# Slums of Beverly Hills (1998)

### reviewed by
Susan Granger

Susan Granger's review of "SLUMS OF BEVERLY HILLS" (Fox Searchlight)

First-time writer/director Tamara Jenkins scores with bawdy humor and solid performances in this bizarre coming-of-age comedy. "Happy families are all alike," reads the prologue. "Every unhappy family has its own story." Based on her own memories of growing up on the wrong side of the 90210 zip code, the story revolves the fractured Abramowitz family whom Ms. Jenkins refers to as "nomads of divorce." The movie begins in 1976, as the downwardly mobile father (Alan Arkin) is once again moving his three children in search of a better lifestyle. Firm in the belief that "furniture is temporary, but education is forever," he is determined to stay within the Beverly Hills school district, even if it's in "Casa Bella," a bleak two-story apartment building with a fancy name and cheap rent. Natasha Lyonne is the adolescent heroine. Confused and impressionable, she must cope with distressingly well-developed breasts, an awkward situation only exacerbated by her dysfunctional father and two insensitive brothers. Complicating the situation, her wild, straight-out-of-detox cousin (Marisa Tomei) arrives - to share her bedroom and teach her how to use a vibrator. Then there's the boy-next-door (Kevin Corrigan) who, in this case, is a Charles Manson-obsessed drug-dealer; the rich uncle and aunt (Carl Reiner, Rita Moreno); and a snobbish, neurotic socialite (Jessica Walter). Ms. Jenkins developed her script at the Sundance Institute - hence Robert Redford's name as executive producer - but her quirky humor is quite heavy-handed and she needs to learn how to do some judicious editing. On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, "Slums of Beverly Hills" is a raunchy, rowdy 5, a romp that's probably too vulgar for mature movie-goers but should get laughs from younger audiences.

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