Parenthood (1989)
Average Rating: 7.4/10
Reviews Counted: 52
Fresh: 48 | Rotten: 4
Bolstered by a delightful cast, Parenthood is a funny and thoughtfully crafted look at the best and worst moments of family life that resonates broadly.
Average Rating: 7.6/10
Critic Reviews: 14
Fresh: 13 | Rotten: 1
Bolstered by a delightful cast, Parenthood is a funny and thoughtfully crafted look at the best and worst moments of family life that resonates broadly.
liked it
Average Rating: 3.2/5
User Ratings: 48,115
Movie Info
This feel-good ensemble comedy tracks a quartet of suburban siblings and their families over the course of a single summer. Hardworking Gil Buckman (Steve Martin) and his stay-at-home wife, Karen (Mary Steeenburgen), have just a few months to help their oldest son, Kevin (Jasen Fisher), overcome his high-strung behavior problems before he'll be relegated to special-education classes. Gil's difficult relationship with his own father, Frank (Jason Robards), has led him to become a would-be
Aug 2, 1989 Wide
Mar 31, 1998
MCA Universal Home Video
Watch It Now
Cast
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Steve Martin
Gil Buckman -
Mary Steenburgen
Karen Buckman -
Dianne Wiest
Helen -
Jason Robards
Frank Buckman -
Rick Moranis
Nathan -
Tom Hulce
Larry Buckman -
Martha Plimpton
Julie -
Keanu Reeves
Tod -
Harley Jane Kozak
Susan -
Leaf Phoenix
Garry -
Helen Shaw
Grandma -
Dennis Dugan
David Brodsky -
Eileen Ryan
Marilyn -
Jasen Fisher
Kevin -
Paul Linke
George Bowman -
Isabelle Cooley
Barbara Rice -
Sherry Ferguson
Screaming Co-ed -
Clint Howard
Lou -
Rance Howard
Dean at College -
Louisa Marie
Teacher -
Hillary Matthews
College Student -
Alisan Porter
Taylor -
Ivyann Schwan
Patty -
Max Elliott Slade
Young Gil -
Lowell Ganz
Stan -
Todd Hallowell
Track Official -
Alex Burrall
Cool -
Connie Adams
Cindy -
Aspen Autrey
Dwarf -
Jonathan Bouck
Dwarf -
Lloyd Cleek
Miles -
Billy Cohen
Eddie -
Emil Felski
Doctor at Hospital -
Greg Gerard
Dr. Lucas -
Claudio Jacobells
College Student -
Paul Keeley
Kevin Age 21 -
Jordan Kessler
Matt -
Richard Kuhlman
Young Frank -
Julie Lander
Student in Hallway -
Zachary Lavoy
Justin -
Lamont Lofton
Fotomat Clerk -
Mark Dana
Audrey -
Michael Mickens
Dwarf -
Janet Moore
Irate Woman in Audie... -
W. Bruce O'Donoghue
Umpire -
Maxie Pontius
Safety Man at Track -
Erika Rafuls
Amy -
Charmin Talbert
Nurse at Hospital -
Cindi Vicino
Teacher -
Walter von Huene
Opposing Coach -
Steve Zurk
Highway Policeman -
-
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Parenthood Trailer & Photos
All Critics (52) | Top Critics (14) | Fresh (48) | Rotten (4) | DVD (9)
The fulcrum of the film is Martin. It's an adventurous and successful stroke of casting that takes advantage of what the audience expects from him.
Top CriticThis movie has its share of laughs, but it's also Ron Howard's most personal film, and clearly his most ambitious.
Parenthood easily could have focused exclusively on yuppie parents and their kids; however, the script by Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel is more sophisticated than that, remembering that every parent is still a child too.
The remaining cast, young, old and in-between, is lovely.
With Parenthood, Howard as a director has discovered weight, but not gravity. For all of its admirable seriousness, the film finally floats away.
There's not a scene in Parenthood that isn't involving: The actors keep reaching into themselves and coming up with gold.
Ambitiously probing every anxiety-ridden corner of the suburban mum-and-dad experience, some of its interconnecting story strands work better than others.
Parenthood gets a lot of emotional mileage out of kiddie antics, but Howard has, thankfully, given us a little more.
As Parenthood reveals within its charming, two-hour running time, the pitfalls and quandaries of child-rearing are universal -- and the joys and the heartaches remain lifelong concerns.
This feel-good family ensemble piece from director Ron Howard manages to avoid being oversentimental, and the result is an affectionate, leisurely comedy about the joys (and otherwise) of bringing up children.
There are good jokes and funny observations about middle-class life. The picture is too long and predictable, though.
Here is a comedy that treats the problems and delights of real life with respect, insight, warmth and remarkably sustained wit.
Poignant family dramedy with lots of adult themes.
Howard juggles all the characters effortlessly, showcasing troubles left and right without losing the film to gloom. It's nimble work, blessed with a cast that knows exactly what they're reaching for in their performances.
While Parenthood crosses the border into schmaltz a number of times, the movie runs the gamut of realistic emotions, and one scene or another is bound to hit home with the parents who see the film.
Nothing more than sitcom material stretched to two hours.
Funny, even perceptive, adult/family comedy.
Parenthood is a middlebrow masterpiece. Not a masterpiece of middlebrow but a middlebrow masterpiece, with the latter word being the subject, not the modifier.
Audience Reviews for Parenthood
Super Reviewer
Helen: Men say that. They all say that. Then they cum.
"It could happen to you."
There's so much great stuff going on in Ron Howard's Parenthood. The movie is a hilarious take on the serious issues that come from the responsibility. It is kind of like the saying, "If you don't laugh, you'll cry." That's how it is with these characters and sometimes they do laugh. Other times they can't and they cry.
There is no true plot in Parenthood, but just different parents from the same family dealing with the daily hassles of parenthood. Steve Martin and Mary Steenburgen play one of these sets of parents. They have three kids and are especially having trouble with one who has to go into special ed classes. Another set of parents are played by Rick Moranis and Ivyann Schwan. They have one daughter and the father is overly into getting her to be as smart as possible. She is 4 years old and he already has her learning foreign languages and memorizing the periodic table. Then there's a single mom played by Diane Wiest, who I normally don't like, but was surprisingly funny here; who has a daughter who just got married and a young son who is separating emotionally from her as a result of his dad leaving. Last, but not least there's the older father, played by Jason Robards. He has a son who is constantly getting in trouble with bookies and he has to decide how to handle it. He also has to atone for being a lousy father to his now adult kids.
The cast is crazy good in this movie. So many big names and they are all great. The performance I enjoyed the most was from a preteen Joaquin Phoenix, credited as Leaf Phoenix. He plays Garry, a kid who is emotionally distant from his mother and enraged at his father for leaving him and not caring about him. Phoenix shows the power that he would go on to display for years at such a young age in a scene where he decides he wants to live with his father for awhile. When he makes the call and is disappointed by the answer, Phoenix gives an emotional and powerful side to a character that for the first part of the movie just said Bye and left the room.
The movie is oddly touching because it is so hilarious. A few times I had to stop the movie because I was laughing so hard. A lot of the humor comes from just how true the subject matter is. Ron Howard does a great job adding humor to some of the situations. I was very surprised by just how good this movie was. I expected just another Steve Martin vehicle, but this was much, much more then that.
Tod: You know, Mrs. Buckman, you need a license to buy a dog, to drive a car - hell, you even need a license to catch a fish. But they'll let any butt-reaming asshole be a father.
Super Reviewer
Movies Like Parenthood
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- Susan: We're Power-Eating.
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- Screaming Co-ed: It's Kevin Buckman!
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- Tod: Did I win?
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- Julie: If he thinks after this that I'm having his baby, he's crazy!
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- Gil Buckman: What say later, after the kids are asleep, I wear this outfit?
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- Kevin: Why did you make me play second base?
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I remember when I was a teenager and watched this with my mom, and she loved it for its honesty and thought it perfectly encapsulated everything it means to be a parent. Not a single a detail has been overlooked, from the teen boy who just discovers the wonders of sex (resulting in a lot of sneaking around with a paper bag full of porn), or the father who raises his 5-year old daughter to be the next Nobel Prize winner. Every type of family and behavior is flawlessly covered. And as if that wasn't enough to wow us, comical genius Steve Martin gives one of his all-time greatest performances, along with the rest of the cast whom are all stellar as well.
One thing I didn't notice until now (by my third viewing or so), is that the previously mentioned adolescent is actually played by Joaquin Phoenix. He's so young in this film, that it had previously escaped me. Keanu Reeves is really fun also, with a character that reminded me a lot of his Bill & Ted days (that is to say, before he got all corpse-like and humorless).
By far the best movie Ron Howard has ever made, and that's should be saying a lot, considering he's the mastermind behind such cinematic jewels as Cocoon and Frost/Nixon. From the deepest places in my heart, I love this film to bits. It's hilarious, yet dashed with melancholy and pathos. Wacky and out of control, yet always down-to-earth.
Simply put: the greatest film I've ever seen about family life, parenting and the beautiful bonds that ties it altogether. I couldn't possibly give it any higher recommendation. It's just one of those movies you have to see!