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Movies / On DVD / It Runs in the Family
It Runs in the Family

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It Runs in the Family (2003)

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Reviews Counted:96

Fresh:27

Rotten:69

Average Rating:4.5/10

Consensus: Despite its gimmick casting, the movie ultimately goes nowhere.

Runtime: 1 hr 49 mins

Genre: Dramas

Synopsis: Some families can survive everything. Even each other. The Grombergs are a highly successful family – except when it comes to communicating with each other. Alex Gromberg (Michael Douglas) is... Some families can survive everything. Even each other. The Grombergs are a highly successful family – except when it comes to communicating with each other. Alex Gromberg (Michael Douglas) is a man caught in the middle. Navigating the tricky, ever-changing roles of father, son, and husband, he’s trying to avoid the mistakes his father made while coming to terms with the ones he’s already passed on to his own sons. Alex’s wife, Rebecca (Bernadette Peters), is a psychologist trying to balance a professional life with her marriage and raising her kids. Mitchell Gromberg (Kirk Douglas), the patriarch and a retired partner of one of New York’s leading law firms, is having difficulty coming to grips with his mortality. Evelyn (Diana Douglas) is his devoted wife and has been his emotional rock throughout their marriage – and the peacemaker between him and Alex. Asher Gromberg (Cameron Douglas), Alex’s eldest son, is a rebellious college student trying to cope with life, love, and sex in a confused society. And Eli (Rory Culkin), Alex’s 11-year old, is perhaps the "oldest" and most levelheaded of all the Gromberg men. Three generations of an American family, they all live separate lives, each in their own dysfunctional way. But every once in awhile, there comes a time to come together – to celebrate, to laugh, to fight, to cry, and to care for each other. Onscreen together for the first time in their careers, Academy Award-winners Michael Douglas and Kirk Douglas join real-life relations Cameron Douglas and Diana Douglas, along with Bernadette Peters and Rory Culkin, to tell a story about the loving, frustrating, and ultimately inescapable bonds of family. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and Buena Vista International present Michael Douglas and Kirk Douglas in It Runs in the Family, a Furthur Films production of a Fred Schepisi film. Directed by Schepisi and written by Jesse Wigutow, the film also stars Rory Culkin, Cameron Douglas, Diana Douglas, Michelle Monaghan, and Bernadette Peters. Produced by Michael Douglas, It Runs in the Family was executive produced by Schepisi and Kerry Orent, with Marcy Drogin as co-producer and Joel Douglas as associate producer. The production team includes director of photography Ian Baker, production designer Patrizia Von Brandenstein, editor Kate Williams, costume designer Ellen Mirojnick, composer Paul Grabowsky, and music supervisor Susan Jacobs. [More]

Starring: Michael Douglas, Rory Culkin, Diana Douglas, Bernadette Peters

Starring: Michael Douglas, Rory Culkin, Diana Douglas, Bernadette Peters, Kirk Douglas, Cameron Douglas, Michelle Monaghan

Director: Fred Schepisi

Director: Fred Schepisi
Screenwriter: Jesse Wigutow
Producer: Michael Keaton, Michael Douglas
Composer: Paul Grabowsky
Studio: MGM/UA

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Reviews for It Runs in the Family

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1 - 20 (sorted by comments; UK critics are listed first)
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N/R

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Full Review Source: Guardian [UK] | comment Comment
10/01/03
Guardian [UK]
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

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Full Review Source: BBC | comment Comment
09/03/03
Jamie Russell
Jamie Russell
BBC
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

While there are a few touching moments, and it's nice to see this Hollywood power unit perform together, the dialogue is boring and bland.

Full Review Source: E! Online | comment Comment
04/24/03
E! Online
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N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch | comment Comment
04/25/03
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
N/R

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Full Review Source: Boston Phoenix | comment Comment
07/02/03
Boston Phoenix
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N/R

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Full Review Source: Sydney Morning Herald | comment Comment
08/30/03
Sydney Morning Herald
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Bland doesn't even scratch the surface of this mess that makes schmaltz look like Strindberg by comparison.

Full Review Source: Killer Movie Reviews | comment Comment
04/27/03
Andrea Chase
Andrea Chase
Killer Movie Reviews

This is just reckless nepotism.

Full Review Source: Tooele Transcript-Bulletin (Utah) | comment Comment
04/25/03
Audrey Rock-Richardson
Audrey Rock-Richardson
Tooele Transcript-Bulletin (Utah)

Overloaded with meandering subplots, greeting-card sentiment and trite filial hangups, It Runs in the Family is as dull and embarrassing as watching someone else's home movies.

Full Review Source: Citysearch | comment Comment
04/24/03
Bill Pearis
Bill Pearis
Citysearch

Despite rich acting and expert direction, the two grids don't snap neatly together.

Full Review Source: Newark Star-Ledger | comment Comment
04/25/03
Bob Campbell
Bob Campbell
Newark Star-Ledger

Like those family albums you take out of the drawer every so often...a collection of fairly bland scenes that mean a lot more to the people in the picture than anyone else.

Full Review Source: Vue Weekly (Edmonton, Canada) | comment Comment
12/01/03
Brian Gibson
Brian Gibson
Vue Weekly (Edmonton, Canada)

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Modamag.com | comment Comment
05/02/03
Brian Orndorf
Brian Orndorf
Modamag.com

It is a relief to report that the Douglas clan acquits itself with charm and dignity. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said of Jesse Wigutow's pedestrian script, which is formula stuff -- contrived and uneven.

Full Review Source: Film Journal International | comment Comment
04/26/03
Bruce Feld
Bruce Feld
Film Journal International

It is impossible to know where the fiction leaves off and real life begins in [the Douglas'] tough-love exchanges, but the result is often electric, especially when the movie is in its darkest places emotionally.

Full Review Source: Jam! Movies | comment Comment
04/25/03
Bruce Kirkland
Bruce Kirkland
Jam! Movies

The situations are absurd and melodramatic, the dialog is not believable, and the acting is over-the-top (apparently talent doesn't run in the family - at least not to the third generation).

Full Review Source: TheMovieChicks.com | comment Comment
04/25/03
Cherryl Dawson and Leigh Ann Palone
Cherryl Dawson and Leigh Ann Palone
TheMovieChicks.com

Much better than its sappy ads make it look.

Full Review Source: St. Paul Pioneer Press | comment Comment
04/25/03
Chris Hewitt (St. Paul)
Chris Hewitt (St. Paul)
St. Paul Pioneer Press

Worthwhile, though the story is predictable.

Full Review Source: USA Today | comment Comment
04/25/03
Claudia Puig
Claudia Puig
USA Today

This sort of message can become unbearably sappy. But It Runs in the Family manages to sidestep the potential overload of cheap sentimentality.

Full Review Source: Miami Herald | comment Comment
04/25/03
Connie Ogle
Connie Ogle
Miami Herald

When the same surname keeps appearing during the opening credits, it's usually a bad sign.

Full Review Source: Kansas City Star | comment Comment
04/25/03
Dan Lybarger
Dan Lybarger
Kansas City Star

Pure bland.

Full Review Source: KBTV-NBC (Beaumont, TX) | comment Comment
04/22/03
Danny Minton
Danny Minton
KBTV-NBC (Beaumont, TX)
 
 
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