SpuffyWeb Sadly Over-hyped

Doomtomylo a film so unique, intoxicating and bizarre that it not only demands another viewing, but is also forgivable as a satirical comedy where the jokes eventually take the back seat.

Loui Blair It's a feast for the eyes. But what really makes this dramedy work is the acting.

Bob This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

RavenGlamDVDCollector A good movie if you carry a torch for Liv Tyler is STEALING BEAUTY. Of course that is the one that kick-started my 'affair' with her. There is also EMPIRE RECORDS, that one comes highly recommended by myself. Armageddon, yeah. But stick to those. I signed up for this movie in the name of Liv Tyler. Figured, yeah, well, there's Jennifer Connelly as well, but she's been around a long time, my focus was on Liv. Unfortunately, Liv is (well, I'm not gonna say it quite up front - suffice to say, still with a beautiful face, the cheekbone structure and the eyes, but...)Jennifer Connelly came to my attention ages ago in THE HOT SPOT, and I saw it when it was still fairly new on the video circuit. Made me take a look at THE ROCKETEER as well, though I can't remember that one... It was decades ago. As for THE HOT SPOT, that movie seems disregarded now, it was small, I suppose, but a lot better than this one.This thing however... Checked out in my research as a boring drama with nothing special to it. Then, listed by a user here on IMDb as one of his favorite hot movies, as a fellow-perve, another girl-watcher, spoke up, I took the leap, and went for it.It is not bad. But it is not good either. It has a boring pace. I don't wanna watch from the dorky boy's viewpoint, a guy who would paint sideburns on his face to be cool SAYS IT FREAKING ALL, how dumb-ass dial-tone can you get?And Liv has gotten big. There, I said it after all. Dammit, sob, wail, pretty things go to pot so soon...Fortunately, Hollywood seems to have agreed with Ms. Connelly. Seven years after THE HOT SPOT, she has regained much of her girlish charm. Good genes, really good genes. There is that face, that way she carries herself, that whole air around her that says "fun, fun, fun"... I have been considering another movie on that guy's list, CAREER OPPORTUNITIES. He did steer me in the right direction with EMPIRE RECORDS after all...I would not call this one a hot movie. It is too boring most of the time. It is plain, and that is its problem. It has no zing. The trailer showed me that clearly. And on the board, there were negative comments posted about Liv. But I had to see for myself. I'd have kicked myself right now. But Jennifer darling saved the movie from being a waste of time and effort for me. My score, however, gives it the full broadside it deserves. For it could and should have been something much better. Even though Liv is center-stage on the box cover, it focuses on the guys, who are just not interesting. Ugh!

leplatypus With Dr. Manhattan and Jen, we are back to the iconic fifties, in a town between Hill Valley and Derry. The mood of those years is well done between the streets, the fashion, the cars and the houses. When they go to the country, it has the flavor of Smallville. Next, the brothers goes to campus and this is a period of life that i miss. The story is captivating because it's about brotherly relation and that speaks really to me as i have a brother. Maybe the two actors look a bit old for their parts but they have a real chemistry. It's strange to see Jen being the wild one and Tyler, the prude one because we expected the contrary but at the end, they are both excellent in their characters.

david-greene5 As a voracious film buff, it always surprises me when a great film is released and totally escapes my notice, sometimes for years! I recently viewed "Inventing the Abbotts" on a TV pay channel. I was so astounded by the emotional power of the film that I went to my Leonard Maltin guide, curious to see what the reviewer there had to say about it. I was astounded to find that he had pretty much dismissed the whole thing as flaccid and disappointing. I could not help but disagree, most emphatically. Maybe it is all a matter of taste, but I loved the performances by all of the principal players. The cinematography and production design are terrific. I felt that the director had crafted a constantly engrossing, moving film. The script, which Maltin's reviewer called "dull", struck me as having a fine ear for strong dialogue, all of which seemed very natural and effective to me. There is so much that is poignant and insightful and deeply touching in this entire piece that I would say that anyone who favors dramas with powerful romantic elements and thoughtful examination of the forces at work in society should make every effort to see this film. I do not know why it did not attract more notice when it first came out.

Neil Doyle The amazing brotherly resemblance between JOAQUIN PHOENIX and BILLY CRUDUP is a drawback to casual viewers of the film because they look so much alike, especially in the early scenes, that it's easy to lose track of the storyline when you can't tell which brother is on the screen at key moments.KATHY BAKER is the mother raising two sons in a small American town during the 1950s and she gives a genuinely real performance even though her role is underwritten with not enough character exposition to let us know her well enough. But that's not too much of a deficit since the story revolves almost completely around the relationship--the coming of age--of two brothers in conflict with each other over everything, including girls.As the younger, more sensitive and less worldly brother, JOAQUIN PHOENIX is amazingly well cast as he deals with each crisis involving a wealthy family, the Abbots, and their daughters, all of whom are victims of a lie concerning his mother's relationship with Mr. Abbot. BILLY CRUDUP is equally effective as his look alike brother who has his own way of settling scores until he decides he must leave the small town behind and make his own way in the world.The '50s era is well realized, although the coarseness of some of the dialog is not always appropriate for that era when cuss words weren't tossed around as liberally as they are today.Summing up: Slowly paced, but holds the interest because of the central relationships and the fact that you care about what happens to these people.