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This Is My Life (1992)
Released By: Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment   Rating: PG-13   In Theaters: N/A
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Studio: Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment
Genre: Comedy
MPAA Rating: PG-13
Director: Nora Ephron
Language: English
Official Website: N/A
Theatrical Release: N/A
Home Video Release: N/A
Cast: Carrie Fisher, Dan Aykroyd, Gaby Hoffman, Julie Kavner, Samantha Mathis
Published ID: 3515
UPC: N/A
Plot: Based on the book by Meg Wolitzer, This Is My Life is the directorial debut for Nora Ephron, who adapted the script with sister, Delia Ephron. Dottie Engels (Julie Kavner) is a single mother with aspirations of becoming a standup comedian. When her Aunt Harriet dies, Dottie gets an apartment in Manhattan with her daughters, teenaged Erica (Samantha Mathis) and ten-year-old Opal (Gaby Hoffmann). Soon, Dottie's career is taking off and her agent, Claudia Curtis (Carrie Fisher), gets her on a comedy tour. Everything seems to work out well for Dottie, except that her daughters are left without a mother. Erica, who has just started dating Jordan (Danny Zorn) gets especially mad when she hears Dottie talking about her personal information on a talk show. The two girls are further upset with their mother's choice for a boyfriend, Arnold Moss (Dan Aykroyd). Eventually, Erica and Opal try to track down their real father, Norm (Louis di Banco), in upstate New York. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
IDDateTimeTitleReviewHelpfulVotesTotalVotes
Seeing Spots
Added 10/29/2001

You know when you are real little and your parent't want to shove a vegitable in your mouth, and you instantly reject it? Even if it makes it into your mouth you spit it out? Then after a time and you grow a little, vegitables aren't the big nasty monster's that your dad used to shove in your face? Well, that's the best way to describe this film from my point of view. I flipped through the channel's, stopped on the opening titles and kept on flipping. A second passed and I decided to flip back and give it a chance. What a rewarding decision that was. Julie Kavner won a place in my imagination with her portrayal of a nurse in Awakening's, my favorite film. She also does the voice of Marge Simpson. You get to see a performance that comes from the simpson side of her talent's as she plays a comedian and mother of two girls: Samantha Mathis, and Gabby Hoffman.(Both of these girls have since grown into blossoming careers) What I most enjoyed was the sincerity, and honesty as the girls deal with the same problems as their mother. Each trying to discover the secrets of life and love. Their mother is trying to stay on the road as a hit comedian and at the same time be a loving mom, while the girls are dealing with the effect's of their mother's action's and her spotty dress. A lot of light hearted moment's and a really enjoyable movie.
7 out of 7 people found this helpful.
Somthing just doesn't fit in this movie.
Added 1/3/2001

The acting was fantastic but at times it gets too slow, or too drawn out, or maybe the cast just wasn't right. But who am i to judge. Some people think it was a great film, i on the other hand just don't see why it was so great. out.
1 out of 4 people found this helpful.
Slight
Added 6/15/2000

Nora Ephron's first effort as director (made before Sleepless in Seattle) stars Julie Kavner as a stand-up comedian. You would think that this would work considering how funny Kavner has been in The Tracey Ullman Show, the Woody Allen movies, and as the voice of Marge Simpson. But although she has some clever line readings and works to make the routines come alive, she fails since the material is not funny. This is made worse by Ephron's cuts to the audience laughing in hysteria. Kavner also isn't believable as a mother. She's more the big sister type, and I think miscast, playing a character who needs to be sympathetic for us to accept her following her ambition at the cost of the responsibilities of her family. Ephron does better with Kavner's two daughters, Samantha Morris and Gaby Hoffman, who both give wonderful performances. Morris in particular is a revelation as the sensitive teenager in angst, embarassed by her mother. Ephron's best work is in the way she presents Morris' schoolyard romance, treading a delicate line between comedy and pathos. Morris also gets one of the best lines. When fans approach her mother at an airport, she asks "Do you like people coming up to you and not even knocking?". The film is actually peppered with witty dialogue, and a polka dot design is fun. But the score by Carly Simon is a major minus featuring irritatingly bland songs performed by herself. Watch out for Barbara Stewart in a small role - she plays an airhead with a Southern charm that is sweet and funny.
4 out of 8 people found this helpful.
Seeing Spots
Added 10/29/2001

You know when you are real little and your parent't want to shove a vegitable in your mouth, and you instantly reject it? Even if it makes it into your mouth you spit it out? Then after a time and you grow a little, vegitables aren't the big nasty monster's that your dad used to shove in your face? Well, that's the best way to describe this film from my point of view. I flipped through the channel's, stopped on the opening titles and kept on flipping. A second passed and I decided to flip back and give it a chance. What a rewarding decision that was. Julie Kavner won a place in my imagination with her portrayal of a nurse in Awakening's, my favorite film. She also does the voice of Marge Simpson. You get to see a performance that comes from the simpson side of her talent's as she plays a comedian and mother of two girls: Samantha Mathis, and Gabby Hoffman.(Both of these girls have since grown into blossoming careers) What I most enjoyed was the sincerity, and honesty as the girls deal with the same problems as their mother. Each trying to discover the secrets of life and love. Their mother is trying to stay on the road as a hit comedian and at the same time be a loving mom, while the girls are dealing with the effect's of their mother's action's and her spotty dress. A lot of light hearted moment's and a really enjoyable movie.
7 out of 7 people found this helpful.
Somthing just doesn't fit in this movie.
Added 1/3/2001

The acting was fantastic but at times it gets too slow, or too drawn out, or maybe the cast just wasn't right. But who am i to judge. Some people think it was a great film, i on the other hand just don't see why it was so great. out.
1 out of 4 people found this helpful.
Slight
Added 6/15/2000

Nora Ephron's first effort as director (made before Sleepless in Seattle) stars Julie Kavner as a stand-up comedian. You would think that this would work considering how funny Kavner has been in The Tracey Ullman Show, the Woody Allen movies, and as the voice of Marge Simpson. But although she has some clever line readings and works to make the routines come alive, she fails since the material is not funny. This is made worse by Ephron's cuts to the audience laughing in hysteria. Kavner also isn't believable as a mother. She's more the big sister type, and I think miscast, playing a character who needs to be sympathetic for us to accept her following her ambition at the cost of the responsibilities of her family. Ephron does better with Kavner's two daughters, Samantha Morris and Gaby Hoffman, who both give wonderful performances. Morris in particular is a revelation as the sensitive teenager in angst, embarassed by her mother. Ephron's best work is in the way she presents Morris' schoolyard romance, treading a delicate line between comedy and pathos. Morris also gets one of the best lines. When fans approach her mother at an airport, she asks "Do you like people coming up to you and not even knocking?". The film is actually peppered with witty dialogue, and a polka dot design is fun. But the score by Carly Simon is a major minus featuring irritatingly bland songs performed by herself. Watch out for Barbara Stewart in a small role - she plays an airhead with a Southern charm that is sweet and funny.
4 out of 8 people found this helpful.
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