Curly Sue

For the song, see Curly Sue (song).

Curly Sue
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	John Hughes
Produced by	John Hughes
Written by	John Hughes
Starring	Jim Belushi Kelly Lynch Alisan Porter
Music by	Georges Delerue
Cinematography	Jeffrey L. Kimball
Edited by	Peck Prior Harvey Rosenstock
Production company	Hughes Entertainment
Distributed by	Warner Bros.
Release dates	October 25, 1991 (1991-10-25)
Running time	102 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$25 million
Box office	$33.6 million

Curly Sue is a 1991 American romantic comedy film directed by John Hughes (in his final film as a director), and stars Jim Belushi, Kelly Lynch and Alisan Porter in the titular role. The film's music was composed by Georges Delerue, along with the end title song "You Never Know" performed by Ringo Starr. It marked Steve Carell's film debut.

Plot

Bill Dancer and his young companion Curly Sue are the archetypal homeless folks with hearts of gold. Their scams are aimed not at turning a profit, but at getting enough to eat. After moving from Detroit to Chicago, the duo cons the rich divorce lawyer Grey Ellison into believing she backed her Mercedes into Bill, in hopes of a free meal. When Grey accidentally collides with Bill for real, she insists on putting the two up for the night, even over the objections of her snotty fiance Walker McCormick. After a confrontation with Bill exposing the truth of the con, Grey lets them stay for as long as they need when she understands the precarious position the homeless pair are in. One night, Bill tells Grey that he is not Sue's father, he met Sue's mother one night in Florida. After Sue's mother died, Bill raised her himself, growing to love her like his own, thus when they lost their home and money, Bill couldn't find it in his heart to give Sue up and put her into an orphanage, so he took Sue with him. Grey, thinking Bill has been neglecting and abusing Sue by using her in his cons and scams, suggests Sue stay with her when he leaves, but this only angers Bill, who says that after all the years he looked after her, if he gave up Sue now, people would make fun of her for being on welfare. He tells her that he is not neglecting or abusing Sue; he cares about Sue and his cons are to provide for Sue. However, when it becomes apparent that Sue is completely unable to read or write (despite spelling a difficult word earlier in the film), Grey begins to push even harder for Bill to leave Sue with her. Eventually, Bill realizes that this is where she belongs - in a home, cared for by someone that can give her the advantages that his homeless, nomadic existence lacks. Then, Walker turns them in, and Sue gets put into welfare. Bill is arrested, because he never actually had custody of the child. Eventually, Grey gets Sue out, and Bill is freed. The film culminates with Sue and Grey returning to their apartment where they discover a tiny ring, which Sue takes as a sign that Bill has chosen to leave her behind with Grey. (Throughout the film it is implied that Bill had pawned a ring left to Sue by her mother, which he would return to her when it came time for the two to part forever.) However, the ring is accompanied by a note that says that he is in another room. Sue happily turns to find Bill, realizing that the ring is not a sign that he will leave her but a sign that he is going to abandon his old lifestyle in order to give Sue the home she needs and in order to pursue a romance with Grey.

Cast

• Jim Belushi as Bill Dancer
• Kelly Lynch as Grey Ellison
• Alisan Porter as Curly Sue
• John Getz as Walker McCormick
• Fred Dalton Thompson as Bernard Oxbar
• Branscombe Richmond as Albert
• Gail Boggs as Ansie Hall
• Viveka Davis as Trina
• Barbara Tarbuck as Mrs. Arnold
• John Ashton as Mr. Arnold (uncredited)
• Cameron Thor as Maitre d'
• Edie McClurg as Secretary
• Steve Carell as Tesio
• Burke Byrnes as Dr. Maxwell

Release

The film debuted at No. 2 at the box office and grossed $33,691,313 in the U.S. Warner Home Video released it on DVD on June 1, 2004 with commentary and an introduction by Alisan Porter as special features.

Reception

The film received mostly negative reviews from critics. Leonard Maltin gave it one and a half stars out of four in his Movie Guide, and called it "A John Hughes formula movie where the formula doesn't work". The staff of Halliwell's Film Guide called it "Gruesomely sentimental and manipulative". Nigel Andrews of the Financial Times declared, "John Hughes here graduates from the most successful comedy in film history to scripting and directing a large piece of non-biodegradable tosh." Curly Sue holds a 14% rating according to Rotten Tomatoes based on 14 reviews.

External links

• Curly Sue at IMDb
• Curly Sue at the TCM Movie Database
• Curly Sue at AllMovie
• Curly Sue at Rotten Tomatoes