The Thing About My Folks

2005 "Sometimes the fruit falls very far from the tree."
6.5| 1h36m| PG-13| en
Details

Ben's dad Sam shows up one night with a note from Ben's mother (Sam's wife of 46 years), that she has left. While Ben's wife and his three sisters try to find her, Ben takes Sam on a day trip to see a farmhouse that's for sale. The day trip turns into a road trip while dad and son explore their past, their relationship, and why Sam's wife might have left him. The road trip includes fishing, drinking, playing pool, sleeping under the stars, and frank discussion. Anger simmers close at hand, as do love and hope. Where Sam's wife is - and why she left - leads to the movie's resolution.

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Actuakers One of my all time favorites.
Manthast Absolutely amazing
Bergorks If you like to be scared, if you like to laugh, and if you like to learn a thing or two at the movies, this absolutely cannot be missed.
Jenna Walter The film may be flawed, but its message is not.
moonspinner55 Middle-aged family man gets saddled with his old windbag of a father after Mom writes a telling letter saying she's leaving her husband because he has destroyed their marriage. Blaming her spouse for her lifelong unhappiness doesn't seem to phase Pop, however; he doesn't recognize his own personal failings, neither with his wife nor his children. This sets the scene for many conference calls between the couple's talkative daughters, while father and son hit the road for an unintended journey of rediscovery. They do all the typical father and son things after buying a beautiful vintage car they find sitting idle in a junk heap: fishing, drinking, pool-playing, bar-fighting, country line-dancing...they take in a local baseball game and even get picked up by a comely co-ed and her vivacious mother. Paul Reiser co-produced, wrote and stars in this anemic comedy-drama, an unfunny dirge putting family therapy in the hands of those directly responsible--and once everyone is heard, the healing can begin! Braying Peter Falk is angrily defensive over his behaviors of the past and refuses to take responsibility for the family ill-will, while son Reiser incredulously repeats back everything Pop says. It's an endless argument that goes around and around until father and son collapse on a country hill at night, underneath the stars while a plaintive guitar plucks in the background, and Dad tells his son he's really an OK guy. Some audiences may actually buy this--they may also allow the bar-fight scene wherein Falk defeats a rowdy tough who welshes on a bet (both bully and son get a hit to the groin, that old comedy stand-by). Reiser has an open face and a nervous, half-inquisitive smile that shows you he's listening but is also thinking about something else; he reminds one of Albert Brooks (or the young Sydney Pollack when he was an actor), though Reiser's exasperated takes are like leftovers gimmicks from sitcom-land. Falk, shouting at the sky, is simply a mouthpiece for the other side; Reiser tells him that, just maybe, he wasn't a very fair or attentive husband, which sends Dad over the edge. These scenes of discord don't build out of anything natural--they are only present to give the movie an angry argument--while Falk displays such out-of-control mania, he's tough to shake off when the picture's mood suddenly turns 'cute'. *1/2 from ****
Amsomnia Studios It is no wonder this movie won 4 prices, it is a movie that lingers to any soul, it isn't a wonder why it took Paul Reiser 20 years to finally give in and talk to Peter Falk about his idea. I can understand every part of it, this is a movie that will make you cry just a tear, or thousands.Story: 10/10 When Sam kleinman gets a letter from his wife about her leaving him to find something else his son and him take out on a road trip to find her, and while they do that they find something lost, Friendship, family, and affection for each other. At the beginning you know whats going to happen, but none soever the story is not that easy to figure out from beginning to end, it is a ride between a father and his son, and a husband and his wife. It is no wonder it took Paul Reiser 20 years to write this beautiful romance/comedy.Actors: 10/10 Well you cant say anything else that what i about to say, hey it is with Peter Falk in it, he is a legend everything he does in movies are magic, when you use Peter Falk in a romance/comedy what do you think you get? A perfect outcome, it is no wonder this movie is that perfect and won that many prices. As the son Paul Reiser does an excellent job, although he isn't a great actor always that doesn't mean that this didn't work actually Peter Falk and Paul Reiser plays the perfect Father and Son, the rest of the cast is good enough but you don't see them as much so just say they do what they shall to get this to shine even more. Music: 10/10 It doesn't always work when using music sometimes it just doesn't fit but that is not the thing in this movie, the music is perfect in tune, it makes the movie even more compelling. This part of the movie will shine off as good as the other parts, a great soundtrack for a Romance/Comedy thats for sure.Overall: 10/10 There are so many Romance/Comedy movies out on tapes, DVDs, Blu-ray and what not, but this movie is one of the special ones. it doesn't happen everyday that you can create a story like this, it takes years thinking about this and the fact is that actually what it took to make it, a great piece that should be bought and kept into the human soul, see it when you get old and see it with your father at a old age, i think then this movie will spark like no other ever made.
JustDucky317 This movie could have been 15 minutes long if it weren't for all the bickering between son and father. Very predictable. Both Male "stars" need a good slap in the face! Would you like some cheese with that "whine?" Two chuckles...and a headache. I can understand why the mother left her hubby after 47 years...I don't know how she lasted that long! The first 5 minutes made me want to turn the movie off wishing I had never paid the $3.99 to watch it! The movie didn't flow well and was painfully long. I kept watching my watch hoping time would fly faster...It didn't. The script had so much repetition that it had to be easy for the writer to fill space. On a positive note...the scenery was pretty, fall being my favorite season. The car, the 40 Ford was also quite nice. This movie gets an D- rating approaching an F
bob-rutzel Ben's (Reiser) father, Sam (Falk), drops by one night and says his wife (Dukakis) left a note and has left him.Remember the TV show MAD ABOUT YOU when they babbled non-stop and excitedly over every little thing? Well, this movie started out that way and since Paul Reiser wrote and produced this, I figured I was in for a long night of non-stop babble. I was pleasantly surprised when the annoying babble stopped and the movie started thanks to the entrance of Peter Falk (who I am sure wouldn't put up with the babble).However, this was still too wordy for me. There wasn't hardly a second of silence. Everyone had too much to say, way too much. See Reiser still is on TV time and is conscious of "dead air." OK, let's put it this way: This should have been a MADE FOR TV MOVIE. Yes, of course, there were moments of silence, but this is like a play, not a movie, and in a play one cannot have a character not talk for too long a time. Also, this was not really a funny movie unless you think loud farting is funny. Well okay, at times, sometimes it is.Now that all the annoying things about the movie have been said, this is not a bad movie. You will learn why your father may not have been around when you were growing up; why your mother may have felt she was trapped in a marriage she wasn't sure she wanted; why your perception of things then and now were and are: wrong.Peter Falk saves this movie and it's a shame we don't see more of him. He is terrific and the movie is worth it just to watch him.

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