This is one of my favorite 90s movies which takes place in 1961 on Long Island. The acting is phenomenal and it is a very heart warming tale which shows how difficult and wonderful life can be, no matter what age you are.
Elisa Dushku is absolutely adorable as Ali, a young tween who silently admires her 17 year old neighbor Sheryl. Ali is obviously emotionally neglected by her parents and they are too caught up in their own problems and stresses to notice how much she needs their affection and attention. She is also surrounded by nothing but imbecile "friends" whom she is infinitely more mature than. Feeling all alone in the world, she plunges herself into Sheryl and Rick's world and is determined to get them their happy ending so that she can vicariously have one for herself too.
It is very interesting and poetic that on the night Sheryl loses her beloved father, she also meets her soulmate, Rick. The chemistry between them is undeniable and he clearly cares for her deeply despite what all the naysayers of the town claim. I believe Sheryl delved into a physical relationship with him so quickly because she was feeling so empty inside because of her father's death. I do not think Rick took advantage of her though, he even gave her time to grieve before coming to see her again after she returned the bowling shoes and made her sad record.
Usually I loathe "accidental pregnancy" plots because they are so overdone and absurd to me, but I excuse it because this is supposed to be 1961 in a religious town and involves teenagers. Birth control was not as readily available and you had to be super secretive and essentially careless if you were involved in an intimate relationship. What's interesting to me is that no one thought to help Sheryl and Rick, they only made things worse for them. Sheryl's mother had that huge house and surely must have gotten money from her husband's death, she couldn't have let Rick and the baby move in until the struggling couple got on their feet? Instead she pushed her daughter away, lost any chance of getting to know the man she loved and any relationship with her own grandchild.
The scene on the lawn when Rick is humbly begging the mother to let him see Sheryl was very emotional for me. It shows how clueless and petty adults are and Ali is able to see this clearly. It was Sheryl's mother who was wrong, he does not lay a hand on her and ends up getting bashed on the head with a shovel. All he was trying to do was see the girl he loved. They all treated Sheryl far worse than they claimed he was.
This movie does not get a perfect rating for me because I also loathe ambiguous endings. Ali says she got a post card from Sheryl and Rick stating that "things were going well so far." I personally like to believe that Sheryl and Rick make it, that they truly were love at first sight lovers and that nothing can change that. And I think Ali believes it too.
I am so glad that her parents learned their lesson in the end. I know Ali running away was wrong, but it took something drastic for her parents to finally open their eyes and see how much she needed them. They were so concerned with having another baby and getting through the drudges of every day life that they didn't see that happiness as a family was right there in front of them. The scene where Ali tries to get her father to hug her when he gets off the train when she sees Sheryl's dad fussing over her is so heartbreaking. It is so beautiful that Ali's father emotionally embraces her in the end rather than beating her or screaming at her for what she did.
Ali catching the firefly in the end is very symbolic, because it shows that even if you don't know if you will be able to catch something, it is still worth chasing it, just to have something beautiful within your grasp if only for a moment.
Elisa Dushku is absolutely adorable as Ali, a young tween who silently admires her 17 year old neighbor Sheryl. Ali is obviously emotionally neglected by her parents and they are too caught up in their own problems and stresses to notice how much she needs their affection and attention. She is also surrounded by nothing but imbecile "friends" whom she is infinitely more mature than. Feeling all alone in the world, she plunges herself into Sheryl and Rick's world and is determined to get them their happy ending so that she can vicariously have one for herself too.
It is very interesting and poetic that on the night Sheryl loses her beloved father, she also meets her soulmate, Rick. The chemistry between them is undeniable and he clearly cares for her deeply despite what all the naysayers of the town claim. I believe Sheryl delved into a physical relationship with him so quickly because she was feeling so empty inside because of her father's death. I do not think Rick took advantage of her though, he even gave her time to grieve before coming to see her again after she returned the bowling shoes and made her sad record.
Usually I loathe "accidental pregnancy" plots because they are so overdone and absurd to me, but I excuse it because this is supposed to be 1961 in a religious town and involves teenagers. Birth control was not as readily available and you had to be super secretive and essentially careless if you were involved in an intimate relationship. What's interesting to me is that no one thought to help Sheryl and Rick, they only made things worse for them. Sheryl's mother had that huge house and surely must have gotten money from her husband's death, she couldn't have let Rick and the baby move in until the struggling couple got on their feet? Instead she pushed her daughter away, lost any chance of getting to know the man she loved and any relationship with her own grandchild.
The scene on the lawn when Rick is humbly begging the mother to let him see Sheryl was very emotional for me. It shows how clueless and petty adults are and Ali is able to see this clearly. It was Sheryl's mother who was wrong, he does not lay a hand on her and ends up getting bashed on the head with a shovel. All he was trying to do was see the girl he loved. They all treated Sheryl far worse than they claimed he was.
This movie does not get a perfect rating for me because I also loathe ambiguous endings. Ali says she got a post card from Sheryl and Rick stating that "things were going well so far." I personally like to believe that Sheryl and Rick make it, that they truly were love at first sight lovers and that nothing can change that. And I think Ali believes it too.
I am so glad that her parents learned their lesson in the end. I know Ali running away was wrong, but it took something drastic for her parents to finally open their eyes and see how much she needed them. They were so concerned with having another baby and getting through the drudges of every day life that they didn't see that happiness as a family was right there in front of them. The scene where Ali tries to get her father to hug her when he gets off the train when she sees Sheryl's dad fussing over her is so heartbreaking. It is so beautiful that Ali's father emotionally embraces her in the end rather than beating her or screaming at her for what she did.
Ali catching the firefly in the end is very symbolic, because it shows that even if you don't know if you will be able to catch something, it is still worth chasing it, just to have something beautiful within your grasp if only for a moment.