Slums of Beverly Hills

Slums of Beverly Hills is a 1998 American comedy-drama film written and directed by Tamara Jenkins, and starring Natasha Lyonne, Alan Arkin, Marisa Tomei, David Krumholtz, Kevin Corrigan, Jessica Walter and Carl Reiner. The story follows a teenage girl (Lyonne) struggling to grow up in 1976 in a lower-middle-class nomadic Jewish family that relocates every few months.

The Slums of Beverly Hills
Theatrical release poster
Directed byTamara Jenkins
Written byTamara Jenkins
Produced by
  • Michael Nozik
  • Stan Wlodkowski
Starring
CinematographyTom Richmond
Edited byPamela Martin
Music byRolfe Kent
Production
company
Distributed byFox Searchlight Pictures
Release dates
  • May 21, 1998 (1998-05-21) (Cannes)
  • August 14, 1998 (1998-08-14) (United States)
Running time
91 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$5 million
Box office$5.5 million[1]

The film received mixed to positive reviews, and has gradually become a cult classic.[2][3]

Plot

Fifteen-year-old Vivian Abromowitz's family are penniless nomads, moving from one cheap apartment to another in 1976 Beverly Hills, so that Vivian and her brothers can attend the city's prestigious local schools. Their father, Murray, is a divorced 65-year-old, working as an unsuccessful Oldsmobile salesman whose cars are selling poorly due in large part to the energy crisis of the time.

Vivian's wealthy uncle Mickey regularly sends the family money to help them survive. When Mickey's 29-year-old daughter Rita escapes from a rehab facility, Murray offers her shelter if Mickey will pay for a plush apartment. Vivian must babysit her adult cousin, ensuring that she attends nursing school and avoids pills and alcohol. However, Vivian has her own problems: she is curious about sex, likes an apparently-twenty-something neighbor, Eliot, has inherited her mother's ample breasts, and wants a family that does not embarrass her.

Vivian's older brother Ben aspires to a show business career. Her father appreciates the attention from his wealthy lady-friend Doris Zimmerman but resists her desire that he send his kids back East to live with his ex-wife. Vivian's younger brother Rickey wishes they could live somewhere where they could have more comforts like furniture and worries about how old their father is.

Vivian and Rita are close and sometimes speak in gibberish. Vivian learns that Rita is not that serious about attending nursing school, being more interested in re-establishing contact with a guy she met in rehab, and also has no idea what to do with her life. Murray attempts to cover up Rita's lack of progress at nursing school when Mickey asks for progress reports. Eventually, Mickey starts to go off on Murray, frustrated at having to support his brother's family; he explodes during a meeting between the two families, telling Murray he is "their real father" because he sends them money. Vivian snaps and stabs Mickey in the leg with a fork; then Rita admits that she is pregnant. Rita gets on a plane with her now outraged parents. Depressed and dejected, Murray once again packs the kids into his car and they take off. In an attempt to cheer her father up, Vivian suggests that the family stop for a cheap steak at Sizzler for breakfast — a ritual regularly suggested by their father as a means of showing affection to his children.

Cast

Production

The film is loosely based on writer-director Tamara Jenkins' experiences as a youth moving around different apartments in the Beverly Hills area with her lower-middle-class family. Jenkins wrote the script at the Sundance Filmmakers' Lab, where Sundance founder Robert Redford got ahold of her screenplay and expressed interest in producing it. Redford said he related to Jenkins' experiences of having "grown up as an 'outsider'...not at all a member of the club but a sideline observer from the wrong side of the tracks."[4] Redford is credited as an executive producer on the film.[4]

Reception

Box office

Slums of Beverly Hills earned a total of $5,502,773 at the domestic box office. On its opening weekend, it garnered $125,561 from seven theaters in the United States.[5]

Critical reception

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film is certified "Fresh", with an 81% approval rating based on 62 reviews, for an average score of 7/10, with the site's consensus describing the film as "Warm, real, and hilarious".[6] Reviewers have praised the 1970s production design, the humor, and the acting as "dead-on."

Roger Ebert awarded the film three stars out of four, and said of lead actress Natasha Lyonne, "[she] has the film's most important role, and is the key to the comedy. She does a good job of looking incredulous, and there's a lot in her life to be incredulous about. She also has a nice pragmatic approach to sexuality, as in a scene where she consults a plastic surgeon about on-the-spot breast reduction." He also stated, "...basically I enjoyed Slums of Beverly Hills—for the wisecracking, for the family squabbles, for the notion of squatters who stake a claim in a Beverly Hills where money, after all, is not the only currency."[7]

San Francisco Chronicle reviewer Ruthe Stein stated, "While touching on serious issues such as loss, this coming-of-age story is first and foremost a comedy, and a hilarious one at that. It never strains to be funny. The humor derives from the deadpan responses of family members to circumstances beyond their control." She also wrote, "Set in the mid-'70s, Slums gets the period right, from the burnt orange shag carpet on the floor of the family's temporary digs to the dorky clothes and extreme hairstyles. Even the saleslady who sells Vivian her first bra has the overly made-up look of the time. The Abramowitzes' behavior when they go out to eat—complaining about the service and that there's too much salt in the food—may seem to border on a Jewish stereotype. But it's also dead-on."[8]

Accolades
Award Category Nominee(s) Result Ref.
ALMA Awards Outstanding Actress in a Feature Film in a Crossover Role Rita Moreno Nominated
[9]
American Comedy Awards Funniest Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture Marisa Tomei Nominated
[10]
Chicago Film Critics Association Awards Most Promising Actress Natasha Lyonne Nominated
[11]
Independent Spirit Awards Best First Feature Tamara Jenkins, Michael Nozik, Stan Wlodkowski Nominated
[12]
Best First Screenplay Tamara Jenkins Nominated
Teen Choice Awards Choice Movie Breakout Natasha Lyonne Nominated
[13]
Most Funniest Scene Scene: Natasha Lyonne and Marisa Tomei dancing with a vibrator Nominated
YoungStar Awards Best Performance by a Young Actor in a Comedy Film Eli Marienthal Nominated
[14]

Soundtrack

References
  1. "Slums of Beverly Hills (1998)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved January 25, 2021.
  2. Feil, Chris (October 4, 2018). ""Slums of Beverly Hills" Revisited". The Film Experience. Retrieved October 18, 2022.
  3. Winning, Josh (March 18, 2011). "The Evolution Of Marisa Tomei". Total Film. Archived from the original on March 21, 2011. Retrieved October 6, 2017.
  4. Rochlin, Margy (August 9, 1998). "FILM; Hand to Mouth, 90210: A Beverly Hills Life". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved October 18, 2022.
  5. "Slums of Beverly Hills (1998) – Domestic Weekend". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved January 25, 2021.
  6. "Slums of Beverly Hills". Rotten Tomatoes.
  7. Ebert, Roger. "Slums of Beverly Hills Movie Review (1998)". RogerEbert.com. Retrieved August 13, 2018.
  8. Stein, Ruthe (August 28, 1998). "Down But Not Out in 'Beverly Hills' / Honest comedy never strains". SFGate. Retrieved November 7, 2020.
  9. Brajer, Jessica (March 27, 2022). "Best Rita Moreno Movies, Ranked". MovieWeb. Retrieved October 15, 2022.
  10. "American Comedy Awards". The Washington Post. March 14, 1999. Retrieved October 15, 2022.
  11. "10 Actors Who Got Their Start in Indie Films". AudPop. June 25, 2016. Retrieved October 15, 2022.
  12. ""Affliction" Tops Spirit Award Nominations; "Monster," "Art," and "Sex" Also Nab Numerous Nods". IndieWire. January 8, 1999. Retrieved October 15, 2022.
  13. "Funky Categories Set Teen Choice Awards Apart". Hartford Courant. August 12, 1999. Archived from the original on October 14, 2022. Retrieved October 15, 2022.
  14. "4th Annual YoungStar Award Nominations". AllYourEntertainment. September 3, 1999. Archived from the original on August 1, 2009. Retrieved October 15, 2022.
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