Welcome to the Rileys (2010)

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

Excellent characters with emotional depth. My wife, daughter and granddaughter all enjoyed it...and me, too! Very good movie! You won't be disappointed.

A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

Great movie. Not sure what people expected but I found it highly entertaining.

This is a simple film, constructed gradually, and one guided by a great sense of humanity. You do not know why Gandolfini goes into a strip joint, but he does, and there the stripper offers him sex. He pays like a customer but declines sex and you subsequently find out that his daughter, of about the same age as Stewart, had died in a car accident a few years earlier. His relationship with his wife, excellently portrayed by Melissa Leo, is very touching, and one based on mutual respect and trust, and both come to see Stewart as someone who could have been their deceased daughter.There is nothing soppy or sentimentalistic abut this movie. Stewart is a foul-mouthed and unkempt prostitute and drug addict, but the love shown by Gandolfini and Leo gives her a new outlook on life and she seems ready to change by movie's end.I found WELCOME an uplifting and humane film, and recommend it.

In Indianapolis, Douglas Lloyd 'Doug' Riley (James Gandolfini) and Lois Riley (Melissa Leo) are a estranged couple married for almost thirty years that grieves the loss of their fifteen year-old daughter Emily. Doug is a well succeeded businessman in plumbing business that likes to play poker every Thursday with his friend and to meet his mistress, the waitress Vivian (Eisa Davis), after the game. Lois is agoraphobic, takes many pills and does not have sex with Doug. When Vivian unexpectedly has a heart attack and dies, Doug goes to the cemetery and finds a tombstone that Lois has ordered with her and his names. This is the last straw in their relationship and Doug travels to a plumbing conference in New Orleans feeling lost. Doug is wandering on the streets and stumbles with a nightclub. The young stripper and prostitute Mallory (Kristen Stewart) invites Doug to a private lap dance and when he see his acquaintances from the conference in the nightclub, he accepts her invitation to hide from them but he does not have sex with the teenager. There is an incident but then he takes Mallory home and decides to stay in her derelict house to help her. Doug calls Lois and tells to her that he would stay in New Orleans for a while. Lois decides to drive to New Orleans in Doug's car and he introduces her to Mallory, whose real name is Allison. The couple projects Emily in Allison, but is there still hope or is it too late for Allison and themselves? "Welcome to the Rileys" is a family drama supported by the magnificent Kristen Stewart, James Gandolfini and Melissa Leo. Kristen Stewart is an actress that seems to be tailored to indie movies. The screenplay discloses the past events that have separated Doug and Lois to the viewer piece by piece. The story could have been of second chance in life and redemption, but the writer Ken Hixon chooses a more realistic conclusion but leaving some hope. My vote is seven.Title (Brazil): "Corações Perdidos" ("Lost Hearts")

It's a tough balancing act - trying to be both sad and hopeful at the same time. "Welcome To The Rileys" tries to pull that tough balancing act off - and for the most parts it succeeds admirably. It's about troubled people and the tentative relationships they have with one another. James Gandolfini and Melissa Leo are the Rileys - Doug and Lois. Several years before the events of this movie their 15 year old daughter Emily (their only child) was killed in a car accident. They've never really been able to put the pieces back together. Their life is empty and shallow; their relationship is practically non-existent. Lois is heavily medicated and can't even leave the house; Doug goes from work to his weekly poker game and has managed to develop a relationship with a local waitress on the side. Then she dies suddenly and unexpectedly, and Doug just wants out. At a convention in New Orleans, he meets Mallory (or Allison), played by Kristen Stewart. Mallory is a teen stripper and hooker, and she reminds Doug of Emily. He bonds with her (as far as that's possible) and takes care of her, while at the same time telling Lois that he's not coming home. Meanwhile, Lois finally decides she wants Doug back and travels to New Orleans. The three of them cautiously try to make this unusual relationship work.A big part of me looked at this with suspicious eyes - it's really not that believable. I'd love to believe that there are wonderful men out there just looking for an opportunity to help a teen prostitute without taking advantage of them. Unfortunately, the relationship between Mallory and Doug wasn't believable to me, and that was the biggest weakness of the movie. I understand that everyone in this is hurt and hurting, and maybe I can see hurting people latching on to each other, but I just didn't buy the relationship. I couldn't be Doug. I could see myself wanting to help a teen prostitute get her life together, but I couldn't see myself moving in with her and taking care of her, all the while watching her go off on her various "dates." That would drive me crazy. Doug's either a better man than I am or he's just an unrealistic character. I tend to think the latter.Having said that, I was able to get around my disbelief by simply watching the story and the characters. It's interesting; they're interesting. The performances from those three leads are very good, and you have an interesting mix of emotions as you watch this relationship evolve. You root for everyone. You want things to work out. In the back of your mind, you kind of hope that Mallory goes to Indianapolis with Doug and Lois, lives with them, becomes a second daughter to them and everyone lives happily ever after. On the other hand, you really don't want that because it would be too much of a fairy tale. The movie does well to avoid the fairy tale.Eventually, Mallory runs away, and as desperate as Doug is to save her, he's finally brought back to earth by Lois's gentle reminder: "Doug, she's not Emily." No. She's not. The movie ends on something of an ambiguous note. Doug and Lois go home, Mallory heads off to Vegas to continue her "career." They maintain contact, but how things will work out in the end for any of them is left very much as an open question. I liked that ambiguous ending. It was very much in keeping with a movie whose credibility stretched the limits a bit."Welcome To The Rileys" is a slow-paced movie; a very human drama. It doesn't unfold quickly. For all that (and for the overall air of unreality) I have to say (somewhat to my surprise) that I really enjoyed watching it. In its own way it's very moving to watch people who need help and people who want help trying to help each other, but not really being able to break through the barriers that a lifetime of troubles have erected. (8/10)

It seems that the Scott family are blessed with a knack for film-making. I really did enjoy this film and it resonates with me even though i watched it yesterday. For those who haven't read the synopsis, it is a story about 3 people who have lost direction in life and are dysfunctional people but somehow when they come together, they become better and happier.First of all i think the music in this film is amazing, it really suits the film and is memorable. Galdolfini does an amazing job as the "step in father" and Leo is equally as good as the "broken" mother. Also i must say i am surprised by how good Stewart is in the film, but maybe its because i've associated her with those twilight films. She breaks out of that "teen" image and is shown as a foul mouthed prostitute. At times i thought, maybe it would have been better to cast an unknown so that we do not associate stewart with that sweetheart innocent image as it is pretty shocking what her character does in the film at times. Scott has done a good job with the characters and i think in reality that this does happen; that some people are so determined to not let go of lost ones that they do extreme things to remember them. The timescale of the film does supposedly extend into weeks when the 3 characters are together but i did find it felt only like days that they were together and I would have liked more interaction between the 3 characters as most of the character interaction is between doug and allison. Positives: great movie with deep characters, acting is superb and stewart does a good job Negatives: would have liked to see more interaction between the 3 main characters Overall: should give the movie a watch, good acting and an interesting plot is what drives this movie.