Paul Reiser wrote and stars in director Raymond De Felitta's sentimental comedy about a son getting to know his aging father (Peter Falk) during an unplanned road trip to upstate New York after the older man's wife of 47 years, Muriel (Olympia Dukakis), unaccountably leaves him. Needless to say, the two bond as they fish, attend a small-town baseball game, play pool in a roadside bar, and ruminate about the past—and in the end, when they discover the reason for Muriel's departure, it brings the whole family closer. The script is a schmaltzy, heavy-handed piece of work, and Reiser's own performance is fussy and mannered, but Falk's oozes with elfin charm and his wry, bemused delivery of even the flattest, most sentimental lines sound almost inspired. He utterly steals the movie, and while that may be a petty theft, the result is that The Thing About My Folks is at least tolerable, if only sporadically enjoyable. A strong optional purchase. (F. Swietek)
The Thing About My Folks
New Line, 96 min., PG-13, DVD: $26.95, Feb. 14 Volume 21, Issue 1
The Thing About My Folks
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