Slums of Beverly Hills (1998)

This wry, wise, and frequently hilarious coming-of-age story heralded the arrival of two compelling indie talents: debut writer/director Tamara Jenkins and first-time leading lady Natasha Lyonne. Together, these two women turn Slums of Beverly Hills into a quietly great picture full of unforced laughter and unexpected insight. It helps that with Robert Redford as producer, Jenkins was able to snag such a stellar supporting cast, from Alan Arkin, Marisa Tomei, and Kevin Corrigan in solid leading roles to Carl Reiner, Jessica Walter, and Rita Moreno in small but amusing cameos. David Krumholtz, as the protagonist's pudgy pothead brother, gets the biggest laughs as he belts out show tunes from Guys and Dolls in his Fruit of the Looms. But it's Lyonne -- with her mixture of doe-eyed vulnerability, shrewd calculation, perpetual embarrassment, and trash-talking bravado -- who delivers the more thoughtful and affecting performance. Toxic families are easy comic fodder, but Jenkins has crafted a film in which the laughs are bittersweet and suffused with questions about sexual awakening and the screwed-up things parents do in the name of family devotion. It will probably be a while before Lyonne snags as stellar a showcase as Slums of Beverly Hills, but this one quietly wonderful film should keep both her Hollywood and indie dance cards full well into the next decade. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide