The Other Sister (1999)

A mentally challenged young woman seeks independence by obtaining her own apartment and attending college while her family plans her sister's wedding.

Director:

Garry Marshall

Writers:

Alexandra Rose (story), Blair Richwood (story)

Stars:

Juliette Lewis, Diane Keaton, Giovanni Ribisi

2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Juliette Lewis	...	Carla Tate
Diane Keaton	...	Elizabeth Tate
Tom Skerritt	...	Radley Tate
Giovanni Ribisi	...	Danny
Poppy Montgomery	...	Caroline Tate
Sarah Paulson	...	Heather Tate
Linda Thorson	...	Drew
Joe Flanigan	...	Jeff
Juliet Mills	...	Winnie
Tracy Reiner	...	Michelle
Hope Alexander-Willis	...	Marge
Harvey Miller	...	Dr. Johnson
Hector Elizondo	...	Ernie
Almayvonne	...	Rachel - Tech School (as Alma Yvonne)
Marvin Braverman	...	Uncle Sam Teacher - Tech School

Storyline

When Carla Tate, now a young woman, is 'graduated' out of the training school where she has resided for many years because she is mentally challenged, her hope is that she will be accepted for all that she can now do for herself. But Carla's family is wealthy which permits her mother, already blinded to her daughter's rather high-functioning abilities, to try and provide for Carla beyond her needs or desires, bringing forth the inevitable confrontations... for what Carla may lack in mental ability she certainly makes up for in her insistence on being independent, even to living in her own apartment. But if this isn't enough, into the mix comes a young man, equally challenged mentally, who moves Carla beyond anyone's control...

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Plot Keywords:

apartment | wedding | independence | overprotective mother | lesbian | 

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Taglines:

A love story for the romantically challenged.

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for thematic elements involving sex related material

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

26 February 1999 (USA)

Also Known As:

Aprendiendo a vivir

Filming Locations:

All Saint's Episcopal Church - 132 N. Euclid Avenue, Pasadena, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$35,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$6,624,445, 28 February 1999, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$27,797,271, 20 June 1999

Company Credits

Production Co:

Mandeville Films, Touchstone Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

129 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Danny and Carla's last names are the same as the firm Darrin worked for on the classic sitcom Bewitched (1964): McMann and Tate.

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Goofs

During Carla and Daniel's wedding, the knot in Daniel's tie is inconsistent. Some shots it's entirely red, other times it's red and black.

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Quotes

Daniel McMann: I love to drink, Ernie.
Ernie: Yeah?
Daniel McMann: Yeah, it makes ya feel good. Is that why people drink?
Ernie: Some to be happy, some to forget, some to be brave.
Daniel McMann: Ya know, I feel really brave, Ernie.
Ernie: No, only cowards get brave that way.

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Connections

Spoofs The Graduate (1967)

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Soundtracks

My Home in the Hills
Traditional
Performed by The Rustic Highlanders

User Reviews

An all-too-sweet insincere film.

Ah, Hollywood. A land where life-threatening diseases, mega-disasters, and handicaps all become just ways to tell love stories that usually only emphasize whether or not two people will sleep with each other. Focus this time on a self-consciously "sensitive" theme about understanding the mentally handicapped, and you've got "The Other Sister."

So what do you say about a heavy-handed movie that contains good, sustained performances of difficult, but mediocre, material?

"The Other Sister" is a movie about two mentally-retarded people, Carla, and Daniel,who want to become independent of the smothering influences of their rich protective parents. Once they find each other, they feel that they can lead more normal lives.

To be fair, "The Other Sister" does toy nicely with the 1967 film "The Graduate" both in its story line and in the symbolism that both Carla and Daniel are ready to "graduate" from their parents and leave behind their sheltered, child-like lives.

But "The Other Sister" is disingenuous: it is calculated to be safely above reproach. If you properly point out its flaws and filmmaking clichés, you are perceived as having been "insensitive" to its "serious" subject matter.

And is "The Other Sister" actually sensitive or extremely insulting? For example, the movie wants us to care about Carla and Daniel as people-we get several chances to understand that one of their pet peeves is the way that people laugh at them-but all of the jokes in the movie are directly at their expense. Part of the movie's "sensitivity," it would seem, is that it is OK to laugh at these people anonymously from the safety of the darkened theater. Is this any different than Jerry Lewis or Adam Sandler playing the "retard" just for laughs-except that they make no pretense about what they're doing?

And "The Other Sister" is calculatedly safe: To make the story's premise even palatable, it is set in the care-free world of the rich without many of the real world hardships that most of us face. This upper-crust world is so cuddly and life there is so easy that even the Vietnam Vet-who wears a beret and lives in the basement with his memorabilia, peace signs and MIA flag-is friendly, understanding, supportive, and an "all-together good guy." In this world, what does it matter if someone can't fully function-the maid makes your Halloween costume for you anyway.

Oh well, at least, "The Other Sister" shows more responsibility than most Hollywood movies by not actually showing the love scene and by recommending safe sex practices. That alone has got to be worth something.