Parenthood (1989)

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

Close shines in drama with strong language, adult themes.

I found the first scene to be quite interesting and original. We see an 8 year old kid at the baseball stadium being looked after by an usher while his dad's walked off to do some sort of business. The kid starts talking like a sophisticated adult and the usher says he's not talking like a kid. The kid reveals he's really 35 and that he's just reliving a point of his childhood at the ballparks when his dad took him there and left him with ushers while going off to conduct business. He tells the usher he's really an algarhythm, a combination of different ushers he knew as a kid melded together in his memory. We then cut to the present with Steve Martin at the ballpark with his family. The whole thing was a playing in Steve's mind and memories. The scene was kind of a cool mind trick for the audience. I liked that. Then on the way home from the park with Steve, his wife Mary Steenburg, and his kids, one of the kids sings "if you're sliding into first and you feel something burst..." me and my school buddies all thought it was hilarious when I saw it the first time as a kid, even though he skipped the second base verse. And the kid said he learned it at camp, which I remember from being a kid was always the typical place for kids to learn things like that. The movie isn't just about Steve's immediate family. It's about the extended family and 4 sets of parents. Well one is just the mother, Diane Wiest due to the dad abandoned them. Diane's 14 year old son (Joaquin Phoenix) and 17 year old daughter Martha Plimpton both have pretty serious problems. Joaquin is reclusive and antisocial, hides things (adult tapes) from his mom (she was worried because she thought it might be drugs) in a paper bag he keeps carrying around, and he has a lot of anger and hurt towards his dad for abandoning them. Martha is bratty, always has her boyfriend (Keanu Reeves) sneaking into her room, she runs away at one point, and eventually ends up pregnant. Rick Moranis and his fiancée Harley Kozak have a gifted two year old girl who is constantly having her dad teaching her words through advanced flash cards. Rick and Harley have trust issues in their relationship. Steve's dad Jason Robards and Steve's brother Larry live together with Larry getting tied up in shady money making schemes to where he not only gets into serious debt, but has gangsters after him due to him owing them 5 figures. Larry attempts but is caught trying to steal his dad's antique car so he can pay them back. Larry has a son named Cool. Cool. (lol)Steve's dad and he have had abandonment issues also and don't see eye to eye. There were heavy drama scenes in this film such as dealing with the pregnancy and dealing with abandonment, and Joaquin smashes up his walked out dad's dentist office. Steve has issues with his son having a learning disability, and behavior issues such as when he loses his retainer at a restaurant. There were funny scenes such as Steve and Mary's reason for their fender bender, and Diane's reaction to receiving the "wrong" photos of Martha and Keanu. And there were heartwarming scenes such as Steve posing as a cowboy for his son's birthday party (due to a funny mix up where the company accidentally sends a stripper to the kid's party and the cowboy to the adult bachelor party), and Rick singing "Close to you" to Harley in front of her classroom. And I liked grandma and her roller-coaster story. And I wonder if Steve Martin and the film makers of this movie could see into the future. After learning Mary is pregnant again, Steve is upset because of how it'll mean more work than he can handle. He sarcastically says "why don't we then just have another kid, and then another! Why don't we go for a dozen kids and call them donuts!" That comment mirrors Steve's future 2003 movie "Cheaper by the dozen" when he really is the parent of a dozen kids.

Dianne Wiest continually delivers her lines with a deep emotion. It is absolutely enjoyable to experience someone in her caliber (which I have yet to experience!) This is by far Ron Howard's film, but Dianne Wiest REALLY makes it happen! One example is when her Biology teacher boyfriend replies "I went to Woodstock" - this was after her daughter announced that she was pregnant and Dianne states that she couldn't be a grandmother, grandmothers bake and sew. I was at Woodstock for Christ's Sake!! I peed in a field! I grabbed hold of the Who's helicopter while it flew away!" To which, the Biology teacher boyfriend replies that HE too was at Woodstock. Dianne is pouring herself a tall alcoholic drink and is about to down it and she turns to the teacher and says "oh yeah?! I thought I recognized you!" This is just one example ...... there are MANY more!!

Parenthood is a great movie, in the fact, it addresses many issues of parenting we can identify with, it's sort of like a couple of episodes of a family drama, combined, but is wonderfully told in a near two hour film. The performances are great, even Reeves, as another sort of layabout, sponging boyfriend living with girlfriend (Plympton) in her mum's house. The mum, played by Dianne Wiest is such a likable character, but one I could identify with, as it's a very real character, resembling mother's I've met. We see the attitudes from all walks of people, the so common, and real problems that can't be brushed under the carpet, like Steve Martin's little boy, struck with mental illness. I liked the well drawn and different character of Hulce's as an addictive gambler. An interesting angle. He's so bloody convincing, I just now realized where is he these days? He comes back home, cause some bad dudes are after him, while later, would you believe, he pulls his Dad (the great Jason Robards) into one of his schemes. We really see how this addictions got him. There's so many wonderful performances where the film never dulls, as we go from one conflict to another, back and forth. Too, Moranis singing "Close To You" to girlfriend, (Kozak) you've got to see, while Martin, lands himself another hottie wife, a babe in blue I'll never forget.

We watched this on TV and found that we got into it straightaway And we generally liked it, but ultimately the ending was a let down It did seem to be a genuine comedy-drama, and for the first two-thirds that is what you get But it as though the writer or director lost confidence and it ended up like every other heart-warming film. I like heart-warming, but it needs to be consistent For example, the Steve Martin family was muddling through with a child who might have to be moved out of his mainstream school, a child who struggled with baseball But what happens? The boy becomes a baseball hero! And that makes everything all right! Steve Martin has a problem with his son's party, so he turns into the most entertaining father the world has ever seen And this aspect is replicated elsewhere Would probably watch it again but would have been happier if real life had intruded into the ending