ruth-dossett

This is a movie that can be only described as INCREDIBLE!! Everything comes together in this movie. The family of superheroes reflects an actual family...the father is a strongman, protecting his family; the mom is elastic, being stretched in every direction to keep her family and children in check; the daughter is a shy person who shrinks and/or disappears; the son is a speed demon with energy to spare; etc., etc. They all come together to help save the world from the bad guys...just like a family should! The voice talent (Craig Nelson, Holly Hunter, Samuel L. Jackson, Jason Lee, on and on) was incredible (it's the only adjective I can think of!)...everybody matched their character. I'll forgive an early slow stretch (only a few minutes) because the rest overwhelmed it. This movie gets a 10 only because I can't give it a higher score!!

Bonnie Hunt always seems to get better with age. She survived job burnout in the mid-'80s to get into performing with Second City and, from there, it was on to films and television. Even after three short-lived (but critically acclaimed) sitcoms she got the perfect format...a daytime talk variety show. This was perfect for her and her "girl next door"/"surrogate daughter/sister/aunt" personality. I watched every time the show was on (11 am in Phoenix-the competition is local news, soaps, Today and Jerry Springer) and never got tired. No heavy drama (Ellen's dog saga), no interrogation of guests (e.g. Rosie O'Donnell vs. Tom Selleck), just good entertainment. I especially liked the weekly visits with her mom and the opening narration by her niece...very warm and family oriented. I see by the IMDb website and Google that the show has been cancelled...another tragic casualty in the wake of similar shows such as those hosted by Tony Danza, Megan Mullally, Pat Bullard, etc. One only hopes and prays that everything comes to a good end and everybody goes on to whatever they do next. For two years, this was my midday fix...Bonnie at 11 am...and now it's apparently going away. All the best, Bonnie...you and everybody else will land on your feet.

A few weeks ago, under my former name of Ruth Ann Renaud, I wrote a review stating that Margaret "Hot Lips" Houlihan wouldn't have taken five minutes of any of this. Now that I've gotten to see some more episodes and I've gotten more adjusted to the characters, it's good to see that everybody SEEMS to be getting along. The plot line about the father having Alzheimer's disease/senile dementia hits home-my mom and at least two uncles died from it. James LeGros' doctor (who I called "oily") deserves some sympathy having lost a wife. At least he's on a first name basis with the nurses. The young nurse (Michelle Trachtenberg's character) seems to be developing some armor-the way she stood down the wife of her boyfriend was good to watch. Veronica also was good as a surrogate older sister playing "crazy war veteran" with the wife. The usual subplots that are in other medical dramas are here, but putting the emphasis on the nurses gives the show a new perspective. It just gets better every week!