Family Pictures (1993)

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

Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

The biggest problem with this movie is it’s a little better than you think it might be, which somehow makes it worse. As in, it takes itself a bit too seriously, which makes most of the movie feel kind of dull.

The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

This exceptionally fine film, with a cast of major star players, offers an insider's view of a large family's reaction to an autistic brother. Their daily affairs, from early childhood embarrassments to adult empathy, is held in a stranglehold by the guilt-ridden mother, Angelica Huston. The father, played by the solid Sam Neill, descends from non-acceptance of his son's disability to escaping in mid-life crises. Overall, his strong characterization reflects a true dilemma, unfortunately, affecting his wife and other five children. His daughter, Kyra Sedgwick, and other son, Dermot Mulroney turn in major performances as flawed and undervalued family members. Much of the exposition seems like Greek Tragedy among the various players. The final resolution brings everyone around, but may not be realistic in the end.

I have two autistic children, one 'normal' as well. It is the lower functioning boy that I could see in this movie. The one who has a bolt on his door to lock him in there for OUR safety. The one that our lives revolve around. For me this movie hit home on many levels and I felt it was a better movie for focusing more on the effects on the family than solely on the autistic son Randall. He wasn't made into some sort of superhero savant who was going to by skill or chance save the day. He was a force of nature in their lives (Sam Neill says so when holding Randall's ashes, 'so light for such a force'). A force that permeated everything they did (the parents) and everything they became (the siblings). I related to many of the feelings and problems of both the parents. That the father started wanting to send the boy away when the problematic son was still young and the mother clings and refuses againsts all odd ... very, very real to my life. My rating is lowered slightly only for the length which could have been shorter (guess was a mini series originally and thought it should have been scaled back a bit) and if you are not an Angelica Huston fan (and I'm not) she can occasionally grate on you.Overall, I found this the most real of any movie on autism because it focused on more than just the quirks of autism as a device plot. It didn't bother me that the family was rich, it actually contrasted the reality of his problems against an even more ideal or perfect situation of having all you want - all you want except for your son to be normal.

I thought this was one of the most moving & original, as well as one of the best-acted teleplays, that I've seen in a long long time. Very moving. I'm not the mother of a disabled child so I can't speak to Anjelica Huston's portrayal as the mother, but I felt sympathetic to her. I also felt sympathetic to the father's position, which proves the strength of this teleplay. You get to see all sides and no one was judged; everyone, including the children of the couple, are just set forth in all their good and bad points. It's a pretty remarkable story, in that these people seem real -- it's not some adaptation of a Danielle Steel fantasy; these people could be your neighbors. I really appreciated that this is fairly true adaptation of the book, as well. I recommend this to anyone who wants to see great acting all around, and a story that's realistically portrayed.

**May Contain SPOILERS**Family Pictures is about a so called perfect family. David and Lainie Eberlin and their three children Liddie, Mack and Randall living the American dream in the '50s. David is a successful psychiatrist and Lainie a homemaker. Their world is turned upside down when it is determined that their youngest, Randall, is autistic. This is in the days when theories regarding autism were rather archiac. David being a psychiatrist believes the theory that the child was rejected in the womb. Lainie responds to the sad news by promptly becoming pregnant with three more children, daughters in three years. Their father refers to them as the last straws. The story is told from the oldest of the last straws, Nina's perspective. The family is disfunctional with mom drinking too much and dad having affairs. Randall is out of control at times but always cared for and protected by Lainie. This leaves Nina feeling that her mother loves him more than the rest of her children, to whom she refers to as her perfect babies. The children grow up with various problems, the story centers mainly on Nina and Mack. Mack is an shiftless alcoholic with a bond to his brother. Nina has self esteem issues and relationship difficulties.I enjoyed the movie and the book because no family is perfect and this family's problems seemed very real. Nina was able to understand herself after coming to terms with her parents and understanding their pain so long ago.