Columbia Pictures presents yet another coming of age film.
“My Girl” is an hour and forty-two minute long film that dives into the experience of a young girl, Vada Sultenfuss (Anna Chlumsky) who lives in a funeral home with her dad Harry Sultenfuss (Dan Aykroyd), a single dad who raises Vada on his own since his wife passed away. The film is filled with Vada’s life as she starts to feel strong emotions, relationship wise and grief. It highlights the difficult challenges that have come in her way at a very young age.
Something that can be learned from watching this film is the importance of friendship. In the beginning of the film, Vada has a lot of trouble fitting in with girls her age as she is seen as too much of a tomboy so the only friend that she has is Thomas J. Sennett (Macaulay Culkin). The two have a really strong friendship as they’ve experienced everything together even having their first kiss together. Towards the end of the movie Vada experiences different stages of grief after Thomas had died from being stung by multiple bees that he was seriously allergic too. He tries to bring back Vada’s mood ring that she had left there. She realizes in the end how much of a true friend he was, even if they argued and did not see eye to eye at times. Thomas showed Vada that just because she was different did not mean she couldn’t have a best friend. Even after losing Thomas, she made other friends but none of them were like him.
Another lesson that can be learned from watching this film is learning how to face one’s fears. Throughout Vada’s entire life, it has always been her and her dad after she lost her mom. Harry had issues with becoming a single dad since he was always focused on work because he managed to keep Vada happy. When Shelly (Jamie Lee Curtis) came along, being hired as a makeup artist at the funeral home, Vada was happy. That was until Shelly and her dad started to get closer. They started to go out on dates, and Vada felt like Shelly was taking Harry away from her. She did not like it because all she knew was her and Harry from the beginning. Vada faced these fears by talking to Shelly one on one and being able to adapt to the changes around her even though it was hard on her.
All in all, “My Girl” is recommended for those who enjoy a good drama film. The film is rated PG.
