ReaderKenka
Let's be realistic.
Livestonth
I am only giving this movie a 1 for the great cast, though I can't imagine what any of them were thinking. This movie was horrible
selffamily
I watched this DVD this afternoon, expecting not much and becoming glued to the whole thing. The characters were drawn perfectly, and we saw the characters of the American family drawn carefully for us before we met the English family. (I did wonder what would have happened, had the English family not spoken with such pristine middle class accents, but that's silly, no American woman would fall for anything less.) There is a touch of farce, some neurosis and some age-old baggage to be sorted before the film ends, touchingly and with horror written on the face of the father in question. It's not a blockbuster, and it's not full of hysterical dramas, but it did put me in mind of Tennessee Williams' Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, and not purely because of the accents - the taught drama spinning away behind the pleasant and civilised dialogue. Excellent all round.
Tony Heck
"It's not gonna kill you to talk to your kids pops. You might be surprised what happens." A family that is already at odds with each other is dealt another big blow. Their mother, who they haven't seen in a long time (because she moved to England and remarried) has died and wishes to be buried in Alabama. To make matters worse her new family is coming as well and the old and new meet for the first time. This is a difficult movie to explain. It's not bad but it's not that good either. The acting is great but the story is weak. There doesn't seem to be a flow from one scene to the other but I stayed interested. The movie is really one big contradiction to itself. If you watch it you will see what I mean. I will say that I thought the movie was OK but nothing I would watch again or bring up in the "have you seen this lately" conversation, but on the other hand it is full of some great acting and it's worth seeing for that reason alone. This is nothing more then a family trying to figure itself out and Duvall plays the same part he did in Slingblade...but this time he talks. Overall, a hard movie to explain because nothing really happens but I did think it was OK. Watch it and you will see what I mean, but it's hard to recommend. I give it a B-.
bqview
I watched this movie with a group of regular movie goers. One person stood up and said, "If I had seen this in a theater, I would have stood up and booed"-- Two people fell asleep. Another said, this makes Ishtar look like a compelling masterpiece. The movie was painfully slow, with dreadful dialogue, shameful use of great talent, boring to the audience and a pity the director never made it to the set. Whatever was paid to the cast....next time could Billy Bob s spend less money on a dyed red wig and a few more on a script and director. The use of Jayne Mansfield's name in the title was a con to drag us in--thinking it would be clever and edgy. Beyond disappointing.
mickmade
Great actors, awful directing, they call them movies because they are supposed to move, this one doesn't and it has the wrong music and poor uneven cinematography.Billy Bob, stick to acting. This movie is not entertaining. Oscar and this movie in the same sentence is an insult to Oscar.I'm not a voting member of the Academy. If I were, I would have to give it two thumbs down for blatant pandering to the academy while ignoring the ticket-buying public.Some good music from the 60's might at least give you the feeling of the era this movie is supposed to be in and moved things along a little better. I have never known a WW2 veteran that was Hippie, Kevin Bacon's part was unbelievable. Ron White was Ron White.
