tieman64 "When one is nothing, one invents. It fills a void." - Diane Setterfield Pat O'Connor directs "Inventing the Abbotts" (1997), a film based on a short story by novelist Sue Miller. A fine portrait of 1950s America, its class tensions and assumptions, the film features cute performances by Joaquin Phoenix, Jennifer Connelly and Liv Tyler.At its best, though, "Abbotts" captures the qualities of good literature. The film may be thin in places, and O'Connor's climax mostly awful, but it nevertheless evokes well the tempo, tenor and wisdom of America's better short-story writers (John Cheever, Raymond Carver etc). At times it even resembles something torn from the pages of Henry James, John Updike or Flannery O'Connor. Co-starring Will Patton.8/10 – Worth one viewing. See "Larger than Life", "Shadow of a Doubt", "Pump up the Volume", "Everything Must Go" and "Happiness".

blanche-2 Pat O'Connor's film, Inventing the Abbotts, from 1997, shows us teen life in the '50s, but not the teen life of Rebel Without a Cause or Blackboard Jungle. Instead, it's the story of a lower middle class family, the Holts, which consists of a single mom (Kathy Baker) and her two sons, Doug (Joaquin Phoenix) and Jacey (Billy Crudup) and the wealthiest family in their Illinois town, the Abbotts, consisting of Lloyd Abbott, his wife, and three beautiful daughters (Jennifer Connolly, Joanna Going, and Liv Tyler). Talk about well-cast; the two brothers could definitely be brothers and the three women could definitely be sisters.The Abbotts are connected to the Holts by an incident that occurred before Doug was born, which was shortly after his father was killed in an accident. Jacey is particularly obsessed with the family, especially Eleanor (Connelly), the "bad" Abbott daughter. And he really feels that the family owes him something. Doug, meanwhile, has an on and off relationship with Pam (Tyler).The two young men learn about life, loss, and letting go. Joaquin Phoenix is fantastic as the sensitive and romantic Doug; while Jacey provides us with the sex, Doug gives us the romance. Billy Crudup is excellent as his troubled brother, reaching obsessively for what he thinks he has to have. As their mother, Kathy Baker gives a lovely performance, every note right, as she always does."Inventing the Abbotts" has a quiet beauty about it, along with the heartache, anger, and raw emotion that the teen years always bring. Highly recommended. Don't look for anything to explode or huge action scenes; you won't find them here.

SeriousJest This film masterfully illustrates how closely intertwined human lives are within and between families in a community. I ended up relating to these mid-20th-century White people from a small Midwestern town much more than I expected. There are some aspects of the human experience that are simply universal.All kinds of love are examined. Don't worry, it's not all romantic...this is a good date movie, but you will also enjoy this on your own.I was initially surprised at the casting choices. I've never seen Connelly play the wild, promiscuous role, or Phoenix act like such a shy, awkward geek. At first, I thought Tyler and Connelly should have switched parts. I thought the same about Phoenix and Billy Crudup. But I guess that's why these actors are so highly regarded; they all played their roles to the hilt, defying anyone who would typecast them. I have singled Connelly out before as a great example of an actress who brings the "girlfriend experience" to her films. This time, she gave us a glimpse of how that sweet, classy girlfriend can transform into a mind-blowing sex goddess behind closed doors...lucky Paul Bettany.For more reviews and a kick-ass podcast, check out www.livemancave.com

Samiam3 Regurgitating the Abbotts may have been a better name for this film, because there is nothing inventive about it. What starts off well, degrades in quality to nothing more than a dull and overlong exercise in the stagy writing style of soap opera. It is a story with nowhere to go, and despite some touching moments, and a delightful young cast, The movie is aggravating. I found myself rolling my eyes at some of the dialogue because it's so corny. The makers of Inventing the Abbotts give their product no room to grow. It's ultimately devoid of direction believability and stability, And we end up spending time with five or six characters who seem like they could amount to so much more than the story makes of them. It is unfair to all the smart people in the audience. If the film won't commit, Why should we.