ThiefHott Too much of everything

Majorthebys Charming and brutal

Solidrariol Am I Missing Something?

Sameer Callahan It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

bloewy I am a fan of Al Frankin and had wanted to see this movie for quite a while. As it turns out, that was 12 years, but I finally saw Stuart Saves His Family on HBO. The short answer is that I liked it a lot, but not for the reasons that I was expecting to like it for. The movie was funny, but not really laugh out loud funny. The characters were too well developed for "laugh out loud". It would have felt mean to laugh at the alcoholic father who has no clue that he has a problem. The stoner brother who eventually figures out he's wasted his life. The enabler mother. The obese sister who deals with her stress by eating pound cake. I found myself rooting for these people, and not really wanting to laugh at them. There are certainly funny parts of the movie, and Al Frankin is a funny guy, but I think that the problem with Stuart Saves His Family is that it is too well done for an audience who want Wayne's World (One of my favorites, BTW) and instead got a serious movie about dysfunctional people with very real problems where you laugh with them and not at them.

dap255 A lot of users compared this to other SNL movies, which is reasonable since it's based on an SNL sketch, but in some respects is totally unfair. The SNL sketch was played for laughs. This is a DRAMA, not a comedy (despite having lots of funny scenes). The focus is on Stuart's (Al Franken) dysfunctional family, which dysfunction stems from his father's (Harris Yulin) alcoholism, which cows Stuart's mother into submission, drives his sister to overeating, and is gradually turning his brother (the always-great Vincent D'Onofrio) into a copy of his father. All of this has turned Stuart into the self-help addict we see on SNL. The other key character is Stuart's friend and self-help partner Laura San Giacomo (also turning in a great performance), who shares a wonderful platonic relationship with Stuart based on mutual empathy. The scene where San Giacomo describes her meeting with her biological father almost brought tears to my eyes. I give this an 8 because it loses some points for inconsistency by trying too hard to be a comedy during the first half of the movie. But once the real drama kicks in during the second half, it becomes brilliantly poignant. Less even than "American Beauty," (its closest analog) but just as good at depicting family dysfunction. Highly recommended.

rich-228 I don't know how funny this movie is to people who aren't involved in 12-step programs or don't know anyone who is. But to this 12-stepper, the movie is hilarious. Al Franken and crew seem to walk the narrow line between poking fun at the 12-step movement while also appreciating its good points. Lots of in-jokes here, and some very funny ones. I bought the home video version and have watched it several times. Al Franken, Laura San Giacomo, Shirley Knight, Julia Sweeney are all very good.

tfrizzell Saturday Night Live routines always find a way to the silver screen and that is unfortunate for the most part. "Stuart Saves His Family" is another pure mess as the titled psychiatrist (the likeable Al Franken) goes home after his aunt's death and tries to keep his family talking to each other, but fireworks just continue going off with what are supposed to be hilarious results. Once again a lack of material just makes the film little more than a very long skit. 2 stars out of 5.