We Were the Mulvaneys

"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+)

Are they supposed to be real? The most perfect family having the most perfect lives in the most perfect town with the most perfect weather. Every moment is the pinnacle of WASP Thanksgiving. And most importantly they are all cheerful chatterboxes who gently tease each other chattering away simultaneously.

I have to believe that the filmmakers completely missed Joyce Carol Oates pitch perfect black satire

'We were the Mulvanney's is one of the most powerful films about the family I have ever seen. It is brilliant especially seen through the eyes of the the teenage youngest of four, his helplessness and yet his belief in his siblings, most of all his love for them. It is a measure for all families who downward spiral, one that is left unchecked by so called parents. The central characters have intelligence, and above all love. Familys are important and this film seeks to warn the viewer of great emotional losses that can be avoided. However, it takes more than one family member to be positive to redress the problems some parents find unsolvable. Joyce Kelly.

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.