Rating: PG13
Genre:
Comedy
Theatrical Release: 08/02/1989(USA)
Release Date: 03/31/1998
SubTitles: English/Espanol
Dubbed: English/French
Sound: 5.1
Run Time: 124 Minutes
Flags: Adult Situations, Questionable for Children, Adult Language, Adult Humor
Distributor/Studio: Universal Studios
This feel-good ensemble
comedy tracks a quartet of suburban siblings and their families over the course of a single summer. Hardworking
Gil Buckman (
Steve Martin) and his stay-at-home wife,
Karen (
Mary Steeenburgen), have just a few months to help their oldest son,
Kevin (
Jasen Fisher), overcome his high-strung behavior problems before he'll be relegated to special-education classes.
Gil's difficult relationship with his own father,
Frank (
Jason Robards), has led him to become a would-be super-dad for his three kids, so he takes his son's difficulties more than a little personally.
Gil's sister,
Helen (
Dianne Wiest), is trying to raise a moody, adolescent son (
Leaf Phoenix) and an independent-minded daughter (
Martha Plimpton) with no help from her well-off ex-husband, who's more interested in his new wife and family.
Gil and
Helen's sister,
Susan (
Harley Jane Kozak), meanwhile, must participate in the too-scripted Big Life Plans of her anal-retentive husband,
Nathan (
Rick Moranis), whose overachiever zeal infects even their toddler daughter. When long-lost brother
Larry (
Tom Hulce) show up with yet another get-rich-quick scheme, he brings with him a surprise addition to the family. Screenwriters
Babaloo Mandel,
Lowell Ganz, and
Ron Howard negotiate their varied subplots with a deftness and comedic touch that transforms this conflicted clan into a suburban everyfamily.
~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide
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