The movie has a very clunky beginning, but once it gets into the second act, it keeps an even tone for a verbose dramedy.
Does that mean I liked it? No. Too much going on, with a story that is less about a plot and more about a message. What's the message? Something about growing up/being an adult.
Another issue is the acting: to put it nicely, it's mediocre. So many names, and they all get upstaged by a thirteen-year-old Natalie Portman. Really, the nail in the coffin for me was O'Donnell, and Rapaport.
The overall execution of the movie is confusing. To start, it feels like it would make a great book, but not a movie. Next, why is it called _Beautiful Girls_ when that's not what it's about? I get it, the scene where Rapaport has his long speech, but that only informs his character and not the group of guys as a whole.
I think, aside from poor casting, this is actually pretty good... or it could have been. The dialog is fantastic in some parts, and the movie feels very real. Trouble is, it never closes the loop; it never reaches a conclusion on what the point is.
Let me put it this way: Hutton plays our lead, Conway, and he may be the lease interesting character within. From the very beginning, I was asking "why is he here?" Turns out he is back in town for a class reunion. Do we see this? Sort of. We get a short moment where Dorian Smalls (Holly) goes there, but it's only so an unrelated character can have an interaction with her. Nothing to do with the rest of the story.
All I can figure is, if you can relate to any one of the characters here, you'll probably really like this. Kind of a weird review, but it's a weird movie. Not bad, not great.
Finally: Dillon, and Thurman are both good in their roles. I had to laugh at the moment where they were talking on the road, since they would be in a similar scene many years later in _The House that Jack Built_.