Once Around (1991)

I like the storyline of this show,it attract me so much

Thanks for the memories!

It was OK. I don't see why everyone loves it so much. It wasn't very smart or deep or well-directed.

It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny

I started watching this purely on a whim, the summary on the cover didn't give much away. The family dynamics were demonstrated with the elder daughter's wedding, dad thought he was the star and sang a song - having been to a wedding when the dad thought the guest were there for him, I cringed - and the happy couple went their way while the younger daughter discovers that the unwilling finance she thought she had was just playing at a relationship. She then fled back to her parents' home where the wedding decorations still hung, and even tried to sleep with her parents in their bed. Honestly, this family is too close for healthy! Soon she moves away and while she is learning a sales job she meets a smarmy, brash show-off whom she clicks with immediately. They become closer and she introduces him to her family. The obvious wealth of the man is something of a stumbling block to her father, who has always been The Man, but now has another fella in the house who is around his age and with pots more money. The family all decide they really like him, as he grows on us all with his generosity and genuine affection for his adopted clan, then they decide they really don't, and the years roll on. To be honest, the family are far too controlling - if this is a typical American/Italian family, it didn't do them any favours. The ending is sweet, predictable and satisfying. The characters are well drawn and the wonderful Richard Dreyfuss steals the whole film (for me). The other family members seemed a bit miserable to be frank, they needed to lighten up a bit and see the world outside.

A splendid scenario about love, a masterpiece of play on the part of Richard Dreyfus and Holly Hunter. This scenario is original because it brings the idea, the topic of a rich, disproportionate, dazzling, invading and perfectly sincere love which happens to submerge all the family of beautiful woman involved, and this is due to the fact they forgot that kind of love they haven't known for a long time; one could love so much, and the joy could be so large, so big, so powerful, that the faith carried in such a love would upset any false life, superficial, timid, afraid way of living. Dreyfus plays this feeling with wonder, while incarnating the perfect American salesman, with the teeth long enough to stripe the floor, although this personality remains of local colour for people who use to be born salesmen. On the other hand, he is a tsunami. And Renata needs some, she takes it. But the family has a hard time taking that. Beautiful intrigue. Beautiful message. To be seen absolutely, don't miss it.

Great feel-good movie! A classic! The cast was incredible, and you want to hate Dreyfuss, but can't help but love him. It makes you realize that there is something good in each of us, we only have to take the time to look deeper to find it. We may not always understand why someone loves the one they love, but it is ultimately their love to give, and pray that they receive the love in return in boundless measure. I watched this movie at a point in life where I so desperately needed to learn the lessons this movie provides. Never doubt your heart, it will never steer you wrong. However, we must take the less-than-fabulous characteristics of those we love along with those we cannot-live-without and accept that combined, they make the person we so desperately love.

With a strong cast of some of Hollywood's best veteran actors and a highly respected director of praised dramas, "Once Around" got what it needs to lift it out of a often used formula. It is wonderful to see such an eclectic cast of characters together making something extraordinary out of the ordinary. Holly Hunter and Richard Dreyfus deserve each other as a highly charged couple. Dreyfus's Sam is a piece of work - brash, manipulative and yet engaging. Hunter is full of nervous energy. Gena Rowland does not disappoint in displaying the power in her character in the scene where she confronts Dreyfus in protection of her husband at a reception. The one character that stood out the most, in my mind,is Danny Aiello's family patriarch. His is a laconic, slightly wounded man, trying to remain dignified while holding the family together. He was overshadowed by the showy Dreyfus. You feel his pains. But when Dreyfus got sick near the end, he would carry him into the house when Dreyfus and Hunter come to visit. What could improve the ending is have daughter (Hunter) and father (Aiello) walk hand-in-hand in the snow, to symbolize her journey home and finds love and support where she always knew were there. 3 of 4 stars.