SnoopyStyle
Celia Green (Patricia Clarkson) gathers her family for labor day weekend at the Lake Tahoe family lakehouse. Her son Theo Green brings his friends Luke, Nora and Sean Oakes. Her other son Roger Green and Vanessa arrive with some troubles and a case of water. Celia tells her friends Vivian and Jeannie that she and Malcolm are considering selling the house. Theo is a writer on Blake Curtis' TV show and he has invited her to the house. Hector and Maria Castillo are the help around the house.It's yet another dysfunctional family. They're not funny or terribly dramatic. They are simply a bunch of people each with their idiotic quirks. Celia with her money obsession seems set up for a reveal of family financial problems. Then it turns out that it is simply another silly personal quirk. It's rich people with rich people problem. Every once in awhile, they get to a real problem and it feels refreshing like minty water. However most of the movie feels empty and without calories. Maybe there's a real reason why she wants to sell the house. In which case, that should be the central reveal which could lead to family discourse and reconciliation.
jordandaines
I really enjoyed this film. It gracefully portrayed a very real family dynamic set within self aware and humorous class commentary. Patricia Clarkson gave the perfect performance as a mother coming to terms with a new chapter in her life while absurdly fighting it along the way. She plays a character I can definitely relate to. A hybrid of my grandmother and mother-in-law. As a mother of young children, I can see myself having the same feelings when my children become adults.The acting is wonderful, the scenery and photography are beautiful. It is equal parts bitter and sweet with bits of comedy interspersed. Loved it.
RMinSF
A family of spoiled narcissists spend a long weekend at their fabulous Lake Tahoe home(s). The children are, for the most part, unreflective, unaccomplished and unkind. Self-absorption incarnate. Add assorted wives, boyfriends and hangers-on. Mom (the always glorious Patricia Clarkson) has the most unbelievable character trajectory from uptight, cold control-freak to, well, the opposite of that. Dad pretty much looks angry and disappointed all the time (with some good reason, if you ask me) until he, too, experiences a miraculous transformation at the very, very end where he is kind and gentle to his now changed wife. In summary: a group of exceedingly unattractive and under-appreciative people do rather little over the course of a weekend, but one or two seemed to be changed by it. Oh, and they sell the house. I would keep the house and get rid of the damn kids.
maybakir
Fantastic film. Demonstrates the sacrifice one does for their family. Failure is greater when disappointing ones family. Touches on the strength a partner must have for their husband/wife during difficult times, and how patience and endurance (something too many people give up on) is worth it. Some may focus on the wealth the family has, but then they have missed the entire point behind the story line. I am not a mother, but related to Clarkson's character through my mother and how she has sacrificed for the family while being the bond that hold everyone together. Beautifully written. Honest.
AD
