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Movies / On DVD / It Runs in the Family
It Runs in the Family

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It Runs in the Family (2003)

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Reviews Counted:28

Fresh:11

Rotten:17

Average Rating:4.7/10

Consensus: Despite its gimmick casting, the movie ultimately goes nowhere.

Rated: PG-13 [See Full Rating] for drug content, sexual material and language

Runtime: 1 hr 49 mins

Genre: Dramas

Theatrical Release:Apr 25, 2003 Wide

Box Office: $7,375,836

Synopsis: Some families can survive everything. Even each other. The Grombergs are a highly successful family – except when it comes to communicating with each other. Alex Gromberg (Michael Douglas) is... Some families can survive everything. Even each other. The Grombergs are a highly successful family – except when it comes to communicating with each other. Alex Gromberg (Michael Douglas) is a man caught in the middle. Navigating the tricky, ever-changing roles of father, son, and husband, he’s trying to avoid the mistakes his father made while coming to terms with the ones he’s already passed on to his own sons. Alex’s wife, Rebecca (Bernadette Peters), is a psychologist trying to balance a professional life with her marriage and raising her kids. Mitchell Gromberg (Kirk Douglas), the patriarch and a retired partner of one of New York’s leading law firms, is having difficulty coming to grips with his mortality. Evelyn (Diana Douglas) is his devoted wife and has been his emotional rock throughout their marriage – and the peacemaker between him and Alex. Asher Gromberg (Cameron Douglas), Alex’s eldest son, is a rebellious college student trying to cope with life, love, and sex in a confused society. And Eli (Rory Culkin), Alex’s 11-year old, is perhaps the "oldest" and most levelheaded of all the Gromberg men. Three generations of an American family, they all live separate lives, each in their own dysfunctional way. But every once in awhile, there comes a time to come together – to celebrate, to laugh, to fight, to cry, and to care for each other. Onscreen together for the first time in their careers, Academy Award-winners Michael Douglas and Kirk Douglas join real-life relations Cameron Douglas and Diana Douglas, along with Bernadette Peters and Rory Culkin, to tell a story about the loving, frustrating, and ultimately inescapable bonds of family. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and Buena Vista International present Michael Douglas and Kirk Douglas in It Runs in the Family, a Furthur Films production of a Fred Schepisi film. Directed by Schepisi and written by Jesse Wigutow, the film also stars Rory Culkin, Cameron Douglas, Diana Douglas, Michelle Monaghan, and Bernadette Peters. Produced by Michael Douglas, It Runs in the Family was executive produced by Schepisi and Kerry Orent, with Marcy Drogin as co-producer and Joel Douglas as associate producer. The production team includes director of photography Ian Baker, production designer Patrizia Von Brandenstein, editor Kate Williams, costume designer Ellen Mirojnick, composer Paul Grabowsky, and music supervisor Susan Jacobs. [More]

Starring: Michael Douglas, Rory Culkin, Diana Douglas, Bernadette Peters

Starring: Michael Douglas, Rory Culkin, Diana Douglas, Bernadette Peters, Kirk Douglas, Cameron Douglas, Michelle Monaghan

Director: Fred Schepisi

Director: Fred Schepisi
Screenwriter: Jesse Wigutow
Producer: Michael Keaton, Michael Douglas
Composer: Paul Grabowsky
Studio: MGM/UA

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Release:

Oct 21, 2003

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Reviews for It Runs in the Family

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Full Review Source: Variety | comment Comment
03/31/09
Robert Koehler
Robert Koehler
Variety
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

A funny, articulate, imperfect, sometimes messy, often infuriatingly sentimental, but always caring and spirited movie.

Full Review Source: New York Observer | comment Comment
05/01/03
Rex Reed
Rex Reed
New York Observer
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Goes easy on the schmaltz, and the catastrophes have the puncturing feel of real life.

Full Review Source: Village Voice | comment Comment
04/29/03
Ed Park
Ed Park
Village Voice
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A lot of things, we see coming about three scenes in advance ... But, the three generations of Douglas' in particular, that's why I'm recommending this film.

Full Review Source: Ebert & Roeper | comment Comment
04/28/03
Richard Roeper
Richard Roeper
Ebert & Roeper
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Worthwhile, though the story is predictable.

Full Review Source: USA Today | comment Comment
04/25/03
Claudia Puig
Claudia Puig
USA Today
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Acting together for the first time, Kirk and Michael Douglas have some powerful scenes together, which only makes you wish the entire project had tilted more towards Eugene O'Neill than Neil Simon.

Full Review Source: Toronto Star | comment Comment
04/25/03
Geoff Pevere
Geoff Pevere
Toronto Star
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Achingly long and pointless, Runs is a movie about family that's dishonest in its presentation of every relationship.

Full Review Source: San Francisco Chronicle | comment Comment
04/25/03
Mick LaSalle
Mick LaSalle
San Francisco Chronicle
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Edgier and a lot less sappy than you'd expect, but there are way too many complications in the mix.

Full Review Source: Newsday | comment Comment
04/25/03
Gene Seymour
Gene Seymour
Newsday
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Despite rich acting and expert direction, the two grids don't snap neatly together.

Full Review Source: Newark Star-Ledger | comment Comment
04/25/03
Bob Campbell
Bob Campbell
Newark Star-Ledger
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Three generations of the Kirk Douglas family strain against mawkish material about a dysfunctional family that ties up all its loose ends in 109 cringe-worthy minutes.

Full Review Source: New York Daily News | comment Comment
04/25/03
Jami Bernard
Jami Bernard
New York Daily News
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As conveyances go, this is no vehicle -- it's a train. Unfortunately, the train keeps hopping the tracks.

Full Review Source: Globe and Mail | comment Comment
04/25/03
Rick Groen
Rick Groen
Globe and Mail
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Sometimes shrill, often dull, it has nowhere in particular to go, and it takes far too long not getting there.

Full Review Source: Detroit News | comment Comment
04/25/03
Tom Long
Tom Long
Detroit News
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This one's for your parents, your grandparents, and the entire state of Florida.

Full Review Source: Boston Globe | comment Comment
04/25/03
Ty Burr
Ty Burr
Boston Globe
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Much to my surprise and delight, the movie is nothing like its marketing.

Full Review Source: Washington Post | comment Comment
04/25/03
Michael O'Sullivan
Michael O'Sullivan
Washington Post
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An exercise in drudgery.

Full Review Source: New York Post | comment Comment
04/25/03
Megan Lehmann
Megan Lehmann
New York Post
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Has echoes of The Wonder Years to On Golden Pond, though with fewer laughs and less poignancy.

Full Review Source: Washington Post | comment Comment
04/25/03
Rita Kempley
Rita Kempley
Washington Post
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I can understand why they wanted to do this movie, and I wish they'd been able to pull it off.

Full Review Source: Denver Rocky Mountain News | comment Comment
04/25/03
Robert Denerstein
Robert Denerstein
Denver Rocky Mountain News
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The movie deals with these touchy subjects, and others, but in a plot so jammed with events, disputes, tragedies and revelations that the most serious matters don't seem to receive enough attention.

Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times | comment Comment
04/25/03
Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Chicago Sun-Times
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A family drama that manages to be affectingly bittersweet without being as satisfying.

Full Review Source: Detroit Free Press | comment Comment
04/25/03
Terry Lawson
Terry Lawson
Detroit Free Press
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A family comedy that's also something of a drama (or maybe it's the other way around), the picture never quite finds its footing.

Full Review Source: Salon.com | comment Comment
04/25/03
Stephanie Zacharek
Stephanie Zacharek
Salon.com
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