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MOVIES / ON DVD / THE THING ABOUT MY FOLKS
The Thing About My Folks

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The Thing About My Folks (2005)

43%
42%
44%
N/A
N/A
N/A
43 %
Reviews Counted: 61 Fresh: 26  Rotten:35 Average Rating: 5.4/10
 
Consensus: The Thing About My Folks lacks cohesiveness, and the cloying tone makes the talkiness grating. The Thing About My Folks lacks cohesiveness, and the cloying tone makes the talkiness grating. more
 
Rated: PG-13
Runtime: 1 hr 36 mins
Theatrical Release: Sep 16, 2005 Limited
Box Office: $710,031
Synopsis:
The Thing About My Folks teams two singular talents - legendary actor Peter Falk (THE INLAWS, "Columbo") and writer/actor Paul Reiser (DINER, "Mad About You") – for a hilariously truthful look at family and marriage. Directed by Raymond De Felitta, The Thing About My Folks follows a father... [More]
The Thing About My Folks teams two singular talents - legendary actor Peter Falk (THE INLAWS, "Columbo") and writer/actor Paul Reiser (DINER, "Mad About You") – for a hilariously truthful look at family and marriage. Directed by Raymond De Felitta, The Thing About My Folks follows a father and son who set out on an impromptu road trip in the wake of mom’s unexpected flight after 47 years of marriage. Ben Kleinman (played by Reiser) knows that his mother wrote a farewell to Sam Kleinman (Peter Falk) once before – a letter penned two weeks before his birth and never sent. When Ben, in a fit of anger, decides to show Sam the letter, he opens up a monumental can of worms – and a new chapter in his relationship with his father. Finding the past four decades of his life called into question, Sam responds in a surprisingly impulsive fashion: he buys the car of his college dreams and proposes a road trip to his incredulous son. Over the next several days and nights, Ben will have the trip with his dad that he’d always wanted as child. Through various idylls and misadventures in the small towns of upstate New York, Ben and Sam will chat, argue, get drunk, and generally get to know one another as never before. And despite generational differences, they discover they have a good deal in common – including a basic cluelessness about the women in their lives. For both men, it will be a time to take a closer look at the ties that bind – and ponder what really goes on in any marriage, and what could be changed if the chance were given. With its observational humor and sympathy for its characters’ flaws and follies, Thing About My Folks speaks to a universal experience of family as both screwy and sublime. [Less]

Genre: Dramas

Starring: Paul Reiser, Peter Falk, Olympia Dukakis, Elizabeth Perkins, Lydia Jordan

Director: Raymond De Felitta
Screenwriter: Paul Reiser
Producer: Paul Reiser, Robert Newmyer, Jeffrey Silver

DVD Info

Release:

Feb 14, 2006

[DVD Details]
  • Thing About My Folks, The
  • The Thing About My Folks is a heart warming tale of family bonds and enduring love. After 47 years of marriage, Ben's (Reiser) mother unexpectedly leaves her husband. With no where else to turn, Ben's father Sam (Falk) is forced to spend time and get to know his son. Hysterical antics ensue as Ben and Sam strengthen their father/son relationship while Ben helps his father rekindle the romance with his mother.
  • Source: Warner Home Video
  • Buy It On DVD

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    1 - 20 (sorted by date)
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    08/16/07 03:16 AM
    Dave Calhoun
    Time Out New York
    Ratings Image

    Reiser has given us a film that makes us laugh while contemplating the ways we understand and misunderstand those we love.

    Full Review | Comment
    11/02/06 10:57 AM
    Stefan Ulstein
    Christianity Today
    N/R

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    Full Review | Comment
    05/12/06 03:15 AM
    Jim Lane
    Sacramento News & Review
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    Moderately appealing.

    Full Review | Comment
    03/01/06 08:25 PM
    Matt Brunson
    Creative Loafing
    N/R

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    02/09/06 03:17 AM
    Time Out
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic
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    The film is a little saccharine and never as moving as Reiser expected. I know Reiser loves his father, but I didn't need to pay to be told it.

    Full Review | Comment
    01/13/06 10:41 AM
    Mark R. Leeper
    rec.arts.movies.reviews
    Ratings Image

    The Thing About My Folks contains more sap than a Vermont maple.

    Full Review | Comment
    12/31/05 07:14 AM
    Mark Pfeiffer
    Reel Times: Reflections on Cinema
    Ratings Image

    ...provides [Falk] with an opportunity for his best work in a a Hollywood film since the hilarious and underrated Big Trouble (1986).

    Full Review | Comment
    12/15/05 02:16 AM
    Andy Klein
    Los Angeles CityBeat
    Ratings Image

    The truth about this sweet, rather shambling little movie is somewhere between the gush and the criticism.

    Full Review | Comment
    11/23/05 10:07 PM
    Ken Hanke
    Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)
    Ratings Image

    It's a slow enjoyable ride where you aren't asking "are we there yet?" all the way through it.

    Full Review | Comment
    11/04/05 01:33 AM
    Michael Szymanski
    Hollywood.com
    Ratings Image

    Before I saw this film, only one movie, Field of Dreams, had ever made me cry. Now there are two.

    Full Review | Comment
    10/20/05 06:28 AM
    Phil Villarreal
    Arizona Daily Star
    Ratings Image

    A lot of the humor is forced and unfunny.

    Full Review | Comment
    10/08/05 03:56 AM
    Jeff Vice
    Deseret News, Salt Lake City
    Ratings Image

    If Reiser's smart, he'll hire Falk for a new Columbo episode, 'The Case of the Roadkill Movie.'

    Full Review | Comment
    10/07/05 01:37 PM
    Thomas Delapa
    Boulder Weekly
    Ratings Image

    [Falk turns] a stereotyped curmudgeon into a warm and winning character and the only reason to watch.

    Full Review | Comment
    10/07/05 09:45 AM
    Sean Means
    Salt Lake Tribune
    Ratings Image

    Formulaic to the max, it's never as funny nor as insightful as it wants to be.

    Full Review | Comment
    10/06/05 03:15 AM
    Lewis Beale
    Film Journal International
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    10/05/05 03:16 AM
    Robert Denerstein
    Denver Rocky Mountain News
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    Ratings Image

    Back when this flick was called “Big Fish,” it was a great movie.

    Full Review | Comment
    10/04/05 06:49 PM
    Dan Marcucci and Nancy Serougi
    Broomfield Enterprise
    Ratings Image

    Reiser, a famous face from the long-running TV series Mad About You, here proves himself to be a skilful writer and actor for the big screen.

    Full Review | Comment
    09/30/05 04:29 PM
    Susan Walker
    Toronto Star
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    A straight-up case of really bad filmmaking, all mangled punchlines and sitcom setups and all of it too long in the telling.

    Full Review | Comment
    09/30/05 04:20 PM
    Liz Braun
    Jam! Movies
    Ratings Image

    Two men of very different generations coming to understand and appreciate each other makes for some fine moments. And that's just the actors.

    Full Review | Comment
    09/30/05 04:19 PM
    Lisa Kennedy
    Denver Post
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