Relative Strangers (2006)

How sad is this?

Fantastic!

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

Not sure how, but this is easily one of the best movies all summer. Multiple levels of funny, never takes itself seriously, super colorful, and creative.

to this day, when my kids see a cheese ball at the store or on a cooking show, wherever, they say " I made it with my own 2 feet" and They do some Danny Devito bits too. It is a simply hilarious movie. With a refreshing "humble thyself" message that can hit home when you have a challenging family, which everyone does in some form or fashion. Kathy Bates and Danny D are perfect. Scoot! Blackfoot! Rugs:) ..cut ya a deal. Watch it with your kids. Believe me they will appreciate your sanity compared with having parents like these, both sets. Cringing awkwardness in places. The scene at Livingston's snobby parents house is classic. Yentl! Mother Juggs and Speed! The rating on this must be because some uptight a-holes rated it or not enough people have seen it. See It!

Ron Livingston who was wonderful in "Office Space", once again hits a home run with "Relative Strangers". What is essentially a one joke movie, comes across extremely well. Perfect casting, starting with Danny DeVito and a truly funny script. There is also a fine message that you should not be disappointed if people do not live up to your expectations. Kathy Bates and Danny DeVito as the "trailer trash" parents are so great, and Christine Baranski is the perfect foil for Beverly DeAngelo and her sequin dresses. Off the wall hilarious situations abound, and there are even some very sweet moments. Highly recommended. - MERK

This really isn't a bad film. I was surprised to find it on Comedy Central this afternoon, having never heard of it, and being a fan of most of the actors. Perhaps it would have flopped at the box office, and that's OK, so did Office Space.Sure the plot is not mind-blowing, but it is original. The anger management doctor loses it after meeting his biological parents, OK, maybe the obvious irony is overdone in this genre. However, the details and production of this film are what set it apart. Also, as dry as Livingston many be, that is his charm. Each of the players had excellent performances. Frankly, I thought DeVito's overperfomance was the real weak point.Did Matthew Perry make a cameo in this, as a newscaster? Will I buy the DVD? Probably not, but I will watch it again on a Saturday afternoon.

Ron Livingston, star of the cult-hit "Office Space", bottoms out with this slapstick comedy which takes satiric aim at trailer-park yahoos but, alas, fails to be ironic or nostalgic--it appears to have been made by just the kind of low-class people it pokes fun at. A mild-mannered psychologist, the author of a new self-help book about anger-management, finds out from his family--an upper-crust bunch of boors--that he was adopted after his biological folks left him on their doorstep; worse, his birth parents turn out to be brawling, obnoxious hicks. Utterly predictable and dispiriting comedy. One waits in excruciating anticipation for the first crotch jab (19 minutes in), the first reference to either Jerry Springer or "Hee-Haw" (both clock in around the one-hour mark), and the proverbial cameo by a well-known talk-show host (this time it's Star Jones!). A few mindlessly funny one-liners; otherwise, flop makes "Meet the Fockers" look like "Wuthering Heights". *1/2 from ****