Parenthood

Grandma: "You know, when I was nineteen, Grandpa took me on a roller coaster."
Gil: Oh?
Grandma: "Up, down, up, down. Oh, what a ride!"
Gil: What a great story."
Grandma: "I always wanted to go again. You know, it was just so interesting to me that a ride could make me so frightened, so scared, so sick, so excited, and so thrilled all together! Some didn't like it. They went on the merry-go-round. That just goes around. Nothing. I like the roller coaster. You get more out of it."

release year: 1989
genre: comedy/drama
viewing setting: home DVD 3/6/23

synopsis: A large multi-generational family experiences various ups and downs together.

impressions: This is a little-known Ron Howard film about the challenges and rewards of family. There's the "normal" one, the high-achieving one, the fractured single-parent one, and the lone wolf son who's perpetually irresponsible. Linking them all are the elderly parents, and one of their surviving parents. This is a movie about children, parenting, and what it all means. It's entertaining, funny, and has some lessons woven in here and there.

acting: Steve Martin and Mary Steenburgen are the relatively normal parents. Rick Moranis and Harley Jane Kozak are the ones who are a bit more rigid and driven. Dianne Weist is the super-stressed single mom whose two kids have issues. Tom Hulce is the son who's made a lot of poor decisions and keeps trying to fool everyone. Jason Robards is the patriarch of the family. A young Keanu Reeves is a boyfriend of one of the families' daughters.

final word: Great family drama with some funny parts, and some serious ones.

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