Grey Gardens

• Based on the life stories of the eccentric aunt and first cousin of Jackie Kennedy, starring Drew Barrymore and Jessica Lange, GREY GARDENS tells the tender, intimate story of an eccentric mother and daughter (both named Edith Bouvier Beale aka "Big and Little Edie"). They were raised as Park Avenue d butantes but withdrew from New York society, taking shelter at their Long Island summer home, "Gr

Erin (Drew Barrymore) and Garrett (Justin Long) strike sparks for a summer fling in New York City but neither expects it to last once Erin heads home to San Francisco and Garrett remains behind for his Big Apple job. But after six increasingly romantic weeks, neither is sure they want it to end. So despite the opposing coasts, naysaying friends and family and a few unexpected temptations, the couple just might have found something like love. And helped by a lot of texting and late-night phone calls,! they might actually go the distance.Going the Distance sparkles with wit and true romance--something of a rarity among mass-market romantic comedies. Drew Barrymore and Justin Long, who have been a couple in real life, use their personal chemistry to effective ends in the film. They play Erin and Garrett, geography-crossed lovers who, after a whirlwind romance of six weeks in New York ("Keep it light! Keep it light" they both say, futilely), try to see if they can keep the love fires burning when Erin must move to the West Coast. There are predictable pitfalls and speed bumps that populate any romantic comedy, as well as a sublime supporting cast of friends and siblings. Especially notable is Christina Applegate as Erin's sister, Corinne, jaded and hilarious, and fiercely protective of her sister. But the charm of Going the Distance is in the winsomeness of its main stars. Barrymore and Long seem to be acting effortlessly, and their enjoyment of each other's ! company lets the audience feel a part of the romance. First-ti! me scree nwriter Geoff LaTulippe is less focused on zingers that are hard to believe as dialogue, and more on the subtle ways people get to know each other, and enjoy each other--especially with humor. Director Nanette Burstein (documentaries including American Teen and The Kid Stays in the Picture) keeps the action moving deftly and lets the two stars shine--even as they long for one another across the miles. Erin and Garrett's stab at phone sex is laugh-out-loud funny, yet their tender, tentative connection feels real and warm. Going the Distance lets its likable stars cross the finish line, and bring the audience along with them. --A.T. HurleyA "modern" young woman of the 16th century, Danielle (Barrymore) is as independent and wise as she is beautiful and kind. Against remarkable odds, she stands up to her scheming stepmother (Huston) and works miracles on the lives of everyone around her, including the crown prince of France (Dougray Scott)!Now you c! an relive this captivating, contemporary retelling of the classic fairytale.Take away the Fairy Godmother, and what have you got left from the Cinderella fable? The story of a girl for whom a bad stroke of luck is no match for her internal strength and purity of heart. Drew Barrymore plays Cinderella's alleged inspiration, Danielle, in this romantic drama that purports to tell the "facts" behind the Grimm brothers' story. One of three daughters of a man (Jeroen Krabbé) who dies and leaves her fate in the hands of a conniving stepmother (Anjelica Huston), Danielle is cast into the lowly role of a servant. Meanwhile, her sisters are evaluated as possible mates for a French prince (Dougray Scott), but he's far more intrigued with Danielle's intelligence and beauty--not to mention her way with a sword and fist. Directed by Andy Tennant (who directed Barrymore in TV's The Amy Fisher Story), Ever After has that rare ability to win the heart and mind of a viewer sim! ply by being committed to its own innocence, particularly wher! e Barrym ore's luminous performance is concerned. A contemporary take on an old, virtually forgotten Hollywood convention--the costume adventure with middling artistic ambition but real audience appeal--Ever After is a surprisingly delightful film. --Tom KeoghIn this hilarious, heartwarming comedy, Drew Barrymore shines as a budding journalist who's determined to go from 'geek' to 'chic' when she is sent back to high school on her first undercover assignment to lern about today's teens. At first, Josie is thrilled with the opportunity until she remembers her nickname from years ago: "Josie Grossie!" Can a former clueless nerd navigate the hallways of high school without trippin over her own feet?Let's get this straight: Drew Barrymore started a production company to develop original scripts outside of Hollywood and the first project she chose to produce was this, a romantic comedy written by USC grads Abby Kohn and Mark Silverstein about a nerdy, virginal woman who retu! rns to high school as an undercover reporter, finally gets to be popular, and falls in love. And Barrymore decided, as producer, that the perfect actress to play this virtuous, clean-cut, and downright annoying geek would be... Drew Barrymore? It's hard to believe that after The Wedding Singer Barrymore's not getting enough dopey, formulaic, predictable romantic comedies coming across her desk. The complete inability to buy Barrymore as unattractive, awkward, and unpopular ruins Never Been Kissed from the start, but it's doubtful a better actress could have saved it. The jokes fall flat, the romance between Barrymore and her English teacher (played by Michael Vartan) lacks chemistry, and the portrayals of high school and the newspaper newsroom is clichéd and uninspired (big surprise here: the director, Raja Gosnell, previously made Home Alone 3). Gosnell can't even give the gifted character actor, John C. Reilly, anything to do. Only David Arquette, wh! o plays Barrymore's out-of-control brother, brings any energy ! to the f ilm. --Dave McCoyRIDING IN CARS WITH BOYS - DVD MovieRiding in Cars with Boys achieves broad appeal as a tearjerker laced with hardscrabble humor. In the crowd-pleasing hands of director Penny Marshall, Beverly Donofrio's bestselling memoir loses much of its real-life gravity, but its rich humanity remains in abundance, especially since Drew Barrymore plays Donofrio with effortless charm. The movie spans 20 years, from Bev's pregnancy at 15 in 1963 (actually 17 in the book), through welfare parenthood with a heroin-addicted husband (Steve Zahn), and semi-adult resentment as her teenaged son (Adam Garcia) takes priority over her ultimate goal of finishing college and publishing her memoir. For all of Barrymore's winning tenacity, it's Zahn's goodhearted loser who gives the film its genuine soul while lending an edge to Marshall's cloying sentiment. The material begs for the subtler touch of James L. Brooks (who produced this and Marshall's more delicate hit B! ig), but that won't stop this movie from attracting a legion of admirers. --Jeff ShannonBased on the life stories of the eccentric aunt and first cousin of Jackie Kennedy, starring Drew Barrymore and Jessica Lange, Grey Gardens tells the tender, intimate story of an eccentric mother and daughter (both named Edith Bouvier Beale aka "Big and Little Edie"). They were raised as Park Avenue débutantes but withdrew from New York society, taking shelter at their Long Island summer home, "Grey Gardens ." As their wealth and contact with the outside world dwindled, so did their grasp on reality. They were reintroduced to the world when international tabloids learned of a health department raid on their home, and Jackie swooped in to save her relatives. Based on the lives that inspired the Maysles Brothers' classic documentary.It's hard to imagine a feature film that could improve upon the classic 1975 Hamptons-gothic documentary Grey Gardens, co-directed ! by Albert and David Maysles. Yet this Grey Gardens, dir! ected by Michael Sucsy for HBO Films, captures not only the pathos and peculiarity of Edith Beale, mère et fille--aristocrats who were aunt and cousin to former first lady Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy--but it provides something deeper and richer: the background story of the glamorous Beale ladies, and a glimpse at how they slid from gay 1930s high society to sharing rotting living quarters with litters of cats and raccoons.

Drew Barrymore, the Grey Gardens standout, rises to the particular challenge of playing "Little Edie" Beale, whose accent, carriage, and mannerisms have developed their own camp following over the years. Barrymore's performance is a revelation: she captures the weirdness of Edie, but she knows what the documentary fans know--the reality of what Edie once had been, and what she was becoming. Barrymore's performance is delicate and strong, with a hint of sadness underneath the fading ingénue's brave face. Jessica Lange plays "Big Edie," the mother w! ho made more concrete choices to wall herself off from the outside world. Lange is excellent, though Big Edie is a less nuanced character than her daughter, and she seems more content with her lot, perched in her teeming twin bed surrounded by mounds of cats and trash.

The filmmakers pay deep homage to the documentary, and carefully recreate the third lead character of the drama--the East Hampton, N.Y., mansion Grey Gardens itself. The making-of featurette is a must-have for fans of either film, as the filmmakers and actors talk about how they built a three-story facsimile of the home near Toronto (which also stands in for the Manhattan scenes). Also fascinating is the story of how certain beloved sets from the documentary were painstakingly re-created, including the Beales’ yellow bedroom, the entryway that played stage to the dancing aspirations of Little Edie, and the crumbling porch and yard where Edie would pose and prance, decked out in tights, shorts, a pinned-u! p skirt, and her signature sweater-snood, fastened with a broo! ch just so. "Well, Mother and I are very entertaining, that's true," says Little Edie, when the Maysles first approach her about cooperating in their documentary. And, happily, viewers of HBO's Grey Gardens could not agree more. --A.T. Hurley

Stills from Grey Gardens (click for larger image)