Sure this is a Disney-esque picture, like the kind of live-action flicks they used to release in the 70's. And sure it's story is pretty typical. There isn't much new territory explored plot-wise here. But this film has some great things working in it's favor. First and foremost, it is the first feminist film for adolescents produced in the 90's. Secondly, it has two very popular stars, not surprisingly young teenage girls, who are actually quite adept actresses. Finally, it doesn't force a fantastical ending on us. This film's ending is almost believable.

The film revolves around two girls who live in a small town in the pacific northwest. One girl, Beth - played by Christina Ricci ("The Addams Family," "Casper"), is the new girl in town. She's just moved to Podunk from L.A. A big city fish out of water. The other girl, Jodie - played by Anna Chlumsky of "My Girl" et al), is the town hooligan. All of the social girls in town think she's a bad apple. Of course, the two hook up. Both girls are adventurous and strong. They have both lost their father recently. This is important because it makes them vulnerable and yet mature. The film, of course, sets them off on a pretty standard adventure. The hook here is that this is the kind of adventure we usually see boys in. It's the kind of plot Johnny Whitaker used to get himself involved in. And this film knows it's true motivation is to show girls as strong and capable. There's even a background story, told in flashback, about another strong, capable and adventurous girl who lived in the same area some years before. Not only do we get a fairly decent tale out of this film, one kids of any gender should enjoy, but we also get a great message for 90's youth. It's no accident that the film's title is a play on words using an old term that was once associated exclusively with females. These "gold diggers" actually dig for gold as miners would, unlike their feminine ancestors, who supposedly married for it.

Ricci and Chlumsky both do fine jobs here. Chlumsky's Jodie comes on strong and yet has to finally ask for help. In perfect harmony with this ideal, Ricci's Beth starts out vulnerable and ends up proving her strength. The final scenes where she leads the cops on a manhunt are, in fact, quite humorous because of this. Ricci's Beth simply takes charge of the situation. The two grow because they have become friends and they becomes better people for having known each other. Chlumsky is the perfect tomboy juxtaposed against the softer Ricci. She knows her way around any situation and can handle the most deadly of opponents. Chlumsky doesn't really stretch here but she does prove herself capable of handling the physical aspects of the action/adventure she is cast into. Ricci, on the other hand, proves herself capable of handling a pretty mainstream role. She doesn't have to play an oddball here. We're not used to seeing her play a pretty and normal character. It might have been easier to cast her in the role of the tomboy and look elsewhere to cast for the role of Beth but the producers wisely allow her to prove she can handle the role. She looks beautiful throughout the entire piece.

Finally, a word must be said about the relationship of the two characters. Opening voice-over narration has the grown Beth telling us that Jodie is "the finest woman I ever met." It's as if there is more than a friendship bond here. Lesbians will surely see a homoerotic element to the relationship and possibly rightly so. If there was ever a young female character who most probably grew up to be a radical lesbian, than it is Chlumsky's Jodie Swerdlow. She even struts her maturing body for an appreciative Beth in a ridiculous dance segment (set to the Beegees of all things) that seems to have no reason to be included here except to play up this otherwise subdued element. Whether or not one wants to see this aspect of the film is, of course, left up to the viewer. Still, even if you don't look for them they're kind of hard to miss.

Oddly, this film was written and directed by men. The script by Barry Glasser isn't anything special. The plot is rather typical and there are some "Afterschool Special" elements to the story as well. Some of the dialogue is, indeed, pretty phony. There's even a short, insipid conversation between the two girls about sex that sticks out like a sore thumb. If Glasser does anything exceptional, it's that he has an ending that seems more feasible than your standard Disney happy ending. Director Kevin James Dobson, meanwhile, doesn't dazzle us much either but he doesn't disappoint where others might. His work is typical but acceptable. It nice to see a male able to handle the purely feminist tale we get here.

Filmed in Vancouver, Canada, "Gold Diggers" has some lovely scenery. There are several sequences filmed in what is supposed to be the caverns of a mountain. If these aren't real, they certainly appear to be. And real or not, they are nice to look at. The open countryside where most of the action takes place is also displayed nicely. one can almost smell the fresh air.

"Gold Diggers" might be a pretty boring little film if two boys were cast in the story. This isn't a special film because of plot or action. This is a little nugget because of the way it treats adolescent girls and because of it's two superb adolescent girl actresses. Here's hoping "Gold Diggers" is just the beginning in a new trend in children's films; A trend where the character's gender doesn't determine their capabilities.

Note: Also with Brian Kerwin and David Keith.

Director of Photography is Ross Barryman. Music by Joel McNeely.

Review written in 1995

Report Card Script: C+ Acting: B+ Cinematography\Lighting: C Special Effects\Make Up: A Music: B Final Grade: B+

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