Doubling My Girl with its sequel makes sense since they tell a two-part tale. In the first film, 11-year-old Vada Sultenfuss (astounding newcomer Anna Chlumsky) lives with her widowed father, a distracted tuba-playing mortician (Dan Aykroyd). Rather understandably Vada is confused and disturbed about the nature of death. In her narration to camera we learn what it feels like to be a girl growing up in Pennsylvania in the early 1970s, as her father become involved with make-up artist Jamie Lee Curtis. Macaulay Culkin (in a performance reminding us that once there was a good child actor behind the name) is the best friend who assists her rite of passage.

Jumping forwards two years into the sequel, My Girl 2, Culkin is replaced by Austin O'Brien. Now 13 and with a baby on the way in the Aykroyd /Jamie Lee Curtis home, Vada's growing-up continues further afield. She investigates the life of her mother in an attempt to understand her own. Los Angeles becomes the backdrop as she deals with the inevitable problems of puberty. Ultimately this is the story of a teenager's grounding in the ways of the world told simply and with charm.

On the DVD: My Girl/My Girl 2 on disc sadly has no extras beyond a trailer for each film. It's also a shame the 1.85:1 transfer remains grainy for both. At least the three-channel surround picks out the period songs nicely. --Paul Tonks

We have love triangles, but here is a quadrilateral!! Two girls get attracted to the other's boyfriends. While the boys are comfortable with the change, it's the girls who are fighting it out.