About the Film

Tomboy Vada Sultenfuss (Anna Chlumsky) has good reason to be morbid: her mother died giving birth to her, and her father (Dan Aykroyd) operates a funeral service out of their home and wants to date the cosmetician (Jamie Lee Curtis). The other kids think she's a freak, and it certainly doesn't help that her best friend, Thomas J. Sennett (Macaulay Culkin), is a boy. To make matters worse, Vada is desperately in love with her English teacher, Mr. Bixler (Griffin Dunne). What's an 11-year-old girl to do?

The Reviews Are In

"The beauty in this film is in its directness. There are some obligatory scenes. But there are also some very original and touching ones. This is a movie that has its heart in the right place."

-Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

"The ultimate tearjerker. Proof positive that Mac still has what it takes for a comeback!"

-Alex Sandell, Juicy Cerebellum