Curly Sue

Curly Sue is a 1991 American comedy drama film written, produced, and directed by John Hughes, and starring James Belushi, Kelly Lynch and Alisan Porter. It tells the story of a homeless con artist and his young orphan companion who gain shelter with a rich divorce lawyer. This was the final film directed by Hughes before his death in 2009. The film received generally negative reviews from critics. Plot Bill Dancer and his young companion Curly Sue, an orphaned little girl who Bill took in as a baby, are the archetypal homeless folks with hearts of gold. Their scams are aimed not at turning a profit, but at getting enough to eat. One night, while sleeping at a shelter, Sue's tin ring, which was left to her by her late mother, is stolen and pawned by a drifter. After moving from Detroit to Chicago, the duo succeed in conning a rich divorce lawyer named Grey Ellison into believing she backed her Mercedes into Bill, in hopes of a free meal. When Grey accidentally collides with Bill for real the following night, she insists on putting the two up for the night, even over the objections of her snotty boyfriend Walker McCormick. After a confrontation with Bill exposing the truth of the con, Bill admits the truth and tells Grey it's time for him and Sue to be moving on. Thinking Bill has been abusing Sue by using her in his cons and scams, Grey demands that Sue stays with her when Bill leaves, but this only angers Bill, who tells Grey he will not leave Sue. He tells Grey that after all the years he looked after her, if he gave up Sue now, people would make fun of her for being on welfare. He tells Grey he cares about Sue genuinely, and that his cons are his only means to provide for her. Grey lets them stay for as long as they need when she understands the precarious position the homeless pair are in. One night, Bill tells Grey he is not Sue's father, and how he met Sue's mother one night in Florida. He also tells Grey after Sue's mother died, Bill raised her himself, growing to love her like his own. Thus, when they lost their home and money, Bill could not find it in his heart to put Sue in an orphanage, so he took her with him. However, when it becomes apparent that Sue is completely unable to read or write (despite spelling a difficult word earlier), Grey begins to push even harder for Bill to leave Sue with her.