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September 01, 2005

The Thing About My Folks

What does Paul Reiser’s new film have in common with a bottle of soda that has been sitting in the fridge for two weeks? Both are full of sweet goodness, but fall flat on the senses.

I was fortunate enough to see an advanced screening of The Thing About My Folks, a film written by Reiser for his all-time favorite actor, Peter Falk, better known as Columbo. The two former TV stars are joined by Elizabeth Perkins, who play’s Reiser’s wife, and Olympia Dukakis, Reiser’s mother who leaves Falk at the beginning of the film. This is the setup to send Reiser and Falk on an emotional and physical drive through upstate New York as the son comes to terms with his father’s short comings as a husband and dad and the two make up for lost time.

While the movie, directed by Raymond De Felitta, tugs at a few heart-strings, the story is slow and at times the shots elementary. In one scene in particular, if you look closely you can see a reflection of the camera mounted on the hood of the 1940 model Ford, as the car trudges along the country road.

The one redeeming quality to the film was Peter Falk’s compelling performance as a man searching for himself after his wife walks out on him after a 46-year marriage. With that said, I have to recommend skipping over this at the theatre (opening September 16th) and even the video store. Lifetime is bound to run it in a couple years.

Posted by Lance Buckley at September 1, 2005 12:27 PM