I knew nothing about this film before watching it, other than that the general topic was a dysfunctional family. Fine with me. Give me a Lillian Hellman story, for example, and I love it. But, this film gave me the creeps.
The first thing that surprised me was Martin Sheen. If I hadn't known he was in the film, I wouldn't have known it was him. I thought Patricia Neal didn't look well, and wondered how long after this film she had her aneurysms; to my surprise, this film was made 3 years after her health crisis; if you look closely, you will notice that when she walks fast there is a bit of a stiffness. The other odd thing that occurred to me during this film had to do with my own father, who was also in World War II (as is Martin Sheen's character in this film). The father in this film (Jack Albertson) talks about missing World War I, and it just struck me that when my father went into WWII, people were still talking about WWI.
There are a few problems here. Somehow the film still seems a bit too play-ish for my liking. Then there's the matter of the lake cottage. Let's see, the family lives in a rather basic walk-up flat, but they own a cottage at the lake. And a car. Seems odd (in fact, it's even mentioned in the script).
The one thing I really like about this film is that it gave Jack Albertson his best film role. And, unfortunately, before that, all too many of his roles were minor almost bit parts, and too many people remember him only from "Chico And The Man".
So beyond being about a dysfunctional family, what is the story about? Well, you have 3 mostly decent (but imperfect) people who do care for each other, but who can't be nice to each other. There are places where you feel great sympathy for Frank Albertson's character, and other places where you dislike him immensely. Same for Patricia Neal. And to a lesser extent, somewhat the same for Martin Sheen (although at least in his case he is coming back from perhaps a horrific war enlistment, and is young enough to be trying to find his own way). But, that's about it. Most of the action takes place in the flat (giving it that play-ish feeling), and there are really no supporting parts, so the entire focus is on the 3 main characters.
While the acting is good, I feel that the direction/script make you want to slap each of the main characters and tell them to, "Snap out of it!" Perhkaps worth watching...once.
The first thing that surprised me was Martin Sheen. If I hadn't known he was in the film, I wouldn't have known it was him. I thought Patricia Neal didn't look well, and wondered how long after this film she had her aneurysms; to my surprise, this film was made 3 years after her health crisis; if you look closely, you will notice that when she walks fast there is a bit of a stiffness. The other odd thing that occurred to me during this film had to do with my own father, who was also in World War II (as is Martin Sheen's character in this film). The father in this film (Jack Albertson) talks about missing World War I, and it just struck me that when my father went into WWII, people were still talking about WWI.
There are a few problems here. Somehow the film still seems a bit too play-ish for my liking. Then there's the matter of the lake cottage. Let's see, the family lives in a rather basic walk-up flat, but they own a cottage at the lake. And a car. Seems odd (in fact, it's even mentioned in the script).
The one thing I really like about this film is that it gave Jack Albertson his best film role. And, unfortunately, before that, all too many of his roles were minor almost bit parts, and too many people remember him only from "Chico And The Man".
So beyond being about a dysfunctional family, what is the story about? Well, you have 3 mostly decent (but imperfect) people who do care for each other, but who can't be nice to each other. There are places where you feel great sympathy for Frank Albertson's character, and other places where you dislike him immensely. Same for Patricia Neal. And to a lesser extent, somewhat the same for Martin Sheen (although at least in his case he is coming back from perhaps a horrific war enlistment, and is young enough to be trying to find his own way). But, that's about it. Most of the action takes place in the flat (giving it that play-ish feeling), and there are really no supporting parts, so the entire focus is on the 3 main characters.
While the acting is good, I feel that the direction/script make you want to slap each of the main characters and tell them to, "Snap out of it!" Perhkaps worth watching...once.