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Inventing the Abbotts (1997)

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All Critics
Top Critics

Average Rating: 5.4/10
Reviews Counted: 26
Fresh: 8 | Rotten: 18

No consensus yet.

Average Rating: 5.4/10
Critic Reviews: 8
Fresh: 2 | Rotten: 6

No consensus yet.

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Average Rating: 3.2/5
User Ratings: 9,368

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Movie Info

The lives of two closely linked, small town Illinois families dangerously intersect in this domestic drama set in the 1950s, based on a short story by Sue Miller and directed by Pat O'Connor. Though they are from the wrong side of the tracks, the working class brothers Jacey (Billy Crudup) and Doug Holt (Joaquin Phoenix) are in love with the wealthy and beautiful Abbott sisters. Shy and quiet Doug, who worships his womanizing brother, has eyes for the iconoclastic Pam (Liv Tyler), but Jacey's

R, 1 hr. 50 min.

Drama, Romance

Directed By: Pat O'Connor

Written By: Ken Hixon

In Theaters: Apr 4, 1997 Wide

On DVD: Mar 13, 2001

Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment

Inventing the Abbotts Trailer & Photos

Cast

Joaquin Phoenix
Doug Holt
Billy Crudup
Jacey Holt
Liv Tyler
Pamela Abbott
Will Patton
Lloyd Abbott
Kathy Baker
Helen Holt
Jennifer Connelly
Eleanor Abbott
Joanna Going
Alice Abbott
Barbara Williams
Joan Abbott

Critic Reviews for Inventing the Abbotts

All Critics (47) | Top Critics (17) | Fresh (8) | Rotten (18) | DVD (4)

Cast of newcomers is appealing, but this small-town melodrama is so old-fashioned and out-of-touch with contemporary youth that it feels as if it were made the same time that its story is set, in 1957.

August 8, 2007 Full Review Source: Variety

| Comment

Emanuel Levy

Variety

Top Critic

In the end, it adds up to nothing more than a humorless, forgettable nostalgia piece with carefully re-created costumes and settings from the Eisenhower years.

July 1, 2004 Full Review Source: Courier-Journal (Louisville, KY)

| Comment

Judith Egerton

Courier-Journal (Louisville, KY) Source: Courier-Journal (Louisville, KY)

If looked at in the right perspective, as a soap and not as the serious drama it pretends to be, this is quite diverting, if emotionally hollow, melodrama.

January 18, 2004 Full Review Source: TheMovieReport.com

| Comment

Michael Dequina

TheMovieReport.com

Offers an inventive and engaging exploration of emotional intelligence.

August 26, 2002 Full Review Source: Spirituality and Practice

| Comment

Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat

Spirituality and Practice

It is rare to find a film that treats teenagers and young adults as real people who think for themselves, and own up to their mistakes

February 27, 2001 Full Review Source: Q Network Film Desk

| Comment

James Kendrick

Q Network Film Desk

More Critic Reviews

Audience Reviews for Inventing the Abbotts

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I can remember watching this one a few years back and really being not impressed. However, I really couldn't remember a lot about it, so when I saw this as a free rental, decided I wound give it another go. I have to say it was nowhere near as bad as I remembered. It is a fairly subdued film, no one in it is terribly

October 26, 2008