Riding in Cars with Boys is a 2001 American biographical comedy-drama film based on the autobiography of the same name by Beverly Donofrio, about a woman who overcame difficulties, including being a teen mother, and who later earned a master's degree.
It stars Drew Barrymore, Steve Zahn, Brittany Murphy, and James Woods.
In 1961, 11-year-old Beverly "Bev" Donofrio rides with her father, Wallingford, Connecticut police officer Leonard.
He reads it aloud so she flees to the bathroom where she's consoled by Ray, a stranger who defends her honor by fighting with Sky.
Bev tells Ray she's pregnant and initially turns down his offer to get married but later agrees to a hasty wedding to placate her parents.
On the way, Jason tells her he wants to transfer from NYU to Indiana University but Bev refuses as he must get the education she couldn't.
Feeling responsible for her mistakes and poor choices she gives him her car to drive to Indiana.
The website's critical consensus reads: "Riding in Cars with Boys suffers from mixing grit and pathos with cuteness and comedy.
[7] Lisa Schwarzbaum of Entertainment Weekly gave the film a "C+" rating, and wrote, "... every scene is bumpered with actorly business and production detail that says more about nostalgia for the pop culture of earlier American decades than about the hard socioeconomic truths of being a poor, young, undereducated parent".
So she comes off as abrasive and neglectful as opposed to headstrong and ambitious, winning no empathy for this sour single mom".
[9] Edward Guthmann also had problems with Barrymore's performance in his review for the San Francisco Chronicle: "She never relaxes, never surrenders to the character, but instead tries to justify her and to make us like her despite her selfishness and poor mothering.
American actors as a rule are terrified of playing unsympathetic characters, particularly when they've gained the celebrity and box-office appeal that Barrymore has".
[10] Giving the 2 out of 4 stars, Ron Weiskind of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette called it "a troubling trip" and "is one bumpy ride".
[11] Riding in Cars with Boys made $10.8 million during its opening weekend, ranking in second place below From Hell.