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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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61 - 80 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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Jesse Wigutow’s mostly flaccid script provides a few memorable showdown scenes between father Kirk and son Michael.

Full Review Source: Boxoffice Magazine | comment Comment
04/25/03
Paul Clinton (Boxoffice)
Paul Clinton (Boxoffice)
Boxoffice Magazine

This one's for your parents, your grandparents, and the entire state of Florida.

Full Review Source: Boston Globe | comment Comment
04/25/03
Ty Burr
Ty Burr
Boston Globe

Much to my surprise and delight, the movie is nothing like its marketing.

Full Review Source: Washington Post | comment Comment
04/25/03
Michael O'Sullivan
Michael O'Sullivan
Washington Post

You'll suddenly remember why you always tried to avoid going next door to watch the neighbor's Kodak 8 mm home movies on the Bell and Howell projector.

Full Review Source: Houston Community Newspapers | comment Comment
04/25/03
Gary Brown
Gary Brown
Houston Community Newspapers

Movie fans will probably be delighted to see four Douglas' in the same movie, but it really is disappointing that - after waiting so long to co-star with each other - this is the best they could come up with.

Full Review Source: Reel Film Reviews | comment Comment
04/25/03
David Nusair
David Nusair
Reel Film Reviews
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

Though surrounded by Douglases our former Spartacus may be, this strained bit of sappiness should be no screen legend's swan song.

Full Review Source: Los Angeles Daily News | comment Comment
04/25/03
Evan Henerson
Evan Henerson
Los Angeles Daily News

An exercise in drudgery.

Full Review Source: New York Post | comment Comment
04/25/03
Megan Lehmann
Megan Lehmann
New York Post

Has echoes of The Wonder Years to On Golden Pond, though with fewer laughs and less poignancy.

Full Review Source: Washington Post | comment Comment
04/25/03
Rita Kempley
Rita Kempley
Washington Post

I can understand why they wanted to do this movie, and I wish they'd been able to pull it off.

Full Review Source: Denver Rocky Mountain News | comment Comment
04/25/03
Robert Denerstein
Robert Denerstein
Denver Rocky Mountain News

The movie deals with these touchy subjects, and others, but in a plot so jammed with events, disputes, tragedies and revelations that the most serious matters don't seem to receive enough attention.

Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times | comment Comment
04/25/03
Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Chicago Sun-Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

A family drama that manages to be affectingly bittersweet without being as satisfying.

Full Review Source: Detroit Free Press | comment Comment
04/25/03
Terry Lawson
Terry Lawson
Detroit Free Press

A family comedy that's also something of a drama (or maybe it's the other way around), the picture never quite finds its footing.

Full Review Source: Salon.com | comment Comment
04/25/03
Stephanie Zacharek
Stephanie Zacharek
Salon.com

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)

The three main characters are so self-absorbed that it's not surprising the story of their lives comes off about as interesting as a soup-soaked Saltine.

Full Review Source: Hollywood.com | comment Comment
04/25/03
Leigh Johnson
Leigh Johnson
Hollywood.com

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

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

While this dysfunctional family drama has an interesting casting gimmick, it's sadly sentimental and ultimately frustrating. "Growing up isn't easy at any age" but this never approaches "On Golden Pond."

Full Review Source: www.susangranger.com | comment Comment
04/25/03
Susan Granger
Susan Granger
www.susangranger.com

Breathes with much knowing truth and dainty detail about the intimate lives of families.

Full Review Source: Flick Filosopher | comment Comment
04/25/03
MaryAnn Johanson
MaryAnn Johanson
Flick Filosopher

This isn't a real family. This isn't how a real family talks to each other, treats each other, comforts or berates each other.

Full Review Source: Film Blather | comment Comment
04/24/03
Eugene Novikov
Eugene Novikov
Film Blather
 
 
61 - 80 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | |< << 1 2 3 4 5 6 >> >|
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