Stuart Saves His Family

This movie is so much better than anything you'd expect. Needless to say, most of the films based on SNL characters are pretty lame, and this one slipped under the radar so quickly, you might assume it's another "It's Pat". It's not! If you like the Stuart Smalley character, you'll of course be more disposed to liking the film. But even those previously unfamiliar with the 12-step junkie will find a sweet and surprisingly honest story here -- one that both pokes fun at self-help groups and acknowledges that they can work. There are plenty of laughs; and in its treatment of Stuart's highly dysfunctional family of origin, this film achieves something near-great. Watch and see. And "get yourself to a pound cake!"

Movies inspired by SNL characters seem to have a consistently bad reputation. But that reputation is usually based on the fact that the films failed at the box office. The truth is, they are good solid comedies that were never meant to be blockbusters. 'Stuart Saves His Family' is just such a film.

This film has a cast of excellent actors who portray tragedy and comedy with sublime skill. The script is heartfelt and funny. There is no mockery of recovery programs or the self-help movement. Instead, 'Stuart Saves His Family' evokes the all too real humor amid the tragedy that comes from being part of a dysfunctional family (and world).

AL Franken's deadpan deliver of Stuart's ridiculous, but charming self is the the heart of the movie. But equally good are Piper Laurie, Vincent D'Onofrio, Lesley Boone & Harris Yulin. All four play characters who could easily descend into shrill, two-dimensional background support to the wacky lead character. Thankfully, the actors all bring out the human beings inside their characters.

The message about finding your own definition of happiness and family is another of the movie's strong points.

I also recommend "Superstar", another SNL character driven movie, starring Molly Shannon. She's an excellent actress with a wicked, silly streak.

This is probably the best of the SNL films simply because there is a back story behind the film. (Unlike the terrible "It's Pat!")

Those who watched SNL while Al Franken was on it saw the Smalley character. (His adage: I'm good enough, I'm smart enough and gosh darn it people like me!) In these skits, Smalley (who obviously had had a very difficult life) described his family. (On Halloween "I thought of going as a feeling but what does dread look like really? Other than my mother.") The skits would give the viewer images and makes us wonder how bad this family actually was. Now we know.

So many SNL films fail because they stretch a 2 minute skit into ninety minutes. One reviewer called it "Trying to stretch a piece of chewing gum across I-25, sometimes it makes it, most times it doesn't." This movie had great fully developed characters. There was no reason to stretch anything.

Al Franken plays the character with such sensitivity and such love and such heart that you can't help feeling for the poor guy. You can tell that this character is a sweet, kind human being who simply never got a decent start in life and is trying to do things right.

The scenes going back to Smalley's childhood complete the story. Including the funny scene about the family's trip to California.

To those who that this movie is as bad as "It's Pat" I beg to differ.

"It's Pat" never worked because it was never meant to work.

My only regret is that it failed so miserably box office wise and we'll never see a sequel. Al Franken is also no longer on SNL. I miss Stuart.

This movie gets an 8 out of 10. It's a great movie. A great movie to watch when you feel sorry for yourself or having a bad day.

That doesn't sound like an accomplishment, since the best SNL movies are probably "Blues Brothers" and "Wayne's World," and both are uneven. Furthermore, Stuart Smalley seems at first glance like one of the most obnoxious characters to base a movie around. He has characteristics that turn a lot of people off (effeminate, new agey, "caring"), but Franken shows that this veneer is painfully constructed over anger and hurt, and you end up actually liking him better the more time you spend with him. (The TV skits tend to just make fun of him.) One of the movie's most interesting scenes is between Franken and Laura San Giacomo when he tells her "I love you." In any other Hollywood movie, this would be a romantic-interest scene, because everyone knows you can't have a male and female star in a movie without their getting together. Well, here it's that incredibly rare thing: a scene of genuine friendship and support, with Stuart's sexuality left out of the question. To me, that's more impressive than if they got into a liplock.

Whenever trying to memorialize the recently departed, I tend to seek out lesser known films by them, or at least films that I haven't seen. I'd always wanted to see this film, adapted from the Stuart Smalley sketches from Saturday Night Live. I remember Siskel & Ebert liking the film quite a bit back in the day, plus the star is now my Senator. And this is actually quite a good film. What's most surprising about it is it's actually quite serious for what it is. In fact, trying to get the serious subject to work while also trying to keep the same style of comedy the sketches had on SNL makes it a little tonally uneven, but I love what they were trying. Al Franken stars as Stuart Smalley, who hosts a cable access show called Daily Affirmations, where he reveals his many problems to his small audience and tries to work through them. As the film opens, his producer fires him. Soon after, his aunt dies so he goes back home to Minneapolis for the funeral. His family is hugely dysfunctional, with many drinking and weight problems. He tries to help. The film takes the problems entirely seriously. I mean, there is comedy, but the family dysfunction is never the butt of the joke. Al Franken is very good and the character is given more subtlety than he had on SNL. Vincent D'Onofrio plays his younger brother, Harris Yulin his father, Shirley Knight his mother and Lesley Boone his sister. Laura San Giacomo and Julia Sweeney also co-star as Stuart's friends. Not a great movie, but a nice one.