Inventing the Abbotts (1997)

User Rating:

6.1/10   

Director:

Pat O'Connor

Writers (WGA):

Sue Miller (story)
Ken Hixon (screenplay)

Release Date:

4 April 1997 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Tagline:

Love no matter what

Plot:

A light-hearted story of two brothers courting three sisters.

Plot Keywords:

Sisters | Wrong Side Of The Tracks | 1950s | Brother | Panties

Cast

Joaquin Phoenix	...	Doug Holt
Billy Crudup	...	Jacey Holt
Will Patton	...	Lloyd Abbott
Kathy Baker	...	Helen Holt
Jennifer Connelly	...	Eleanor Abbott
Michael Sutton	...	Steve
Liv Tyler	...	Pamela Abbott
Joanna Going	...	Alice Abbott
Barbara Williams	...	Joan Abbott
Alessandro Nivola	...	Peter Vanlaningham
Nicole M. Vassallo	...	Giggling Girl #1
Amanda Sherman	...	Giggling Girl #2
Shawn Hatosy	...	Victor
Garrett M. Brown	...	Webb Crosby
Julie Benz	...	Co-ed

MPAA:

Rated R for sexuality and language.

Runtime:

110 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Iceland:L | USA:R (certificate #35047) | Philippines:R-18 | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Brazil:14 | Germany:12 | Portugal:M/12 | Spain:13 | Sweden:11 | UK:15 | South Korea:18 | Canada:AA (Ontario)

Filming Locations:

Healdsburg, California, USA

Company:

Fox 2000 Pictures

Trivia:

Jennifer Connelly and Liv Tyler play sisters in this film. Connelly played Betty Ross in Hulk (2003), and was replaced by Tyler in The Incredible Hulk (2008).

Goofs:

Anachronisms: There's a closeup of an Elvis Presley album which has a 1970's RCA logo on it. The logo is the same one the company currently uses, not that older "electric" lettering they had in the '50's amd '60's.

Quotes:

DougHolt: Either you're mad at me because you're mad at me or you're mad at me because you like me, because that's how girls act. I mean... I don't know much but I know that. So, uh, which is it?
Pamela Abbott: Both.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Showbiz Today: (1997-04-01)" (1997)

Soundtrack:

Little Star

Simple story well told

I saw this film on a flight to Australia. I'd never heard of it but it would pass some time. In fact, I thoroughly enjoyed it. It has a Forest Gump kind of charm but a lot less humour. It also reminded me of the early soap operas like Peyton Place in the way it portrayed 1950's America. The unfolding of the family story is well spun out so that you only gradually come to appreciate the tensions involved and indeed some of the scenes are only understood after later revelations show up a new significance. The characters were believable and the twist in the tale of the story sufficiently unexpected but predictable in retrospect that you kick yourself for not realising. A family film with little to worry the censor other than some mild fisticuffs and a small amount of what might have been referred to in the film as "fooling around". The interplay between the leading roles is exceptional, both between the two brothers and between Liv Tyler and Joaquin Phoenix.