The defence The Sentimental Softie
“Sincerity is not manipulation.”
The film risks embarrassment to make emotion communal, and that openness is harder than fashionable detachment.
Back to trending 
Slums of Beverly Hills
Comedy · Drama · 1998
In 1976, a teenage girl struggles to cope while living with her neurotic lower-middle-class family of nomads on the outskirts of Beverly Hills.
Movie details
Slums of Beverly Hills
“Growing up is hard to do.”
1998 Comedy · Drama 1h 31m
Critical arithmetic
One number, for now.
Scores change. Arguments endure.
TMDB
6.3 / 10
Community rating
In 1976, a teenage girl struggles to cope while living with her neurotic lower-middle-class family of nomads on the outskirts of Beverly Hills.
CriticWise case file
What this film says about your taste.
Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.
The archetype split
Who fights over Slums of Beverly Hills?
For the defence
The Sentimental Softie
“You came to feel something, and you will.”
Read their case For the prosecution
The Cool Ironist
“Feeling things is a little embarrassing.”
Read their objectionThe split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.
Taste neighbourhood
Nearby on the taste map.
TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.
Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood
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The Meddler
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Moxie
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Inspired by her mom's rebellious past and a confident new friend, a shy 16-year-old publishes an anonymous zine calling out sexism at her school.
Blinded by the Light
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In 1987, during the austere days of Thatcher’s Britain, a teenager learns to live life, understand his family, and find his own voice through the music of Bruce Springsteen.
I Like Movies
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Lady Bird
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Lady Bird McPherson, a strong willed, deeply opinionated, artistic 17 year old comes of age in Sacramento. Her relationship with her mother and her upbringing are questioned and tested as she plans to head off to college.
Patch Adams
Comedy · 1998
The true story of Dr. Hunter "Patch" Adams, who in the 1970s found that humor is the best medicine, and was willing to do just anything to make his patients laugh—even if it meant risking his own career.
Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret.
Comedy · 2023
When her family moves from New York City to New Jersey, an 11-year-old girl navigates new friends, feelings, and the beginning of adolescence.
Young Adult
Comedy · 2011
A divorced writer from the Midwest returns to her hometown to reconnect with an old flame, who's now married with a family.
Skin
Drama · 2009
Based on the true story of a black girl who was born to two white Afrikaner parents in South Africa during the apartheid era.
Where it lives
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Names above the title
The people responsible.
Cast & crew
Directed by
Tamara Jenkins
Written by
Tamara Jenkins
Natasha Lyonne
Vivian Abromowitz
Alan Arkin
Murray Samuel Abromowitz
Marisa Tomei
Rita Abromowitz
Eli Marienthal
Rickey Abromowitz
David Krumholtz
Ben Abromowitz
Kevin Corrigan
Eliot Arenson
Jessica Walter
Doris
Court is in session
Put Slums of Beverly Hills on trial.
Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.
The prosecution The Cool Ironist
“The strings are showing.”
Every cue tells you exactly what to feel and when, leaving sentiment to do the work character should have done.