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Movies / On DVD / Stuart Saves His Family
Stuart Saves His Family

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Stuart Saves His Family (1995)

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29 %
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Reviews Counted:24

Fresh:7

Rotten:17

Average Rating:4.8/10

Runtime: 1 hr 37 mins

Genre: Comedies

Synopsis: Veteran 12-stepper Stuart Smalley (Al Franken) has a successful cable-access show until his worst nightmare comes true: He's moved to the dreaded 2:45 a.m. slot, a fate worse than death in the TV... Veteran 12-stepper Stuart Smalley (Al Franken) has a successful cable-access show until his worst nightmare comes true: He's moved to the dreaded 2:45 a.m. slot, a fate worse than death in the TV world. Eventually Stuart's show is canceled, and he must face unemployment with the help of his various 12-step sponsors. Just when he is as low as he can possibly get, he is forced to face his completely dysfunctional family for a funeral back home in Minnesota. This hotbed of addictive and compulsive behavior includes an alcoholic father (Harris Yulin), a passive mom (Shirley Knight), an overeating sister (Leslie Boone), and an all-around addict brother (Vincent D'onofrio). All of this bad behavior is almost too much for the recovered Stuart, as he is forced to face his family's weaknesses as they all battle to understand one another. Through a series of familial disasters and increasingly dysfunctional behavior, Stuart must decide whether his family is worth saving or if he must leave them all behind for good. Director Harold Ramis has successfully taken the popular SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE skit and turned it into a charming little movie that is littered with small surprises throughout. [More]

Starring: Al Franken, Laura San Giacomo, Vincent D'Onofrio, Shirley Knight

Starring: Al Franken, Laura San Giacomo, Vincent D'Onofrio, Shirley Knight, Harris Yulin, Lesley Boone, Julia Sweeney, Phil Hartman, Marjorie Lovett, Ted Raimi

Director: Harold Ramis

Director: Harold Ramis
Screenwriter: Al Franken
Producer: Lorne Michaels, Trevor Albert, C.O. Erickson, Dinah Minot
Composer: Marc Shaiman

[See More Credits]

Reviews for Stuart Saves His Family

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1 - 20 (sorted by fresh rating; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 >> >|
Arrange By:Fresh | Rotten | Comments | Name | Source | Date
 
 

Those familiar with Alcoholics Anonymous' 12-step recovery programme may bond in sympathy. The sentimentality, however, doesn't play.

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
06/24/06
Time Out
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Channel 4 Film | comment Comment
05/14/08
Channel 4 Film
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Often funny, darker than you'd expect, and firmly grounded in Franken's extensive experience of the 12-Step worldview.

Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide | comment Comment
05/14/08
TV Guide's Movie Guide
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Director Harold Ramis and Franken, who wrote the script, do manage to give Stuart some dimension, however, and though he still seems like a skit (and shtick) character in places, he is also quite affecting.

Full Review Source: Deseret News, Salt Lake City | comment Comment
01/01/00
Chris Hicks
Chris Hicks
Deseret News, Salt Lake City

Subtly riotous.

Full Review Source: Washington Post | comment Comment
01/01/00
Desson Thomson
Desson Thomson
Washington Post

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: JoBlo's Movie Emporium | comment Comment
06/24/06
JoBlo
JoBlo
JoBlo's Movie Emporium

Even if you find Franken hard to bear, as I do, the movie's take on how he functions in the world is both authoritative and compelling, and the movie steadily grows in stature.

Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | comment Comment
05/14/08
Jonathan Rosenbaum
Jonathan Rosenbaum
Chicago Reader

Not as bad as you'd expect

comment Comment
03/09/05
Luke Y. Thompson
Luke Y. Thompson
New Times

I not only enjoyed Stuart Smalley, doggone it, I liked him, and that attitude of gratitude ain't just a platitude.

Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times | comment Comment
01/01/00
Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Chicago Sun-Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

No review available.

comment Comment
01/01/00
USA Today
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

No review available.

comment Comment
10/09/05
Chuck O'Leary
Chuck O'Leary
Fantastica Daily

No review available.

comment Comment
07/19/05
Emanuel Levy
Emanuel Levy
EmanuelLevy.Com

No review available.

comment Comment
03/27/04
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
Spirituality and Practice

Stuart is a disarming figure -- likable in small doses, but fragile and not particularly adaptable.

Full Review Source: Washington Post | comment Comment
01/01/00
Hal Hinson
Hal Hinson
Washington Post

Stretched out to an agonizing ninety-seven minutes, Stuart goes from being passably amusing to tedious to virtually unwatchable.

Full Review Source: ReelViews | comment Comment
01/01/00
James Berardinelli
James Berardinelli
ReelViews

The plotting is surprisingly banal, involving even talk of a property easement and turning Stuart into the executor of a relative's estate. And the relatives' problems are taken semi-seriously, which is more than this lightweight film can handle.

Full Review Source: New York Times | comment Comment
05/20/03
Janet Maslin
Janet Maslin
New York Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Though it misfires, this spoof of recovery programs should be noted for its sincerity.

comment Comment
07/26/02
Jeffrey Westhoff
Jeffrey Westhoff
Northwest Herald (Crystal Lake, IL)

It isn't good enough, it isn't smart enough, and, doggone it, most people won't like Stuart Saves His Family.

Full Review Source: Variety | comment Comment
05/14/08
Joe Leydon
Joe Leydon
Variety
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

There can be no excuse.

comment Comment
01/08/03
Ken Hanke
Ken Hanke
Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Palo Alto Weekly | comment Comment
05/20/03
Leonard Schwarz
Leonard Schwarz
Palo Alto Weekly
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by fresh rating; UK critics are listed first)
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