Stuart Saves His Family (1995)

The Worst Film Ever

Good , But It Is Overrated By Some

It's complicated... I really like the directing, acting and writing but, there are issues with the way it's shot that I just can't deny. As much as I love the storytelling and the fantastic performance but, there are also certain scenes that didn't need to exist.

It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

"Stuart Saves His Family" came out before I had heard of Al Franken, so I took no notice. After I read Franken's book "Rush Limbaugh is a Big, Fat Idiot and Other Observations", I decided to check it out. It turns out that there's not really very much here. Franken plays Stuart Smalley, a character from "Saturday Night Live", and the movie portrays him having a crazy family. Why do movies and TV shows always seem to portray families as nearly mental? I actually giggled when he resorts to name-calling ("You are a big...!), but it seemed like the movie didn't have much of a point beyond that. Then again, few "SNL" skits make good movies. Of course, I might just be too tough on Al Franken; having read his political satires, I expect the highest quality from him.So I don't recommend it. I do think that Al Franken would make a really good senator (in case you haven't heard, he's running for senate in Minnesota), but for entertainment, he should stick to mocking the Bush administration and right-wing commentators.

surprisingly, what I thought would be a farce had some interesting depth. What's starts off as lampooning 12 step programs becomes a touching and somewhat tragic ride through recovery. Laced with humor, this is a dry, yet poignant study in recovery from 'our family of origin'. I watched this with several friends and we were stunned at the ending, namely,Stauart did not save all his family because it was their choice not to be saved. As Stuart says, he needed to move on with his life.Its easier to wear slippers than to carpet the whole world. True enough,you cannot fix others, particularly those who do not want to be fixed. Some revel in their misery or are so addicted to it some real peace would be disturbing. D'on't expect a major laugh riot here in this movie, expect the subtleties of humanity and conditions to give you a smirk, a grin,an 'aha' here and there. The real humor comes in Stuarts' journey. I salute the filmmakers for adding some really 'teary' moments.Alcoholism isn't fun. Perhapsthose touched by this disease,particularly those children (grown or not) who still ache from the hurts. You'll cheer Stauart for his own personal choices, not because he couldn't get his father into rehab.

Al Franken is so bad, he drags this otherwise bad movie down to terrible. Laura San Giacomo is, though, great ... just not enough to save this mess. Franken's diction is abysmal, almost as if he had some physical defect; he should never be allowed near a microphone. For that matter, he probably should not be allowed in front of a camera, either. He must know somebody, because he has not anywhere near enough talent to be named the star of a movie, any movie, even one this bad. After writing the above, some years later I saw him in an old "Saturday Night Live," and I realize I was understating the problem.Franken was terrible even in those lousy skits. Worst of all, He Was Just Not Funny, even, or especially, in the dumb skits he himself wrote.Laura San Giacomo, however, is so beautiful, so exotically beautiful, that one could almost put up with Franken just to be able to look at her. Almost. Better to watch her in something else. Anything else. THIS IS ADDED: After reading comments by others, I understand better what motivated people to produce this awful movie. (It's still terrible.) I said "yes" to "Was this comment helpful?" even when I disagreed with the rating the commenter had given. Reason: It was indeed helpful. I wish others would answer the question rather than saying "no" because they disagree with the opinion.

I really liked this movie. And no, I have never been in a 12 step program. But we all know people like this and we all share some of these experiences. But beside all that, it is funny. Al Franken is excellent. Julia Sweeney's "I'm sorry" character is hysterical. Sure it's a little movie but great if you are interested in human behavior.