A.C.O.D.

Carter (Adam Scott) is the long suffering son of divorced parents Hugh (Richard Jenkins) and Melissa (Catherine O'Hara) since he was 9. His slacker brother Trey (Clark Duke) is marrying Keiko (Valerie Tian). Sondra (Amy Poehler) is Hugh's latest wife and the landlord to Carter's restaurant. Gary (Ken Howard) is Melissa's latest husband. Neither Melissa nor Hugh are willing to go to the same wedding for Trey. Lauren (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) is Carter's girlfriend of four years. He finds out that his childhood counseling with Dr. Lorraine Judith (Jane Lynch) was actually a case study for her successful book "Children of Divorce". It leads him to reconsider his life and Dr. Judith wants to write a sequel "Adult Children of Divorce". Then he finds his father cheating with his mother. Michelle (Jessica Alba) and Mark (Adam Pally) are two of Dr. Judith's subjects.

I wonder where the good jokes are. The great cast gets into some off-kilter situations. Some of it is cute and chuckle-worthy. I think it's due mostly to the expert cast. O'Hara and Jenkins get in some good fun. The movie is slightly interesting but not so insightful to be actually compelling. We know that Adam Scott is good in an ensemble but the jury is still out for him to be the outright lead. There is too much comedic talent for it to be OK for so few laughs.

As I started watching this movie, it became very obvious that this was a very personal, cathartic movie. I have no problem with that, it's done all the time--but what's important, interesting, funny, and meaningful to the writer/director, doesn't always translate into something meaningful to the viewer unless there is far more skill in the storytelling. And that is what I think this movie lacked.

The plot simply covers the story of a a kid named Carter (and his younger brother Trey) who's father was a philanderer as a husband, as well as fairly cold and distant as a father. The father and mother haven't spoken for 20 years and the father has gone through several other step moms over those years.

I'm sure the "seminal" moment of Carter's 9th birthday was a huge deal to writer, but it was thrust at us so quickly at the beginning of the movie that we didn't have time for any background/setup to even know or care what was going on. To me, that scene which was apparently so pivotal ended up a throwaway scene because the writer seemed so eager to tell it that he told it too soon without any context whatsoever.

So we fast forward to Carter's now-successful (at least career-wise) life. There are a lot of funny moments here, but nothing we couldn't see in a half-hour sitcom. But the road the movie takes us down is a bit meandering and it seems very clear that we're going to have some sort of too-neatly wrapped up happy ending designed to close every loose end with a perfect situation and end all the pain of all the children who've gone through this situation.

To me, it just smacked too much of someone dumping his messed-up life on us and his wish of what could have been. It didn't make for an entertaining movie. Maybe a half-hour episode of Trophy Wife or something would have been a better venue for this story. Jimo

So first of all, it stands for Adult Child of Divorce and its the main reason no-one heard of this one. It sounds like a disorder, and people go see comedies that seem like a good time, not a lot of work.

Adam Scott's little bro wants to get married, and its his job to try and get his warring divorced parents to be in the same room together.

Jane Lynch, Mary Elisabeth Winstead, Amy Poehler, Katherine O'Hara and Richard Jenkins are all great. Funny likable cast, terrific situation comedy, its only about 20 minutes too long. Truly the only reason this got buried was that terrible unwieldy title.

6/10 outwore its welcome by the end, but still, underrated.

Think the reviews are unfair - it's a well made film, it's different and the cast are great.

No, it's not perfect. It's the not the best film ever made - but it is a good film, it's not the same story line that's been churned out a million and one times. Its definitely worth a watch, and the cast is great.

I love the multiple genres included in the film, it created a real life feel to it. Adam Scott is a great lead with a great cast around him. This is a great film to just chill out and watch without to much thinking that be enjoyed by all.

I liked the movie, I think I would have liked it better if I hadn't understood it so well. And yes people, some of our parents did behave this way. The fighting in public, ruining weddings, burnt pictures...the list goes on. I think I didn't care for it as much as I could have because Carter, gets crapped on. He is the victim. The parents are selfish a-holes. But if you can't laugh at your misfortune, you just have misfortune. Accurate picture of a dysfunctional divorced family, obviously not all families are like this. Loved all the actors, Jane lynch is one of my favs. Makes you want to be a better parent...and spouse.