45 - "My Girl" (1991)

     I think I just made a few people smile when they saw this film on the list. How can you not though? What a wonderful film. Is there a cuter character in cinema history than Vada Sultenfuss?? I can't think of one. The beautiful Anna Chlumsky plays Vada, an 11-year-old girl who feels responsible for her mother dying during child birth. She lives with her mortician father Harry (Dan Aykroyd), who is unable to see that Vada is shut off emotionally from the world. Her only friend is Thomas J Sennett, another social recluse who is allergic to everything. Thomas J is played by Macaulay Culkin, fresh off his success of Home Alone, a movie that just missed my top 100. While she is a bit sheltered, things seem to be going good for Vada until her dad hires a new beautician to work at the morgue. Shelly (Jamie Lee Curtis) gets off on the wrong foot with the job but eventually she wins over Harry, not just with her work but with her heart. Vada feels threatened by this because she feels she is no longer her fathers number one priority. She sees her father falling in love and for the first time she wonders what it feels like to be in love. This leads to a great little scene with Vada and Thomas J where they share their first kiss together. We are riding high at this point in the movie...only to have tragedy strike. If you haven't seen the movie, I won't spoil anything. If you have, you know what I'm talking about. To me, this might be one of the biggest tear-jerking films ever made. When Vada reads her poem at the end....Man, that's the good stuff. My Girl is a great film and one that is appropriate for all ages. If you want to experience a wide range of emotions, this movie is for you.