The Thing About My Folks (2005)

the audience applauded

Great Film overall

Excellent adaptation.

It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

Mr. Paul Reiser has written a brilliant script. the photography adds at least a dozen memorable pictures that, I'm happy to say, are in frame a little bit longer than just one second, so we can really process them. The storyline is very simple: after Sam Kleinman (Peter Falk) shows his son Ben Kleinman (Paul Reiser) a letter from his wife telling him she has left him to break loose of her life, they end up spending time together driving through the country; they talk about their relationship, being a father, son and husband. Only a great storyteller could turn this into a story that is interesting and engaging in every scene. And that's just what happens. Even the set up of the story is full of recognizable details that will get you in the mood of family life with all it's little great and annoying moments. Their small scale adventure (with nice unexpected developments) in the outer world helps them to explore the vast inner world of their own hopes, regrets, dreams, sorrows and ambitions. Both of them deliver a very vivid, believable and at many times brilliant performance. As the two men get to see new sides of each other we learn also about their past and their wife/mother and her view on life. Watching the movie you can't help but compare the situations, emotions and points of view with those in your own life. The gentle pace leaves you space to ponder about your relationship with your own partner, with your parents and children. You will smile, laugh out loud, be moved, and cry a little bit at some points. it'll leave you deeply connected with life and its treasures and flaws. and might even inspire you to re-evaluate some of your relationships in order to turn them into a better version while you still have the opportunity.

I'm disappointed that Reiser (who wrote the film) felt the need to use so much profanity for no reason whatsoever. Maybe that's his idea of "adult" films, plenty of nasty words with bathroom humor thrown in? I thought better of him and think less of him for this movie.Falk's acting and some moments of humor as well as some possibly important themes are what made me give it such a high rating.This might be a good movie for adult children to watch and laugh over about their own folks and their foibles. But the lack of consideration for audience families seriously detriments what could have been a family film but fails. Certainly not worth spending money on, though it might be worth a watch for free on television.

This is one of the best movies I have ever seen. I feel greatly touched by the theme the movie intends to convey. One sentence that keeps coming up on my mind is that "history repeats itself". Life is what it is shown in the movie: when people are young, they seem not to understand their parents, their own spouses; people have every excuse for not sharing the dearest time with their children until too late; people always have to work hard to support the whole family but are just liable to neglect the subtle feeling of their partners; people always change their perspectives at different stages of their lives; people can always be forgiven if their heart is full of love for their beloved; nothing is more important than the blood relation people share in this world, and one is never too late to talk with their folks about what they feel at the bottom of their heart so as to achieve a better understanding between themselves, so that when life has to end some day, people should not feel sorry or regretful since they have kept their words and there is always hope ---a new life. The actors and actresses are fantastic. They have understood the director's intention perfectly. The movie's charm lies in, to me, the effect of bringing a skillful and splendid fusion of cheers and tears to the audience.

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.