My Girl is iconic. Who remembers the sequel made a few years later? It didn't work like the original one did. I'm not saying that this is a bad film, because it isn't at all. It just lacked in any real emotional connection that the first one had. This seemed to almost force-feed and recycle what worked in the original.
It is now the spring of 1974. Vada's interests in boys is rising and her maturity is growing since we last saw her. She was a spunky tomboy in the first one, but now she's more serious and lively, but still maintains the spunk and jazz that made Vada, Vada. She isn't much different from the last time we saw her, but there is still a believable change. Dan Aykroyd and Jamie Lee Curtis are also a tad different. People change, people grow.
Just before March Break, Vada is assigned to write a report about someone she admires but has never met. She decides to do it on her mother. She sees it as a chance to know more about herself and gain her own independence. She badgers her father into flying to Los Angeles, which was where her mother grew up, to do research. She stays with her uncle (Richard Masur) who is living with Rose and Nick Zsigmond. Nick is played by Austin O'Brien who becomes Vada's childhood romance. At first, they don't get along, but then something grows. O'Brien was really good as Nick. Anybody that trashes him are wrong. Unfortunately, he's no Macaulay Culkin. Culkin is the better actor with more charm and Thomas J was better than Nick. In this, is seems that Vada and Nick are just a fling that will end just as she returns home. But her relationship with Thomas J was magical and it felt like it would last forever. Her explorations to get to know her mother are all fun and adventurous with the little romance at the backdrop. I liked the adventure aspect, but it wasn't a whole lot interesting.
The acting by all (mainly Chlumsky) are perfect. But it lost the emotional impact and self discovery that made the original so great. Sure Vada finds out more about herself, but it doesn't impact the viewer much. Plus, the magic from the first was lost. Magic is the only suitable word for this. The emotional impact is rather low too. I have mixed bags with this.
Either download it or buy the double feature. If you already have the first, no need for this.
2.5/4
