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Inventing the Abbotts
 
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Inventing the Abbotts

Liv Tyler (Actor), Jennifer Connelly (Actor), Pat O'Connor (Director) | Rated: R (Restricted) | Format: VHS Tape
4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (27 customer reviews)

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A showcase for bright young stars, Inventing the Abbotts aspires to be the kind of 1950s melodrama--like Splendor in the Grass--that was perfected by directors like Elia Kazan and Douglas Sirk. Calling on the strength of his earlier Circle of Friends, Irish director Pat O'Connor brings many of that film's admirable qualities to this similar ensemble piece (set in late-'50s Illinois), but it's held together by looser and weaker threads. And yet this tale of class division and forbidden love is sensitively written and beautifully filmed, highlighted by two young lovers at the center of an interfamilial conflict.

"Alice is the good daughter, Eleanor's the bad one, and I'm the one that just sorta gets off the hook." That's how rich girl Pam Abbott (Liv Tyler) describes herself and her older siblings (Joanna Going and Jennifer Connelly, respectively), whose father made his fortune in manufacturing. Working-class neighbor Jacey Holt (Billy Crudup) has "invented" Mr. Abbott as a villain whose wealth came at the Holts' expense and destroyed the reputation of Jacey's widowed mom (Kathy Baker in a fine but underwritten role). Jacey retaliates by callously bedding each Abbott sister in sequence, but his destructive behavior is countered by younger brother Doug (Joaquin Phoenix), whose love for Pam is sweetly genuine. Memorable scenes abound, and the film's period design is impeccable, but sluggish pacing and filigrees of plot make Inventing the Abbotts a faint echo of its '50s predecessors. The fine cast makes it worthwhile, however, and Michael Keaton's (uncredited) narration adds another layer of retrospective charm. --Jeff Shannon

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Customer Reviews

27 Reviews
5 star:
 (18)
4 star:
 (8)
3 star:
 (1)
2 star:    (0)
1 star:    (0)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.6 out of 5 stars (27 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars more Steve, Jun 3 2004
This review is from: Inventing the Abbotts (VHS Tape)
Saw this movie because it had Michael Sutton from GH in it. Sad to say Steve had no lines but his part is memerable. Great movie, the whole family will enjoy it. I can honestly say that you can watch it more than once because the plot is written well and the actors are wonderful.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars Good Movie, April 2 2004
By A Customer
This review is from: Inventing the Abbotts (Widescreen) (DVD)
I saw this movie five years ago when I was in Jamaica. The movie "Inventing the Abbotts" focuses on the typical 1950s family that rose to the American dream of making it big living in the suburbs. The Abbots, a wealthy manufacturing family, maintained the image of family values. Beneath the surface, the older sister had to marry because she was two months pregnant. And the younger sister was a [promiscuous girl] who was sent to a convent. Pam, the middle, is stuck in the middle. She lives between her family's expectations and her love for Doug Holt. Jacey, the older brother, sleeps with the older and younger Abbott sisters to get back at the father for tarnishing the mother's reputation. Doug's love for Pam is unconditional. Pam runs away because she is afraid of what others are thinking.
The movie was a good drama because it gave an in-depth look of America post-WW2. The dream that was supposedly a nightmare for both the elite and the working class. Each is struggling with the self, the community, and society.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars A rare acting school for young actors, Jan 30 2004
By 
J. P. Ferraz "Just do it!" (HOUSTON, TX USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This review is from: Inventing the Abbotts (Widescreen) (DVD)
Few movies I've seen provide, 7 years after its making, a retrospective of great actors and actresses in the make. Just watch the movie and then fish for recent works with each of those young talents.

From Crudup to Joaquin to Tyler to Going to Jenniffer Connelly - what we see in Inventing the Abbotts is an amazing set of performers reaching to stardoom. I believe the film should be classified as mandatory in acting schools.

For the rest, I believe this script is as close to reality as it can get. A small town, a wealthy family, a classic rich/poor idiosyncratic drama, false assumptions which could ruin lives, hard working single parents, young daughters struggling with the coming of age, ... all quite well integrated into a movie which is delightful to see and to call your attention for preemptive judgement.

Joanna Going, Liv Tyler and Jenniffer Connelly are absolutely remarkable and beautiful. Yet the prize goes to Joaquin, for his amazing performance.

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