Ensofter Overrated and overhyped

CrawlerChunky In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

Lidia Draper Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

Geraldine The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

ozlifter This was by no means a great movie, but it was enjoyable.The production values were low and the performances at times suffered from overacting -- especially by Danny DeVito. But, the film had a little bit of heart, and I couldn't help but smile at times.Neve Campbell is so beautiful here; I can't understand why she's not more famous. She just radiates and lights up the screen every time she is on here.Kathy Bates was great, as always, but I found Ron Livingston's performance to be a little stale.If you're looking for a lighthearted movie to help you waste away a Sunday afternoon, this is it. Just don't expect too much and you won't be that disappointed.

awofford79 This really isn't a bad film. I was surprised to find it on Comedy Central this afternoon, having never heard of it, and being a fan of most of the actors. Perhaps it would have flopped at the box office, and that's OK, so did Office Space.Sure the plot is not mind-blowing, but it is original. The anger management doctor loses it after meeting his biological parents, OK, maybe the obvious irony is overdone in this genre. However, the details and production of this film are what set it apart. Also, as dry as Livingston many be, that is his charm. Each of the players had excellent performances. Frankly, I thought DeVito's overperfomance was the real weak point.Did Matthew Perry make a cameo in this, as a newscaster? Will I buy the DVD? Probably not, but I will watch it again on a Saturday afternoon.

moonspinner55 Ron Livingston, star of the cult-hit "Office Space", bottoms out with this slapstick comedy which takes satiric aim at trailer-park yahoos but, alas, fails to be ironic or nostalgic--it appears to have been made by just the kind of low-class people it pokes fun at. A mild-mannered psychologist, the author of a new self-help book about anger-management, finds out from his family--an upper-crust bunch of boors--that he was adopted after his biological folks left him on their doorstep; worse, his birth parents turn out to be brawling, obnoxious hicks. Utterly predictable and dispiriting comedy. One waits in excruciating anticipation for the first crotch jab (19 minutes in), the first reference to either Jerry Springer or "Hee-Haw" (both clock in around the one-hour mark), and the proverbial cameo by a well-known talk-show host (this time it's Star Jones!). A few mindlessly funny one-liners; otherwise, flop makes "Meet the Fockers" look like "Wuthering Heights". *1/2 from ****

Natasha Greenberg Unfortunately, the 'Meet the parents/Fockers' recipe doesn't seem to work here: even two such comedy stars as Bates and De Vito can't save this one from failing to even entertain. The editing is somewhat hurried, and yet it can't make up for the tedious 100 minutes - with all the effort, I doubt if it even serves the purpose of killing that time, as was in my case. Still, Katie Bates is a pleasure to watch, but although she provides a very convincing performance as 'trailer trash' (as us the non-American viewers are supposed to imagine it from all the previous films on the subject), one can't help but wonder, are all those speech patterns that the screenplay limits her character to, real? Better than one star, but not much more than that.