The Thing About My Folks (2005)

Simply Perfect

It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

I'm disappointed that Reiser (who wrote the film) felt the need to use so much profanity for no reason whatsoever. Maybe that's his idea of "adult" films, plenty of nasty words with bathroom humor thrown in? I thought better of him and think less of him for this movie.Falk's acting and some moments of humor as well as some possibly important themes are what made me give it such a high rating.This might be a good movie for adult children to watch and laugh over about their own folks and their foibles. But the lack of consideration for audience families seriously detriments what could have been a family film but fails. Certainly not worth spending money on, though it might be worth a watch for free on television.

This movie could have been 15 minutes long if it weren't for all the bickering between son and father. Very predictable. Both Male "stars" need a good slap in the face! Would you like some cheese with that "whine?" Two chuckles...and a headache. I can understand why the mother left her hubby after 47 years...I don't know how she lasted that long! The first 5 minutes made me want to turn the movie off wishing I had never paid the $3.99 to watch it! The movie didn't flow well and was painfully long. I kept watching my watch hoping time would fly faster...It didn't. The script had so much repetition that it had to be easy for the writer to fill space. On a positive note...the scenery was pretty, fall being my favorite season. The car, the 40 Ford was also quite nice. This movie gets an D- rating approaching an F

This is one of the best movies I have ever seen. I feel greatly touched by the theme the movie intends to convey. One sentence that keeps coming up on my mind is that "history repeats itself". Life is what it is shown in the movie: when people are young, they seem not to understand their parents, their own spouses; people have every excuse for not sharing the dearest time with their children until too late; people always have to work hard to support the whole family but are just liable to neglect the subtle feeling of their partners; people always change their perspectives at different stages of their lives; people can always be forgiven if their heart is full of love for their beloved; nothing is more important than the blood relation people share in this world, and one is never too late to talk with their folks about what they feel at the bottom of their heart so as to achieve a better understanding between themselves, so that when life has to end some day, people should not feel sorry or regretful since they have kept their words and there is always hope ---a new life. The actors and actresses are fantastic. They have understood the director's intention perfectly. The movie's charm lies in, to me, the effect of bringing a skillful and splendid fusion of cheers and tears to the audience.

Ben's (Reiser) father, Sam (Falk), drops by one night and says his wife (Dukakis) left a note and has left him.Remember the TV show MAD ABOUT YOU when they babbled non-stop and excitedly over every little thing? Well, this movie started out that way and since Paul Reiser wrote and produced this, I figured I was in for a long night of non-stop babble. I was pleasantly surprised when the annoying babble stopped and the movie started thanks to the entrance of Peter Falk (who I am sure wouldn't put up with the babble).However, this was still too wordy for me. There wasn't hardly a second of silence. Everyone had too much to say, way too much. See Reiser still is on TV time and is conscious of "dead air." OK, let's put it this way: This should have been a MADE FOR TV MOVIE. Yes, of course, there were moments of silence, but this is like a play, not a movie, and in a play one cannot have a character not talk for too long a time. Also, this was not really a funny movie unless you think loud farting is funny. Well okay, at times, sometimes it is.Now that all the annoying things about the movie have been said, this is not a bad movie. You will learn why your father may not have been around when you were growing up; why your mother may have felt she was trapped in a marriage she wasn't sure she wanted; why your perception of things then and now were and are: wrong.Peter Falk saves this movie and it's a shame we don't see more of him. He is terrific and the movie is worth it just to watch him.