Ariella Broughton It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

Portia Hilton Blistering performances.

Kamila Bell This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

Josephina Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.

richspenc 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.

videorama-759-859391 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.

Marc Israel The likable "Parenthood" is a road trip through a set of related families. We have detours for many typical scenarios in America with some comedic moments, others are Rock Morinic, with a few poignant moments keeping the focus on the worthiness of a family life. Ron Howard and gang assembled a potent cast but went for absolute mass appeal in the face of divorce, contraception, puberty, gambling, irresponsible parenting, the blame game and life long grudges. It could have added up to more that the saccharine sweet ending we got. saw it as a single person when it came out and now on DVD as a Parent and it never managed to actually shed any light with the exception of Jason Robards who carries the message and I believe if involved more could have squeezed more juice out of this. His dealings with his two sons here seem real, while the rest seemed like acting for mass appeal.

HelenMary Parenthood is one of my favourite films and it's an eighties classic as far as I am concerned. It's Steve Martin's greatest hour and a fantastic ensemble film. Set around an extended family's goings on; four siblings' families go through divorce, separation, genius children issues, dysfunctional children, teen pregnancy and seemingly inappropriate relationships, adolescence gone awry, loneliness and sexual frustration, senile dementia, unemployment and gambling addiction. A funny, touching and inspirational film with quite a few iconic truisms. It is gentle comedy, but laugh out loud in places, and has something for everyone. Much imitated but never truly reproduced, it's just wonderfully uplifting and heart-warming with some great performances especially by Joaquin (then Leaf) Phoenix and Dianne Wiest.It hasn't aged well, particularly, but it's still relevant, engaging and eminently watchable. Love it.