My Girl 4K Review (Sony)

My Girl is a 1991 coming of age comedy directed by Howard Zieff (My Girl 2, The Dream Team, Unfaithfully Yours, The Main Event, and Private Benjamin). It was written by Laurice Elehwany (The Brady Bunch Movie and The Amazing Panda Adventure). It was produced by Brian Glazer (Parenthood, A Beautiful Mind, Arrested Development, Splash, Apollo 13, The Doors, Night Shift, Real Genius, Backdraft franchise, 24, and Psycho). The sequel My Girl 2 was released in 1994. The budget was $17,000,000 and it grossed $59,492,553 worldwide at the box office. Vada Sultenfuss (played by: Anna Chlumsky from My Girl 2, Veep, In the Loop, Hannibal, and Rugrats) is a precocious 11-year-old tomboy that’s obsessed with death. Her widowed father Harry (played by: Dan Aykroyd from My Girl 2, Ghostbusters franchise, Grosse Pointe Blank, SNL, Tommy Boy, The Blues Brothers franchise, and Trading Places) is the local mortician. Vada’s consistent life is challenged when cosmetician Shelly DeVoto (played by; Jamie Lee Curtis from My Girl 2, Trading Places, Terror Train, Prom Night, Everything Everywhere All at Once, True Lies, A Fish Called Wanda, and the Halloween franchise) gets a job at her dad’s funeral home. Her father gets involved with the new stranger and it takes away time from her which she doesn’t like at all. She has a huge crush on her teacher Mr. Bixler (played by: Griffin Dunne from An American Werewolf in London, Goliath, Broken City, This is Us, Johnny Dangerously,band After Hours) but it doesn’t end up how she wants. Her best friend is Thomas J. Sennett (played by: Macaulay Culkin from the Home Alone franchise, The Good Son, Uncle Buck, Changeland, American Horror Story, and Jacob’s Ladder) idolizes Vada but she doesn’t appreciate him for what he does. Their summer adventures tests their friendship and it ends up changing Vada’s existence forever as she learns the many lessons that’s makes her question everything!!!! My Girl is one of the best 90’s coming of age comedies. It’s well written and you get really invested in all the main characters here. A young girl that lost her mother before she could even meet her goes through so many difficult things. She’s losing the attention of her dad to a new woman. She thinks that she is in love with her teacher but he’s much older and he just considers her a student. She has a nerdy best friend that she gets embarrassed about when others tease but he’s loyal and he would do anything for her. Newcomer Anna Chlumsky gives one of the greatest young performances as a lead as the curious Vada Sultenfuss. She only had a small background role a few years before in Uncle Buck before she landed this major opportunity. She has amazing chemistry with everyone especially Macaulay Culkin. Speaking of Macaulay Culkin, he gives his best childhood performance as her best friend Thomas J. He has all kinds of health issues and his mother really doesn’t give him a chance to enjoy his life because of it. He’s not popular at all and he keeps quiet when Vada disses him in front of other kids when they try to joke about them as a couple. His heart breaking portrayal of a dedicated companion that’s willing to risk his own safety to get something back for Vada still hurts on every revisit. It’s hard not feel something for him during it. Comedy veteran Dan Aykroyd shows a more dramatic and serious side as Vada’s father Harry. He’s done nothing but provide for her but he finally opens himself up for a new relationship when he meets Shelly which causes some problems with his daughter. Legendary Scream Queen Jamie Lee Curtis is the free spirited make up expert that alters all their lives when she shows up. Curtis proves that she can do any material with My Girl and she delivers one of her most underrated performances. Every lead is at their too of their game in this 90’s dramedy. The rest of the supporting cast includes Griffin Dunne, Richard Masur (Stephen King’s IT), Ann Nelson (Fame), Peter Michael Goetz (Glory), Jane Hallaren (Body Heat), Shane Obedzinski (The Sandlot), Ray Buktenica (Heat), Linda Perri (Edward Scissorhands), and Tom Villard (Popcorn). My Girl is a fantastic mix of drama and comedy. Yes, it’s very 90’s but it still holds up great after all this time and it definitely has very strong replay value to it. Depending on the person, it can make you laugh or cry at various moments. It’s forever entertaining and it has lots of fun stuff with it’s major characters. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!!! Let’s discuss this high definition presentation and special features from Sony Pictures! This 2160p (1.85:1) transfer with Dolby Vision and HDR10 is from a 4K restoration from the original camera negative. I’ve seen My Girl in damn near every format possible over the years and this UHD blows them all away. It’s great to see this 90’s comedy get this 4K home video treatment. Everything is so much sharper now, all of the colors are brought out in every single scene. It has a few different audio options which includes English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0, French: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0, and Spanish: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 tracks on the UHD. My Girl has such a classic soundtrack and a high quality score so the music sounds awesome here when it comes to the audio. All of the dialogue is crisp, the dramedy is elevated, and the music has a killer boost to it. It has English, English SDH, French, and Spanish subtitles. Sony Pictures puts together another impressive technical home video release for it’s highly regarded catalog title. It has an “Audio Commentary” with screen writer Laurice Elehwany. She goes over the origins of the script and story. She talks about her experience writing it and some of it’s influences. She points out some different between her original writing and the final product. She brings up the cast and characters for it. She gives plenty of information and stories about My Girl here. This truck was way better than I thought it would be, if you want to learn more then give it a listen. It has the 6 minute “Behind the Scenes”. It’s one of those familiar promotional pieces that tries to give you idea of everything for My Girl in a very short time frame. It has the 5 minute “A Day on the Set” which focuses on the first kiss and bingo scenarios. It has the “Theatrical Trailer” for My Girl. It comes with a slipcover and a digital code. It’s available everywhere right now including MovieZyng.com, CHECK IT OUT!!!!