This Is My Life (1992)

I loved this movie when it first came out, and the 3 or 4 times that I have seen it since then. I really identified with the single mom with two kids trying to balance life and work. I was doing the same thing then! It reminded me that if you can find something funny about a difficult time in your life, you may be more able to get through it. Family is everything to Dottie and her kids, and the still unresolved issues at the end are fine, since life usually just continues and not every problem can be resolved at the same time. I recommend this movie to anyone who is trying to balance family and a career and a love life! It made me cry and laugh at the same time!

I do not know why this movie is rated so low. It's an endearing and funny film told to the audience from the perspective of 2 people: The mother and the eldest daughter. The mother, Dottie, played nicely by Julie Kavner, is a single mother of 2 who is working hard to support her daughters as well as to try her hand at stand-up comedy. Kavner, best known now as the voice of Marge Simpson on the TV show The Simpsons, is actually quite funny as she uses her entire body in her work. And it's nice to see someone make it in a field that seems, at least for women, to only reward those who fit a specific physical model. In this movie she's perfect. It's like the role was made for her. Samantha Mathis, as the eldest daughter Erica, plays the role of the angst-filled teenager perfectly. What to do when you love your mother so much but she causes so much grief and embarrassment? And Gaby Hoffman as the youngest, Opal, is right on, as usual. The eye rolling, the mixing up of what people said (fidgety versus frigid), and her total faith in her mother and sister ring true. Dan Aykroyd as The Moss, though his part is small, works well, especially in the the scene where Dottie is fighting with Erica and all he does is sit quietly (and maybe eat more paper!) as the "tornadoes" whoosh by. And one of the funniest scenes ever is the typical "first time" between Erica and Jordan (played so well by Danny Zorn). While this scene is happening the background music is Tchaikovsky's Romeo and Juliet, which makes it even funnier and made me laugh so hard I almost fell on the floor, especially when it was all over and Jordan says, It's over and Erica says, It is? And a quick poll of my male friends and husband verified that the experience with the condom(s) was right on the money, even down to the facial expressions. A refreshing movie with very few flaws with a good script and a good cast.

I just watched this movie for the third time. I chose to watch it on Mother's Day because this is about as realistic a tale about mother-and-daughter bonding and growing pains as you will ever see. Julie Kavner is nothing short of amazing as Dotty, a stand-up comic from Ozone Park, Queens, waiting for her chance to make it to the big time. But, life necessitates tradeoffs. As her career takes off, Dotty is unable to spend much time with her kids who grow resentful. And with her older daughter Erica (an excellent performance by Samantha Mathis) now in the awkward early teen years, everything Dotty does is a personal embarrassment to Erica. The direction is a bit on the claustrophobic and episodic side. Aside from experimenting with the number of different ways to show polka dots, this is not a visually impressive film, nor is it meant to be.But on its own terms, it is sweet, warm, winning, and true.

This movie has a funny script by Nora and Delia Ephron, (You've Got Mail). Linda Obst (One Fine Day, Hope Floats) is the producer. The music is by Carly Simmon, which is great. Here we have all the ingredients for a good chick movie! Perhaps the lack of box office success it had was because of timing. It was released before Nora and Delia, and Obst were really known in the industry. If it was released today, it would get all the attention. It a really good movie.Dottie Ingels, Julie Kavner (Forget Paris, Jake's Women) is a single parent. She has two daughters, Erica Ingels, Samantha Mathis (Little Women, The American President) and Opal Ingels, Gaby Hoffmann (Sleepless in Seattle). They live with their Aunt Martha Ingels, Caroline Aaron (Deconstructing Harry ) until Martha dies and leaves them the house which they sell. Dottie can now pursue her dream of becoming a stand up comedian. Aunt Martha had died while she was shopping, she literally shopped until she dropped. No one could figure out which outfit was really hers and as the body went out of the store the alarm went off because the outfit still had the price tag on. Erica plays the critical teenager growing up with a somewhat realistic but by the same token negative view on things. Opal is the little one always trying to cheer things up. The kids are absolutely adorable. Their dialogue makes me laugh! They keep saying: did too, did not, did too, did not? Dottie wears those off-beat outfits, all polka dots. They are small at the beginning of the movie and their get bigger as she gets more famous. Favorite quotes:" Don't chew you hair, sweetheart". Life lesson: Everyone in the world is two phone calls from everyone else in the world you just need to know who the phone calls are." "Sometimes the audience was so dead that they were wearing toe tags." "Dad said that we were going to fidgety like mom...Opal says. Later Erica says it is not fidgety like mom. It is frigid. Opal: do you think that mom is cold in bed"? I recommend this fun movie. It is a feel good movie. I enjoyed watching it.