Themes: Fathers and Sons, Golden Years, Journey of Self-Discovery
Main Cast: Peter Falk, Paul Reiser, Elizabeth Perkins, Olympia Dukakis
Release Year: 2005
Country: US
Run Time: 94 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG13
Plot
A middle-aged man finds himself dealing with the divorce of his elderly parents as well as many years of emotional baggage in this poignant comedy drama. Ben (Paul Reiser) is a writer who is enjoying a quiet evening at home with his wife, Rachel (Elizabeth Perkins), when they receive an unexpected visitor, Ben's father, Sam (Peter Falk). As it happens, Sam has some surprising news -- his wife, Muriel (Olympia Dukakis), has left him, leaving behind a note saying she wants some time alone. While Ben gets in touch with his sisters, who immediately set out to track down Muriel, he is left to deal with Sam while he tries to figure out what has gone wrong. Eager to spend some time with his dad to talk things out, Ben invites Sam along for a trip upstate to look at some property he's interested in buying, and as the two men hit the road, they get a chance to get to know one another in a way Sam, a busy salesman, was unable to do when Ben was a boy. The Thing About My Folks was a pet project for Paul Reiser, who wrote the screenplay as well as playing the lead; he'd had the script in the works for 20 years, and always intended for Peter Falk to play the role of Sam. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Review
The pluralization in this movie's title is a little misleading. It could have been called The Thing About My Folk -- or maybe The Thing About My Falk -- since Peter Falk's father character has the majority of the screen time in this Paul Reiser vehicle, written and produced by the comedian. It's the right choice, as Reiser and Falk have a fun time playing off each other on the father-son road trip that comprises most of the running time. However, it does contribute to a sense of narrative imbalance, and the late introduction of Olympia Dukakis as the other "folk" sends the third act off in a direction that wasn't necessarily previewed by the first two. But it's hardly worth quibbling over a few structural miscues in what is otherwise a sweet and surprisingly substantive film. Reiser's chattiness as a performer comes across clearly in his writing, but it's not empty chattiness. In The Thing About My Folks, it's easy to see Reiser grappling with issues from his own family history during conversations that aren't afraid to psychoanalyze the small details. What's more, they come across as natural rather than stagy, due in large part to the seemingly effortless folksy professionalism of Falk, and some pretty decent chops from Reiser, who has spent much of his career on stage and in sitcoms. This is not to say that any ground is being broken. Stories about kvetching New Yorkers testing their family bonds are hardly new, especially for Reiser, who has essentially made this the focus of his body of work. But The Thing About My Folks is the type of film that allows there to be comfort in familiarity. The lessons on how to avoid relationship mistakes -- or compensate for them after the fact -- are also timeless. ~ Derek Armstrong, All Movie Guide
The Thing About My Folks is a 2005Americandrama film directed by Raymond De Felitta. The screenplay by Paul Reiser focuses on the effect a terminal illness has on the marriage of an aging couple and their adult children.
When Muriel Kleinman unexpectedly leaves her husband Sam, their three daughters Linda, Hillary, and Bonnie and daughter-in-law Rachel set about trying to find her while Sam and his son Ben spend a day in the country inspecting property Ben and his wife are considering buying. The journey evolves into an extended road trip in a restored 1940 Ford Deluxe coupe convertible Sam buys when Ben crashes his car. As time passes, the two men fish, drink, and play pool while discussing the past and re-establishing their relationship.
Ben learns Muriel went on vacation but, after enjoying a leisurely days by herself, began to experience blackouts. The doctors give her six months to live, and Muriel and Sam begin to mend a marriage Sam never realized was deteriorating. She lives through the summer, and Ben realizes he never has seen his parents happier in their life. When Muriel dies, Sam moves in with Ben and his family, and they enjoy life together until Sam himself passes away. Ben and Rachel have another child and name him Martin Samuel Kleinman to honor his parents, whose gravestone bears the Hebrew inscription "מה שלי שלך ומה שלך שלי" ("What is mine is yours and what is yours is mine"), testifying to the giving and compassionate relationship that Ben's parents truly had with each other.
The film premiered at the Seattle International Film Festival in June 2005 and went into limited release in the US on September 16, 2005. It grossed $235,341 on 93 screens on its opening weekend and eventually earned $816,403 in the US and $6,934 in foreign markets for a total worldwide box office of $823,337. [1]
Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times observed, "One of the nice things about my job is that I get to enjoy the good parts in movies that aren't really necessary to see. The Thing About My Folks travels familiar movie territory . . . but we discover once again what a warm and engaging actor Peter Falk is. I can't recommend the movie, but I can be grateful that I saw it, for Falk." [2]
Ned Martel of the New York Times said, "As the crotchety paterfamilias, Peter Falk is convincingly grating, and for a few moments heroic, as he makes his character, Sam Kleinman, into someone the son need not complain about so much. Despite the grumpy, flatulent behavior the script demands of him, Mr. Falk rises above the treacly shenanigans." [3]
Steve Persall of the St. Petersburg Times graded the film B- and commented, "Nothing surprises in The Thing About My Folks except how effective such timeworn material can be when the right people deliver it. The movie contains little that we haven't seen before, but charm can make anything seem a bit fresher. Most credit goes to Peter Falk . . . [who] doesn't merely carry [the film]; he bravely totes it over a mountain of clichés like one of Hannibal's elephants . . . somehow this derivative, predictable story works, probably because of Falk's unforced determination to make that happen." [4]
Robert Koehler of Variety called the film "good-natured but only memorable as a platform for the amusingly feisty Peter Falk" and added, "Pic belongs more to Reiser than to director Raymond De Felitta, who allows the extremely talky script to go on uncut and covers the chatter with an excess of TV-style tracking close-ups." [5]
