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Blu-ray Review: MY GIRL / MY GIRL 2

Home » Blu-ray Review: MY GIRL / MY GIRL 2

Mar 17, 2021 Posted by in DVD/Blu-ray, Reviews | Comments

Mill Creek Entertainment has released the iconic 1990’s films My Girl and My Girl 2 on a new double-feature Blu-ray.

    My Girl (1991)
    Set in Madison, Pennsylvania in 1972, My Girl is a coming-of-age dramedy focusing on eleven-year-old Vada Sultenfuss (Anna Chlumsky). Vada lives with her father Harry (Dan Aykroyd) in the funeral home that he runs. Vada never really knew her mother—she passed away shortly after Vada was born. However, her father has done a good job raising her, with help from her ailing Gramoo (Ann Nelson), and Uncle Phil (Richard Masur). While Vada has pretty much grown up around death, the idea still scares her. Vada doesn’t like looking at the bodies that come into the funeral home, and gets scared to go into the basement embalming room alone.

    It’s summertime, and Vada likes to spend her days hanging out with her dorky best friend/neighbor Thomas J. (Macaulay Culkin). Vada is a bit of a hypochondriac, always running to the town doctor, Dr. Welty (Peter Michael Goetz), thinking she has some crazy disease, and Thomas J. is allergic to everything, so the two make the perfect pair. However, Vada doesn’t have romantic feelings for Thomas J.—those are reserved for her English teacher, Mr. Bixler (Griffin Dunne). Vada is planning to take a summer writing course in order to spend more time with her crush, if she can just get her father to give her the money. Meanwhile, a young makeup stylist, Shelly DeVoto (Jamie Lee Curtis), shows up to apply for a makeup artist job opening, not realizing that her clients would be dead bodies. But Shelly is a free-spirit who lives in a camper van, and this may be an exciting new adventure for her. As a divorcee with no family, she is also drawn to the idea of being part of this family business. Vada is quickly drawn to Shelly—she is like the mother figure she never really had. However, once Vada see’s her father striking up a romantic relationship with Shelly, she gets a bit jealous and worried that her father won’t have any time for her.

    My Girl 2 (1994)
    The sequel picks up almost two years later. Vada is now thirteen and has a school paper assignment to write about the biggest accomplishments of someone she has never met. Vada chooses her mother as the subject of the assignment. However, she doesn’t really know anything about her mother. So she decides to spend her spring break visiting her Uncle Phil in California, where she can visit the places where her mother grew up, and talk to people who may have known her. Phil works at a foreign car repair shop, and lives with the boss/owner, his girlfriend Rose Zsigmond (Christine Ebersole) and her teenage son Nick (Austin O’Brien). Rose is ready for marriage, but Phil has a fear of commitment. So as they work out their issues, Nick becomes Vada’s reluctant guide and partner on her quest to learn more about her mother’s past. Each person they meets gives Vada new clues as to her mother’s personality and achievements, and how well-liked she was by her peers. Each person also points her to her next stop on this tour of her mother’s life. Along the way, a connection also forms between Vada and Nick.

The original My Girl is a delightful, though sometimes tear-jerking film, with fully fleshed-out characters who develop over the course of the movie. You find yourself really falling in love with and caring about these characters. While the sequel has a main plot/journey in Vada trying to learn about her mother, the first film is more of a general coming-of-age drama, exploring the characters and their relationships. Anna Chlumsky really shines in her first major role, and has great chemistry and comedic timing with her other more famous co-stars. The film has some very dramatic moments, but also scenes that will make you smile and laugh out loud. These are often thanks to Dan Aykroyd and Jamie Lee Curtis. The sequel revisits these same characters, but fails to fully recapture the magic of the first film. Dan Aykroyd and Jamie Lee Curtis still appear in the sequel, but just to bookend the main focus of the story that takes place in Los Angeles, with Phil, Rose and Nick and the various people Vada and Nick cross paths with. There also isn’t quite that same playful connection between Vada and Nick as there was with Vada and Thomas J. At times, Nick comes off a little emotionless (Austin O’Brien is no Macaulay Culkin).

Overall, I did end up enjoying both movies, thanks to the interesting characters and world they set up. The 70s setting also added this feeling of innocence and a simpler time to these coming-of-age tales. Both films also have wonderful soundtracks. The first film is more of doo-wop 50’s and 60’s music, while the sequel includes many Elton John tunes. I would definitely be open to a My Girl 3 if they ever wanted to revisit Vada and her family again as an adult, with her own child at the cusp of becoming a teenager.

Both My Girl and My Girl 2 had previously been released on Blu-ray, but Mill Creek’s re-release brings both films together as a single double-feature at a really affordable price. While the previous release of My Girl included an audio commentary, trailer and behind-the-scenes featurettes, unfortunately none of this bonus material has been ported to this double-feature. Both films reside on a single dual-layer Blu-ray disc, which comes packed in a standard HD keepcase without a slipcover, and there is no digital copy included. The main menu just offers Play and Subtitle On/Off options for both films. The video presentation is quite good for both movies, with a bright, clean and detailed picture. The first film offers a surround audio track, which is nicely utilized to make scenes like the Fourth of July fireworks come to life, and make the great musical soundtrack sound a lot fuller. The sequel only offers a stereo soundtrack, but this still provides clear dialogue and a pleasant experience.


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