We Were the Mulvaneys

Michael and Corinne Mulvaney and their four children, Michael Jr., Patrick, Maryanne ("Marianne" in the original novel), and Judd, are the seemingly perfect all-American family living the seemingly perfect all-American dream in a small, rural town in upstate New York, where Michael Sr. has a successful business as a building contractor. The film chronicles the family's fall from grace after Maryanne, at the time a teenage schoolgirl, is raped at a party by a boy at her school. She, however, does not want to give evidence and the police are reluctant to prosecute, possibly swayed by the fact that the boy's family are wealthy and influential. The stresses caused by this incident lead to all four children leaving home and to a greater or lesser extent becoming alienated from their parents, who eventually divorce.

The film is based on a novel written by Joyce Carol Oates, and while I have not read it I am familiar with some of the author's other work. Her novels are normally quite lengthy and complex, with a large cast of characters and several interconnected plot lines, features which would make them difficult to adapt for the screen. (Although one of America's most highly regarded modern novelists, I am not aware of any other films based on her books). I suspect that "We Were the Mulvaneys" is a novel of this type and that the screenplay is based on a very basic filleted outline of the plot, with a lot of the book's complexities going missing in the transition from page to screen. An hour-and-a-half running time- the standard length of TV movies when allowance is made for commercial breaks- would not normally be long enough to do full justice to an Oates novel.

If this is so, it would explain why the film never comes to life, even though it deals with some serious issues. The action supposedly takes place in the seventies and eighties, but there is not much period colour. There are some decent acting contributions, especially from Beau Bridges as Michael Sr., Blythe Danner as Corinne and Tammy Blanchard, an actress I had not previously come across, as Maryanne. Overall, however, I felt that this was a film which did little more than go through the motions and that a better film could have been made from the story. 6/10

Blythe danner as Corinne is inspired, yet for some reason the feeling of the movie was so terribly insipid compared to the book. The rest of the actors seemed very stiff and not to understand themselves within the context of the story; particularly Marianne's character. And the costumes sucked. Whenever I read this novel I think it would be perfect for a movie, but unfortunately this version fell threw. I hope they option it for the big screen using some more talented actors or at least a more talented director.

The story could be explained in one minute from beginning to end and the movie runs a little slowly at times...But the emotional impact transferred to the movie watcher is powerful. Beau Bridges is the consummate actor once again displaying a wide variety of emotion without ever appearing that he is acting. I would have preferred that the dialogue give us a little break so that the stress the movie produces could ease before it starts up again.

All in all, a healthy 7.

It might be difficult for the younger generations to understand the progression of this movie's plot. We know now that women have rights, too, that they are sometimes violated against their will, and that hidden secrets have a way of coming out against our will.

But people just a few decades ago did not know that. Just three decades ago, a women was presumed to have invited a man to have sex with her if she cried rape. Sexual abuses were hushed, pregnant girls sent away in group homes.

I suspect that women from past eras will find this film provoking, and the younger ones will do well to see how much progress has been achieved since. We still have a long way to go, of course.

"We Were the Mulvaneys" tells of a nauseatingly, oh so perfect family not unlike "Father Knows Best" or "Ozzie and Harriet" who suffer a tragedy, a rape, which begins a chain of events resulting in the fission of the nuclear family. Pausing to dwell on the emoting while skipping through time for the rest of the story, everything which happens in this squeaky clean contrivance seems to be little more than an excuse for melodrama making this film just more low budget TV drama queen fodder for Lifetime channel hanky-wringers. Pretty awful stuff made for those who can swallow huge choking gulps of stereotypes, cliches, and melodrama. Recommended for soap opera fans and the like. You know who you are. (C+)