As a fallen-down Catholic with reservations about the Church, I wasn't prepared for an even-tempered story about a devout mother, Eileen (Kathleen Turner) facing a family at odds with some basic Church doctrines. While I still stay away, I found The Perfect Family wise about the devotion of true believers and wary of extremists.
Eileen has been nominated for Catholic Woman of the Year (disclosure: one of my former wives was elected Vermont Catholic Mother of the Year—a true irony). In order to impress the archbishop, she must show an exemplary family. Not easy, as she discovers a son about to divorce and a daughter marrying a woman and having a child. Modern as these situations are, they are not acceptable to the teachings of the church about the sanctity of marriage and children born of that union. The film gently but assuredly moves Eileen's life along just as you might expect it to go with any contemporary Catholic family facing decisions.
Although the denouement is too pat, it doesn't deviate too much from what might really happen, and with a little surprise accompanying it all. Kathleen Turner provides the right amount of hyper-ventilation when faced with the truth of her children's situations and her formerly alcoholic husband. Richard Chamberlain as Monsignor Murphy shows director Anne Renton's sense of humor using an actor who played a randy prelate in The Thorn Birds. In Catholic town, nothing is as it seems except for my very real indoctrination by the Sisters of Saint Joseph.
