TrueJoshNight Truly Dreadful Film

CommentsXp Best movie ever!

Seraherrera The movie is wonderful and true, an act of love in all its contradictions and complexity

Guillelmina The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

SnoopyStyle In 1973, PBS aired reality show 'An American Family' after filming the Loud family for a year. It's 1971 in Santa Barbara. Filmmaker Craig Gilbert (James Gandolfini) meets Pat Loud (Diane Lane) but she's reluctant at first. Her confident Nixon-supporting often-absent womanizing husband Bill (Tim Robbins) is more interested. They have four kids. Lance (Thomas Dekker) is the gay son in NYC that Bill is still clueless about. Kevin (Johnny Simmons) and Grant (Nick Eversman) have their band. Delilah is the 16 year old having fun. Michelle (Kaitlyn Dever) is the youngest. Newlyweds Susan (Shanna Collins) and Alan Raymond (Patrick Fugit) are filming them.I don't know how much of this has been fictionalized. It feels very over-dramatized. In many ways, this movie is misguided. A film about the Louds would be fine. This is about the show about the Louds. It's the filmmaking and the process behind the scenes that is more important. This is trying too hard to recreate the TV show. The use of the old footage side-by-side with the new footage only re-enforces that idea. It's at best a recreation of the behind-the-scene story. Gilbert's conflict with the Raymonds is probably the best moments of this film. The personal drama of the family is good but without the cameras would be just another personal movie. This should be more about the filmmakers than about the family.

treeline1 The movie examines the filming of a ground-breaking PBS documentary called, "An American Family," in 1971, which was the first time a family allowed cameras into their home life and would become the first "reality show." Pat and Bill Loud (Diane Lane, Tim Robbins), have a troubled marriage but agree to be filmed because their family seems so ideal; they're rich, the kids are lively, and they live the good life. Little did they know that their life would unravel under the scrutiny of the camera lens.This movie would probably be appreciated most for fans of the original series. I was glued to the screen when "An American Family" first aired and was absolutely fascinated by it. The Louds became instant celebrities and everyone knew their names as viewers were privy to their most intimate moments. Lane and Robbins look and act a lot like the real couple and it was great to relive the train wreck that was their marriage. James Gandolfini is excellent as the producer who convinces the Louds to sign on, befriends Pat, and then reveals his true motives.The original series was absolutely shocking in its day; the movie isn't memorable, but it is quite fun and nostalgic to revisit the Louds.

moonspinner55 Modest, minor cable-made docudrama from directors Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini chronicles the would-be sturm and drang behind-the-scenes of PBS's "American Family", an eleven-hour series from 1971 which chronicled the lives of The Louds of Santa Barbara, CA. Justifiably famous as the first "reality TV" family, this bunch (mom, dad, and their amiable teenage kids) brought in big ratings for 'the education network', even though their lives were fairly typical and ordinary. Picked out of a society column by an ambitious producer, the Louds were followed around by a small camera-crew for some 78 days--to fill eleven hours of air-time--yet high drama was hard to come by (patriarch Bill Loud had the wandering eye; eldest son Lance Loud was a flamboyant singer who had already moved to New York City when production began; while spouse Pat Loud, strong and confident, was the glue who kept kids and husband together). There wasn't much happening behind--nor in front of!--the lens, except for some mild flirting between Pat and the crafty, cunning producer, and Pat's discovery that her husband had been carrying on affairs with a number of different women. The editors of the actual show had a tough time piecing together enough watchable product, while this rendering of events, penned by the estimable David Seltzer, suffers the same fate. The groovy production-design is spot-on, and Diane Lane has several strong moments portraying Pat...yet this American family simply wasn't cliffhanger material. It all seems much ado about nothing.

RickCaine This film speaks volumes about the ethical dilemmas doc-makers (and "reality TV" producers) all-too-frequently face. Some choose to do the ethical thing and tell an unvarnished truth, most are happy to sell their soul for ratings. Strong filmmaking from the folks who brought us American Splendor and have now once again cut to the heart of the American Dream. If you watch "reality TV" and believe it, this is mandatory viewing. Diane Lane will break your heart, Tim Robbins shatters deeply held delusions about the Playboy/Esquire lifestyle and James Gandofini's strong performance is a scream in the dark urging us to dump the junk TV and watch more substantial fare. This is great American filmmaking.