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Movies / On DVD / Familiar Strangers
Familiar Strangers

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Familiar Strangers (2008)

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Reviews Counted:4

Fresh:1

Rotten:3

Average Rating:N/A

Runtime: 86 mins

Genre: Comedies

Synopsis: Familiar Strangers is an off beat – funny – heartfelt story of a family negotiating the changing relationships between parents and children, especially as those children grow into adulthood.... Familiar Strangers is an off beat – funny – heartfelt story of a family negotiating the changing relationships between parents and children, especially as those children grow into adulthood.

Familiar Strangers follows the Worthington’s through a four day Thanksgiving gathering. Brian (Shawn Hatosy), who moved away and kept his distance for the past several years, is reluctantly returning carrying the baggage of unresolved conflict with his father Frank (Tom Bower).

Frank feels he has lost the ability to connect with his maturing children, and has replaced them with his pets, new children “who never have to grow up”.

The matriarch Dottie (Ann Dowd) holds the reins on the family beneath the surface, brother Kenny (DJ Qualls) is a twenty-something who has not yet found his path, sister Erin (Cameron Richardson) is struggling to find herself after a painful divorce, and Erin’s young daughter Maddy (newcomer Georgia Mae Lively), observes with a wisdom truly beyond her years.

Family friend Allison (Nikki Reed), long an admirer of Brian, is happy to find him back for a visit. She may just appreciate his family more than he does, and may help to make this return home bearable.

Through conflict, ritual and communication, the Worthington family strives to find the friendship and love we all hope can exist between parents and their adult children. --© Official Site [More]

Starring: Shawn Hatosy, DJ Qualls, Ann Dowd, Cameron Richardson

Starring: Shawn Hatosy, DJ Qualls, Ann Dowd, Cameron Richardson, Georgia Mae Lively, Nikki Reed, Tom Bower, Angus Sutherland

Director: Zackary Adler

Director: Zackary Adler
Screenwriter: John Bell
Producer: Tim Estep, Bruce Heller, Scott Legrand, Marc Lieberman, Barry Sisson
Composer: Dawn Landes, Steve Salett
Studio: Cavalier Pictures

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Reviews for Familiar Strangers

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1 - 4 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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Though admirably modest and understated...it has a lot to be modest about.

Full Review Source: One Guy's Opinion | comment Comment
03/08/09
Frank Swietek
Frank Swietek
One Guy's Opinion

Good intentions and huggable canines go only so far in the face of a predictable script and casting so random that everyone involved seems barely part of the same species, let alone the same family.

Full Review Source: Dallas Morning News | comment Comment
03/06/09
Cary Darling
Cary Darling
Dallas Morning News

Familiar is right.

Full Review Source: Kansas City Star | comment Comment
11/26/08
Jason Heck
Jason Heck
Kansas City Star

One assumes writer John Bell isn’t plagued with a family full of neurotics like, say, Noah Baumbach, so while his movie manages to rise above cliche, it doesn’t have very far to go beyond that.

Full Review Source: Film Threat | comment 2 Comments
07/01/08
Pete Vonder Haar
Pete Vonder Haar
Film Threat
 
 
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