Beautiful Girls (R, 1996)

It's the coarse Paul who gives BEAUTIFUL GIRLS one of its many do-people-really-talk-like-this? quotable moments, with an eloquent and poetic (and utterly out of character) defense of his wallpapering his bachelor-pad with supermodel layouts -- that idealized "beautiful girls" represent infinite possibilities and happiness for the unattached heterosexual male. With that he sums up the basic dynamic of the "guytalk movie," of which there were many in the 1980s and 90s. These were male-oriented, loosely-plotted comedies in which tribes of young, unwed guys weigh the advantages of committing to their same old, long-suffering girlfriends or holding out for the chance an electrifying hottie could walk into their lives (the unintentional gag here being a movie goddess like Mira Sorvino could be cast as the drab, ordinary choice). Such flicks provided actors (not to mention writers) with rich character parts and diverting bull-session dialogue.

Beautiful Girls is a decent but unspectacular specimen with an above-average cast. It has the benefit of sassy, savvy female characters as well, giving these barfly buddies the occasional verbal reality-check they deserve. If viewers invest attentively in, say, the first 30 minutes of Beautiful Girls, they'll have a reasonably fun time for the duration. Assuming, of course, a really hot, flashy action-blockbuster doesn't walk past and draw attention away...