Released 1997
Stars Dan Aykroyd, Jamie Lee Curtis, Macaulay Culkin, Anna Chlumsky, Richard Masur, Griffin Dunne
Directed by Howard Zieff

She lives in a grim world for such a plucky little girl. Her mother died two days after she was born. Her father runs a funeral home. The embalming takes place in the basement. Her grandmother has Alzheimer's and is wrapped in a deep silence, except for the times when she starts singing the hit songs of 40 years ago.

No wonder Vada is a hypochondriac who is always running off to the family doctor. And yet in other ways Vada is fairly normal. She has a crush on the teacher who lives down the street. She goes biking with her best pal, Thomas J., and they talk about the meaning of life. She adores her dad, who is sort of distant, and she gets a little jealous when dad hires a new cosmetologist and then it looks as if he might be getting married again.

And then something tragic happens, and Vada has to learn to accept the hurt of life. The movie pays full respect to her loss; there isn't a hasty and emotional ending, but a conclusion that shows how Vada makes her accommodation with loss - and a scene within which a deep truth is spoken. The beauty in this film is in its directness. There are some obligatory scenes. But there are also some very original and touching ones. This is a movie that has its heart in the right place.

By Roger Ebert