Thomas Begen For a moderate-length movie this one seemed really long. The drama is drawn- out, profoundly annoying, and dull, even supposing it's an accurate depiction of the time. While Liv Tyler's character, Pam, is particularly unbearable, Doug is the typical liberal Hollywood wussy-man putz who gets fixated on one girl -- not unlike Forest Gump -- and refuses to move on, perhaps owing to something more interesting than his low self-esteem and total social ineptitude; perhaps because his feelings for Pam remind him of a purer, innocent, idyllic time before everything in life became so complicated; but to me that's a cop-out. That's hardly a real-world love story if you ask me. Obviously Doug's character is such that the possibility of finding another girl out there who would accept him for who he is not even considered. He's not the sharpest tool in the shed. But I have to give Joaquin Phoenix respect for playing the part to a tee. Not even Tom Hanks can play the town idiot as well as Joaquin. That said, the film gets points for good acting from Joaquin Phoenix and for a somewhat realistic plot, even though the Holts and Abbotts simply cannot help "running into" one another all across the states at colleges, airports, and elsewhere. Go figure: these star-crossed lovers simply cannot avoid one another when "society" forbids their coupling. The bottom line, though, is the film is so unbearable to watch for its "love story," which is so sterile and pathetic that I cannot give it more than 5/10. It gets that many points only because even for the lack of realism of certain plot points, I believe it gives an overall realistic depiction of the rigid 1950s yes-man mentality.

blanche-2 Pat O'Connor's film, Inventing the Abbotts, from 1997, shows us teen life in the '50s, but not the teen life of Rebel Without a Cause or Blackboard Jungle. Instead, it's the story of a lower middle class family, the Holts, which consists of a single mom (Kathy Baker) and her two sons, Doug (Joaquin Phoenix) and Jacey (Billy Crudup) and the wealthiest family in their Illinois town, the Abbotts, consisting of Lloyd Abbott, his wife, and three beautiful daughters (Jennifer Connolly, Joanna Going, and Liv Tyler). Talk about well-cast; the two brothers could definitely be brothers and the three women could definitely be sisters.The Abbotts are connected to the Holts by an incident that occurred before Doug was born, which was shortly after his father was killed in an accident. Jacey is particularly obsessed with the family, especially Eleanor (Connelly), the "bad" Abbott daughter. And he really feels that the family owes him something. Doug, meanwhile, has an on and off relationship with Pam (Tyler).The two young men learn about life, loss, and letting go. Joaquin Phoenix is fantastic as the sensitive and romantic Doug; while Jacey provides us with the sex, Doug gives us the romance. Billy Crudup is excellent as his troubled brother, reaching obsessively for what he thinks he has to have. As their mother, Kathy Baker gives a lovely performance, every note right, as she always does."Inventing the Abbotts" has a quiet beauty about it, along with the heartache, anger, and raw emotion that the teen years always bring. Highly recommended. Don't look for anything to explode or huge action scenes; you won't find them here.

Amanda Morrison Alright. I remembered seeing this movie years ago, when it was first released to video, and I liked it. Now, upon re-watching it for the first time since that fateful day ten years ago, I see why. Because I was a pervert. Clearly, I didn't enjoy this movie for its sweet message or its fine actors. Ugh.Let me gripe from the beginning.Alright, so first we're introduced to actors that are far too old to be playing their characters. That's fine, though -- I grew up watching Saved by the Bell -- I can deal with that. Then, as we get to know the characters a little better, we realize that, well, we really haven't gotten to know the characters at all. Other than Doug drawing breasts on a picture in school (that's how we find out that he's a "rebel) and Pam saying that each sister is the good, the bad, or the one who gets away with everything, we get nothing. There is literally NO character development. At times, it seems like the director might have tried...then no, by the end, you just find yourself angry because you invested two and a half (or whatever) hours into a movie about people, and you do not care in the slightest about any of the people.But what about their acting you say? Well, that was just as terrible as the trite and obvious dialogue they were forced to spew. It's amazing when you see brilliant actors in earlier roles when they are give almost nothing to work with. Joaquin Phoenix is perhaps the most surprisingly horrid. Liv Tyler is cute -- when isn't she -- but she has nothing to work with, and to be honest, her acting was far from perfected (has it ever been, though?) She plays this innocent rich girl to a tee, but she still doesn't give us much of a reason to like her. And why does she like Phoenix's character Doug? Because of that rebellious drawing? Geesh. Give us some credit here.Billy Crudup and Jennifer Connelly were good, I can't complain about their acting. But, Jennifer Connelly disappears after the first twenty minutes, in a ridiculous scene, with a ridiculous reason.I could go on for hours. The "secret" behind the Abbotts and the death of the boys' father is pathetic. The attempt at sympathy for Lloyd Abbott falls flat. Maybe it wasn't intentional. Actually, I hope it wasn't.Inventing the Abbotts keeps the viewer guessing what's going to happen from the get-go. It might be a Romeo and Juliet story, it might be a romantic coming-of-age, as the synopsis suggests. Unfortunately though, it actually turns out to be such thrown-together non-sense that the viewer wishes that their idea had been what happened. Instead, they're left with a characters they don't care about doing things they don't care about, and offended sense of romanticism and a bad taste lingering in their mouths.

MrGKB ...that will survive in the collective unconsciousness as a snapshot of four rising young stars: Joaquin Phoenix, Liv Tyler, Jennifer Connelly and Billy Crudup, all of whom have continued building solid resumés over the past decade. Along with able support from reliable character actors Kathy Baker, Will Patton, Joanna Goings, and Barbara Williams, the young leads anchor a period piece that often veers dangerously close to soap opera, yet manages to avoid most of the pitfalls of same. Phoenix and Tyler, in particular, delineate a relationship that seems to falter over the years and then blossoms into fruition by film's end, and do it in such a way that seems completely unforced and natural. No doubt their off-screen romance had much to do with that.At any rate, though not as poignant or well-crafted a film as, for instance, Nick Cassavetes' "The Notebook," "Inventing the Abbotts" still manages to pull most of the right strings with its "boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy gets girl" storyline. Phoenix and Tyler have a great chemistry, as many have noted, and deliver the requisite eye-candy along with their co-stars, Connelly and Crudup. Phoenix is the most successful at playing younger than his true age, although that advantage lessens as the movie progresses chronologically. Connelly does a fine job as the sexpot, generously providing the "titties and beaver" such films so often deliver for the sake of an "R" rating. Crudup plays the cad with a grudge, redeemed when he finally discovers his initial mistaken assumptions.The tech aspects are all solid, especially the superb production design and art direction. The cinematography is capable, if unextraordinary. Pat O'Connor's direction is also capable, though not as impressive as his preceding project, "Circle of Friends." Viewing this film, though, has motivated me to insert "Dancing at Lughnasa" into my stack of pending DVDs to watch.I'll probably never watch "Inventing the Abbotts" again, but I have no real regrets having spent several hours doing so once. If nothing else, it's as good a Valentine's Day movie to see as any I can think of.