaimer that it isn't in any way ideal (or even okay) that these young girls are all sleeping with guys they aren't married to. I wouldn't want my daughter (if I had one) having their morals.
The story revolves around three friends who have just graduated from high school in Mystic, Connecticut, and work as waitresses in the local pizza parlor during the summer, while trying to sort out their future plans. Two of these girls, Daisy and Kat, are sisters and bridesmaids to the third, Jojo, who faints at the altar and wants to postpone any commitment. Jojo's fiancé wants marriage now and eventually more or less gives her an ultimatum. Meanwhile, her two friends (the sisters) are having romantic problems of their own. Daisy, the wild, cocky sister, is dating (and bedding) a handsome, wealthy, and rather spoiled young man named Charlie. Her brainy, quiet sister, Kat, is headed for Yale, but has a summer job babysitting a little girl. She has fallen for her charge's 30 something year old dad, whose wife is off in England for the summer.
They're all having sex at around age 17 -18, and not putting a lot of either smarts or honour into it. Jojo literally can't seem to get enough sex, but doesn't want to marry the guy. Though she's portrayed sympathetically, Daisy's apparently been sleeping around long before Charlie. Kat has sex with a married man, regretting it afterward only because she feels dumb and used when he returns to his wife. (She WAS dumb and used.) No remorse whatsoever over her ill treatment of said absent wife or betrayal of the couple's child she claims to feel such affection for. We're supposed to feel sorry for her (and do), but it's not quite nice what she did, especially in light of the fact that it's so premeditated over a period of time, not spur of the moment at all.
As for Jojo, it's a little odd that she just seems to want sex (even in the pizzeria washroom!), whereas it's her fiancé who's the honorable one wanting to commit, possibly even for religious reasons. He's tired of them sneaking around to have sex. Hurray for him! I had rather limited sympathy for Jojo's situation; many girls wish they were so lucky. I agree with the reviewer who claims Jojo's an annoyance, always yapping away about commitment. Although Daisy comes off as mouthy and rude, sometimes even cruel to her sister, she shows her vulnerability as the blue collar girl looked down upon by Charlie's snobbish family. My main sympathy goes to Kat, even though she indeed does a terrible thing, and quite unrepentantly at that, by sleeping with her married employer. However, she's young, naive, and foolish...neither the first nor the last...and alas, suffers for her folly eventually.
It's one of Julia Robert's early roles, and she always emerges sympathetically, including here as Daisy, the stereotypical low social status girl with Portuguese ethnic roots, in love with a rich, preppy WASP college man. The other cast all come off quite adequately, especially Annabelle Gish who shines as Kat. I agree with others who have noted that, Julia Roberts notwithstanding, this is really Kat's movie.
The pizza parlor is sort of home base to the tale. One of the most touching aspects of this movie is the camaraderie and loyalty of these girls to Leona, the pizzeria owner. Leona has no kids, so the three girls are like her daughters. It's interesting when the gourmet food critic stops in for a slice of Leona's secret recipe pizza!
Anyway, this movie is an entertaining little bit of fluff, but definitely one just for the girls, I would say.
The story revolves around three friends who have just graduated from high school in Mystic, Connecticut, and work as waitresses in the local pizza parlor during the summer, while trying to sort out their future plans. Two of these girls, Daisy and Kat, are sisters and bridesmaids to the third, Jojo, who faints at the altar and wants to postpone any commitment. Jojo's fiancé wants marriage now and eventually more or less gives her an ultimatum. Meanwhile, her two friends (the sisters) are having romantic problems of their own. Daisy, the wild, cocky sister, is dating (and bedding) a handsome, wealthy, and rather spoiled young man named Charlie. Her brainy, quiet sister, Kat, is headed for Yale, but has a summer job babysitting a little girl. She has fallen for her charge's 30 something year old dad, whose wife is off in England for the summer.
They're all having sex at around age 17 -18, and not putting a lot of either smarts or honour into it. Jojo literally can't seem to get enough sex, but doesn't want to marry the guy. Though she's portrayed sympathetically, Daisy's apparently been sleeping around long before Charlie. Kat has sex with a married man, regretting it afterward only because she feels dumb and used when he returns to his wife. (She WAS dumb and used.) No remorse whatsoever over her ill treatment of said absent wife or betrayal of the couple's child she claims to feel such affection for. We're supposed to feel sorry for her (and do), but it's not quite nice what she did, especially in light of the fact that it's so premeditated over a period of time, not spur of the moment at all.
As for Jojo, it's a little odd that she just seems to want sex (even in the pizzeria washroom!), whereas it's her fiancé who's the honorable one wanting to commit, possibly even for religious reasons. He's tired of them sneaking around to have sex. Hurray for him! I had rather limited sympathy for Jojo's situation; many girls wish they were so lucky. I agree with the reviewer who claims Jojo's an annoyance, always yapping away about commitment. Although Daisy comes off as mouthy and rude, sometimes even cruel to her sister, she shows her vulnerability as the blue collar girl looked down upon by Charlie's snobbish family. My main sympathy goes to Kat, even though she indeed does a terrible thing, and quite unrepentantly at that, by sleeping with her married employer. However, she's young, naive, and foolish...neither the first nor the last...and alas, suffers for her folly eventually.
It's one of Julia Robert's early roles, and she always emerges sympathetically, including here as Daisy, the stereotypical low social status girl with Portuguese ethnic roots, in love with a rich, preppy WASP college man. The other cast all come off quite adequately, especially Annabelle Gish who shines as Kat. I agree with others who have noted that, Julia Roberts notwithstanding, this is really Kat's movie.
The pizza parlor is sort of home base to the tale. One of the most touching aspects of this movie is the camaraderie and loyalty of these girls to Leona, the pizzeria owner. Leona has no kids, so the three girls are like her daughters. It's interesting when the gourmet food critic stops in for a slice of Leona's secret recipe pizza!
Anyway, this movie is an entertaining little bit of fluff, but definitely one just for the girls, I would say.