Luanne Platter

Luanne is Hank and Peggy's niece, freshly moved into their garage apartment after her home life fell apart, and she's determined to make something of herself at beauty school. She's sunny, scattered, and guileless, prone to malapropisms and hare-brained schemes, and devoted to her low-rent boyfriend Buckley despite everyone's misgivings.

Brittany Murphy plays her with a wide-eyed earnestness that keeps Luanne from ever curdling into a punchline, even when the writing hands her one dim idea after another. What makes her stick is the sweetness underneath the ditziness — she's a kid who's been let down by adults and keeps trying anyway, and Murphy never lets you forget that.