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Director Ron Howard nailed family dysfunction and the difficulties of parenting with a warm and entertaining 1989 comedy called Parenthood.
This episodic comedy centers on the Buckman family, led by one Gil Buckman (Steve Martin) and his wife Karen (Mary Steenburgen), who serve as the centerpiece for a dysfunctional family that includes Gil's hard-drinking father (Jason Robards), who took Gil to baseball games as a child and used to leave him alone and pay ushers to watch him. Dianne Wiest plays Gil's divorced sister, Helen, who is the mother of two teenagers, one a horny high-schooler (Martha Plimpton) sleeping with her boyfriend (Keanu Reeves) and the other (Joaquin Phoenix) wants to live with his father.
Tom Hulce plays the proverbial black sheep brother who has returned home with an illegitimate son and a get rich quick plan. Rick Moranis is effectively cast against type as a stuffed shirt married to Gil's other sister (Harley Kozack) who is raising his toddler like she's a sophomore in college.
The screenplay by longtime Howard collaborators Lowell Ganz and Babloo Mandel might play like an extended sitcom, but it is a very entertaining one, that provides consistent laughs without sacrificing realism or realistic situations. The screenplay is insightful and clever and well-served by Howard's hand-picked cast, who give uniformly fine performances down the line, with a standout performance from Wiest that earned her an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress.
Thanks to a smart screenplay, sensitive direction, some offbeat casting, and some fun performances, this is a very special comedy that got by a lot of people but is worth checking out. Later turned into a television series.
This episodic comedy centers on the Buckman family, led by one Gil Buckman (Steve Martin) and his wife Karen (Mary Steenburgen), who serve as the centerpiece for a dysfunctional family that includes Gil's hard-drinking father (Jason Robards), who took Gil to baseball games as a child and used to leave him alone and pay ushers to watch him. Dianne Wiest plays Gil's divorced sister, Helen, who is the mother of two teenagers, one a horny high-schooler (Martha Plimpton) sleeping with her boyfriend (Keanu Reeves) and the other (Joaquin Phoenix) wants to live with his father.
Tom Hulce plays the proverbial black sheep brother who has returned home with an illegitimate son and a get rich quick plan. Rick Moranis is effectively cast against type as a stuffed shirt married to Gil's other sister (Harley Kozack) who is raising his toddler like she's a sophomore in college.
The screenplay by longtime Howard collaborators Lowell Ganz and Babloo Mandel might play like an extended sitcom, but it is a very entertaining one, that provides consistent laughs without sacrificing realism or realistic situations. The screenplay is insightful and clever and well-served by Howard's hand-picked cast, who give uniformly fine performances down the line, with a standout performance from Wiest that earned her an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress.
Thanks to a smart screenplay, sensitive direction, some offbeat casting, and some fun performances, this is a very special comedy that got by a lot of people but is worth checking out. Later turned into a television series.