Plot
New York jazz pianist Willie returns to his hometown of Knight's Ridge, Massachusetts for his 10-year high school reunion, staying with his widower father and younger brother.
Willie reunites with three old friends: Mo is a successful family man, while Paul and Tommy, who own a snowplowing business, are each having relationship issues. Paul was recently dumped by his longtime girlfriend Jan because he refused her ultimatum of marriage. Believing that she is now seeing Victor the meat cutter, he vindictively blocks her driveway with snow every night. Tommy is cheating on his girlfriend Sharon with his married high school sweetheart Darian.
Willie meets 13 year-old neighbor girl Marty, and they strike up a witty rapport. She presses him about his relationship: he has been with his girlfriend Tracy for a year, but is unsure if he wants to marry her. He is considering taking a steady job as a salesman, but Mo urges him not to quit his music.
Paul desperately proposes to Jan, but she turns him down. Sharon argues with Tommy about his infidelity, and seeks advice from her girlfriends. The outspoken Gina advises her to break up with Tommy, but Sharon tries to salvage the relationship by planning him a surprise birthday party.
When the attractive Andera comes to town from Chicago, the guys compete for her attention. The next day, Gina lectures Willie and Tommy about men's unrealistic expectations of women set by supermodels and pornography. Willie feels jealous when he sees that Marty has a boyfriend.
Darian shows up at Tommy's surprise party drunk and openly tries to seduce him, causing Sharon to leave, heartbroken. Tommy drives Darian home but refuses her advances, and unsuccessfully tries to patch things up with Sharon. Willie tells Mo about his feelings for Marty, but is reminded how young she is and says that he just doesn't want to grow up.
Willie again encounters Marty, who says that she has broken up with her boyfriend because she is interested in him, asking him to wait five years until she is 18 and they can be together. Willie declines, saying that she will outgrow her feelings for him as she matures.
Paul takes Andera out, trying to make Jan jealous. Andera plays along, but when Paul tries to kiss her she smacks him and leaves. Willie chastises Paul about his obsession with supermodels; he responds that beautiful girls represent hope and promise. Tommy breaks things off with Darian, but she states her intent to win him back at the reunion.
Andera approaches Willie, turning down his flirtations but accompanying him to Paul's ice shanty, where they discuss their respective relationships. He misses the emotional rush of new love, but she feels truly happy with her boyfriend and returns to Chicago the next day. Tracy arrives from New York, and Willie's feelings for her are rekindled. Marty is downhearted by this, but Willie assures her that she will grow up to do amazing things.
At the reunion, Darian is confronted by a former classmate who she bullied; he tells her that she was beautiful, but "mean as a snake". Tommy skips the reunion to avoid Darian, but encounters her husband Steve and his friends at a bar. Steve reveals he knows about the affair; a fight ensues, and Tommy is badly beaten. Learning of this, the guys rush to Steve's house to confront him. Steve calls his friends, but Willie pushes their car into a snowbank using Paul's snowplow. Mo is about to beat Steve up, but stops when Steve's daughter comes to the door. Darian arrives home in the aftermath of the confrontation. Tommy ends up in the hospital with a concussion and two broken ribs. Sharon stays with him overnight, and they make up. Paul, overcome with emotion, clears Jan's driveway of snow.
Willie says his goodbyes the next day, having decided to head back to New York with Tracy and not take the sales job. Paul announces that Jan and Victor are engaged. Willie introduces Tracy to Marty, and kisses Marty on the cheek before departing.
Production
Screenwriter Scott Rosenberg was living in Needham, Massachusetts, waiting to see if Disney would use his script for Con Air . He said in an interview, "It was the worst winter ever in this small hometown. Snow plows were coming by, and I was just tired of writing these movies with people getting shot and killed. So I said, 'There is more action going on in my hometown with my friends dealing with the fact that they cannot deal with turning 30 or with commitment'—all that became Beautiful Girls." [2] [3]
Originally, James L. Brooks was interested in directing the film, according to actress Leslie Mann, who auditioned for a role but was not cast. [4]
Ted Demme had the entire cast come to Minneapolis and live together for two to three weeks so that they could bond. Filming took place in the Twin Cities Metro Area communities of Edina, Marine-on-St. Croix and Stillwater, [5] with Demme wanting to make sure that the setting was a character unto itself. He "wanted to make it look like it's Anytown USA, primarily East Coast. And I also wanted it to feel like a real working class town". [6] To this end, Demme drew inspiration from Michael Cimino's The Deer Hunter (1978). "The first third of the film is really an amazing buddy movie with those five actors. You could tell they were best friends, but they all had stuff amongst them that was personal to each one of them". [6]
Principal photography took place between February and May of 1995. [5]
