336:. While initially excited about Dottie's rapid rise, the girls are quickly frustrated when she gets home and chooses to return to LA immediately for more shows. After Dottie books an embarrassing—but well-paid—part as a talking chicken in a commercial, Erica tells Opal that Dottie is "disgusting" for not being a "regular mom" who prioritizes parenting over work, and that she wishes she wasn't an Ingels.
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pack suitcases and sneak out overnight. They arrive in Albany and meet Norm's new wife, Martha, while they wait for their father to get home from his job at a fruit distributor. When he arrives he shows no interest in the girls, and laughs derisively when they tell him that Dottie is now a successful comedian. They instinctively defend her achievements.
312:, betting that she can finally break into comedy before going broke. Dressing in polka-dots to make herself more memorable, her first gigs go well. She also makes friends with other struggling comics on the local club circuit, who are shocked and impressed when she lands a meeting with eccentric mega-agent Arnold Moss via his assistant Claudia Curtis.
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Opal realizes that she does have one memory of Norm—on the day that he left, he told the girls that they would "probably turn out fidgety like Dottie." Erica, suddenly remembering the moment herself, immediately ends the reunion and insists that Norm drive them back to the station. On the train home
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counter but aspires to be a stand-up comedian. She and her two daughters—bookish teenager Erica and pre-teen Opal—have lived with Dottie's aunt
Harriet ever since Dottie's ex-husband, Norm, walked out on them several years earlier. Dottie dreams of stardom but keeps bumping up against the reality of
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One night Dottie and Moss return home from a date and walk in on Erica delivering her own furious "stand-up" monologue to Opal and the babysitters about how they only get to see their mother on TV. Dottie calls the girls ungrateful for not appreciating her sacrifices. Having had enough, the girls
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Even worse, after the opening show of the residency the girls overhear Dottie coming back to their shared hotel suite with a man. She admits the next morning that she and Moss have been secretly dating for some time, and the girls—who by this point have started derisively referring to him as "The
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Erica starts dating Jordan, a boy from her school, but when his mother, an endocrinologist, walks in on them having sex for the first time she uses it as an opportunity to deliver a lecture on safe sex using a life-size model of the female reproductive system. Erica, mortified, becomes depressed
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Thoroughly disillusioned, they reconcile with Dottie, who apologizes for putting her career ahead of them. As they hug each other on their couch, Opal and Erica suggest Dottie find work closer to home by writing a sitcom set in NYC about a single mother who works at a cosmetics counter in a
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during the show, are skeptical of the agent but supportive of their mother. Dottie leaves the kids to be babysat by her NYC comedy friends, and her sets are such a success that she extends her trip by two weeks for more, including a guest slot on a nationally syndicated
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she mentions that Erica dislikes her stand-up career and wants to change her name out of embarrassment, leaving Erica angry at Opal for betraying her trust, and enraged that Dottie is only paying attention to her daughters' lives for the sake of material for her act.
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Erica explains to Opal that Norm had actually said "frigid," meaning "cold in bed." Opal asks if he was telling the truth, and Erica tearfully replies, "With him, probably, who wouldn't be?"
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after the incident, but Dottie is too busy to notice. However, when Dottie then appears on a chat show to promote her upcoming residency at the
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if he had read the script, to which he answered, "I've made over 60 movies. I don't have to read a script to know whether it works or not."
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Moss"—are disturbed at the thought of him becoming their step-father. They hire a private detective to find Norm living upstate in
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and debate whether to visit him, despite Erica barely remembering him and Opal having no memories of him at all.
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living paycheck to paycheck, and the only way she can practice her material is while selling cosmetics.
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The character portrayed by
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who struggles to juggle her newfound fame with her existing responsibilities as a parent.
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Moss enjoys Dottie's set, and immediately lands her a slot at the Comedy Shop on
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released the film on DVD-R in 2012 as part of its Fox Cinema
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was met with lukewarm critical responses. On the review aggregator website
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called it "the forgotten gem in Ephron’s filmmaking career".
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522:gave it 3 out of 4. Owen Gleiberman of
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269:The film—adapted from the 1988 novel
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637:"Ephron, Aykroyd Catch Cohn on Film"
293:Dottie Ingels is a single mother in
1212:English-language comedy-drama films
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453:in 1990. Ephron allegedly asked
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1172:Films based on American novels
435:Louis Di Bianco as Norm Ingels
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1207:Films set in Queens, New York
1192:Films set in Albany, New York
1177:Films directed by Nora Ephron
1182:Films produced by Lynda Obst
1137:1990s English-language films
1127:1992 directorial debut films
1147:American comedy-drama films
1012:Love, Loss, and What I Wore
426:Danny Zorn as Jordan Strang
187:February 21, 1992
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744:"This Is My Life | EW.com"
588:. American Film Institute.
1092:A Few Words About Breasts
625:. May 2, 1990. p. 4.
33:Theatrical release poster
26:
1197:Films set in Los Angeles
1065:I Feel Bad About My Neck
665:"This Is My Life (1992)"
580:"THIS IS MY LIFE (1992)"
488:" reached No. 16 on the
16:1992 film by Nora Ephron
1122:1992 comedy-drama films
961:When Harry Met Sally...
529:In 2020, David Sims of
1202:Films set in Manhattan
1142:20th Century Fox films
1038:Wallflower at the Orgy
1162:Films about parenting
1152:Films about comedians
262:trying to break into
1132:1990s American films
878:Sleepless in Seattle
766:(21 November 2020).
749:Entertainment Weekly
722:(21 February 1992).
524:Entertainment Weekly
411:Welker White as Lynn
330:late night talk show
1167:Films about sisters
645:. February 17, 1992
553:LeVasseur, Andrea "
334:The Gary Garry Show
258:as a working class
250:is a 1992 American
1073:I Remember Nothing
1050:Scribble, Scribble
808:TCM Movie Database
729:The New York Times
495:Adult Contemporary
365:department store.
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1004:Imaginary Friends
926:Julie & Julia
705:Chicago Sun-Times
700:"This Is My Life"
698:(March 6, 1992).
600:"This Is My Life"
520:Chicago Sun-Times
476:was performed by
449:but was put into
447:Columbia Pictures
396:as Claudia Curtis
271:This Is Your Life
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406:Marita Geraghty
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382:Samantha Mathis
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531:The Atlantic
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376:Julie Kavner
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317:Sunset Strip
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283:Delia Ephron
275:Meg Wolitzer
270:
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256:Julie Kavner
252:comedy-drama
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245:
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231:$ 10 million
203:Running time
180:Release date
100:Julie Kavner
77:Meg Wolitzer
71:
59:Delia Ephron
1044:Crazy Salad
855:Nora Ephron
764:Sims, David
696:Roger Ebert
585:AFI Catalog
516:Roger Ebert
478:Carly Simon
472:The film's
400:Dan Aykroyd
321:Los Angeles
279:Nora Ephron
239:$ 2,922,094
207:105 minutes
149:Carly Simon
132:Bobby Byrne
120:Dan Aykroyd
83:Produced by
55:Nora Ephron
43:Nora Ephron
39:Directed by
1117:1992 films
1111:Categories
985:Hanging Up
886:Mixed Nuts
566:References
537:Home media
474:soundtrack
468:Soundtrack
455:Jon Peters
451:turnaround
441:Production
236:Box office
191:1992-02-21
156:Production
87:Lynda Obst
1057:Heartburn
1020:Lucky Guy
953:Heartburn
918:Bewitched
680:April 15,
501:Reception
491:Billboard
423:as Angela
342:Las Vegas
310:Manhattan
302:cosmetics
137:Edited by
1094:" (1972)
945:Silkwood
819:AllMovie
642:New York
559:Allmovie
462:Sam Cohn
220:Language
145:Music by
93:Starring
68:Based on
894:Michael
806:at the
622:Variety
548:Sources
518:of the
497:chart.
223:English
212:Country
189: (
158:company
1084:Essays
1076:(2010)
1068:(2006)
1060:(1983)
1052:(1978)
1046:(1975)
1040:(1970)
1023:(2013)
1015:(2008)
1007:(2002)
988:(2000)
980:(1990)
972:(1989)
969:Cookie
964:(1989)
956:(1986)
948:(1983)
929:(2009)
921:(2005)
913:(2000)
905:(1998)
897:(1996)
889:(1994)
881:(1993)
873:(1992)
649:May 7,
351:Albany
299:Macy's
295:Queens
228:Budget
1031:Books
996:Plays
797:IMDb
682:2022
651:2009
369:Cast
289:Plot
817:at
795:at
557:".
273:by
75:by
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