Themes: Fathers and Sons, Family Gatherings, Haunted By the Past
Main Cast: Julianne Moore, Roy Scheider, Arija Bareikis, Noah Wyle, Blythe Danner, Hope Davis, Laurel Holloman, Brian Kerwin
Release Year: 1997
Country: US
Run Time: 93 minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Plot
A family is torn between their need to air out their dirty laundry and their habit of sweeping things under the rug in this emotional drama. Hal (Roy Scheider) and Lena (Blythe Danner) are a successful but emotionally frosty New England couple whose four adult children are coming home for Thanksgiving. Strapping Jake (Michael Vartan) brings along his new girlfriend Margaret (Hope Davis), but while her affection for him is obvious, he's not sure how he feels about her. Mia (Julianne Moore), an alternately reserved and sexually ravenous art gallery worker, also brings her current lover, the nervous and unstable Elliot (Brian Kerwin). Leigh (Laurel Holloman) seems happier and better adjusted than her siblings, but she still hasn't resolved her long-standing rivalry with Mia. And Warren (Noah Wyle), who hasn't seen his parents for three years, has a bitter grudge against his father and hasn't been able to get his former girlfriend Daphne (Arija Bareikis) out of his mind. Co-star Noah Wyle also served as associate producer. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
John McFarlane - Art Director, Noah Wyle - Associate Producer, Howard Bernstein - Associate Producer, Douglas Aibel - Casting, Lucy W. Corrigan - Costume Designer, David Wechsler - First Assistant Director, Bart Freundlich - Director, Ken J. Sackheim - Editor, Kate Williams - Editor, James Schamus - Executive Producer, Ted Hope - Executive Producer, Victoria McGarry - Line Producer, John Phillips - Songwriter, David Bridie - Songwriter, Susan Bolles - Production Designer, Stephen Kazmierski - Cinematographer, Mary Jane Skalski - Producer, Tim Perell - Producer, Bart Freundlich - Producer, Catherine Pierson - Set Designer, Jesse Feigelman - Sound/Sound Designer, Peter Schneider - Sound/Sound Designer, Bart Freundlich - Screenwriter
The film is named after track 11, "All Around the World or the Myth of the Fingerprints" on Paul Simon's Graceland album, released in August 1986. Simon's song is concerned with dispelling the "myth" that people are different the world over: "I've seen them all, and, man, / They're all the same."
