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THE FAMILY TREEMovie Reviews
Comedy about a dysfunctional family that gets an unexpected chance at happiness when the mother develops amnesia. Cast:Dermot Mulroney, Hope Davis, Chi McBride, Keith CarradineDirector:Vivi FriedmanRelease Date:August 26, 2011DVD Release:November 22, 2011From: Entertainment OneRating:RLength:1 hr 27 min
The Family Tree played in New York City and Los Angeles to poor reviews. • Alissa Simon wrote in Daily Variety, "...suffers from severe problems of tone, a surfeit of undeveloped plot points and characters, and bland direction." • And Chuck Bowen wrote for Slant, "...the usual trite, bluntly written, and poorly staged testaments to love and family." More Reviews Below...
The Family Tree Positive Reviews (8 Reviews, reviews below)
The Family Tree has not been reviewed by Broad National Press
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NEW YORK/LOS ANGELES/CHICAGO/TORONTO (6 Reviews)
Stephen Holden, New York Times: POOR "...a hyperactive screenplay by Mark Lisson is so lacking in substance, the movie feels as though it had been thought up in a vacuum-sealed Hollywood think tank..."(See all of Stephen Holden's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 430 words, 08/26/11
Elizabeth Weitzman, New York Daily News: WEAK(cg) "...the actors ground the film with a calm maturity absent from both Vivi Friedman's frenetic direction and Mark Lisson's ostentatiously quirky script."(See all of Elizabeth Weitzman's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 137 words, 08/26/11
Gary Goldstein, Los Angeles Times: FAIR "Friedman's inability to successfully reconcile the film's duality undercuts an eclectic cast gamely committed to Mark Lisson's thematically ambitious, if scattered, script."(See all of Gary Goldstein's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 243 words, 08/26/11
Sara Stewart, New York Post: POOR(cg) "...stale... devolves into way too many quirky subplots involving a Mohawked rebel, a nerdy girl with a leg brace, a Goth lesbian schoolteacher, a pot-smoking preacher..."(See all of Sara Stewart's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 215 words, 08/26/11
Mark Holcomb, Village Voice/LA Weekly: FAIR "The sneering misanthropy of 'American Beauty' should've killed off dysfunctional-suburban-family movies last century, but somehow indie iterations trickle forth."(See all of Mark Holcomb's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 211 words, 08/24/11
KEY CITIES (0 Reviews)
The Family Tree has not been reviewed in Key Cities
ALTERNATIVE/INDIE PRESS (3 Reviews)
Mark Holcomb, Village Voice/LA Weekly: FAIR "The sneering misanthropy of 'American Beauty' should've killed off dysfunctional-suburban-family movies last century, but somehow indie iterations trickle forth."(See all of Mark Holcomb's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 211 words, 08/24/11
Chuck Bowen, Slant: WEAK(cg) "...the usual trite, bluntly written, and poorly staged testaments to love and family. Who needs that when you have a cast this game? A truly troubled family isn't, at the very least, this deadly dull."(See all of Chuck Bowen's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 728 words, 08/22/11
HIGHBROW PRESS (2 Reviews)
Stephen Holden, New York Times: POOR "...a hyperactive screenplay by Mark Lisson is so lacking in substance, the movie feels as though it had been thought up in a vacuum-sealed Hollywood think tank..."(See all of Stephen Holden's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 430 words, 08/26/11
Gary Goldstein, Los Angeles Times: FAIR "Friedman's inability to successfully reconcile the film's duality undercuts an eclectic cast gamely committed to Mark Lisson's thematically ambitious, if scattered, script."(See all of Gary Goldstein's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 243 words, 08/26/11
MOVIE INDUSTRY (3 Reviews)
Alissa Simon, Daily Variety: POOR "An interesting premise and a good cast are wasted.... suffers from severe problems of tone, a surfeit of undeveloped plot points and characters, and bland direction."(See all of Alissa Simon's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 537 words, 06/21/10
Gary Goldstein, Los Angeles Times: FAIR "Friedman's inability to successfully reconcile the film's duality undercuts an eclectic cast gamely committed to Mark Lisson's thematically ambitious, if scattered, script."(See all of Gary Goldstein's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 243 words, 08/26/11
Stephen Holden, New York Times: POOR "...a hyperactive screenplay by Mark Lisson is so lacking in substance, the movie feels as though it had been thought up in a vacuum-sealed Hollywood think tank..."(See all of Stephen Holden's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 430 words, 08/26/11
12.3 Percentage Points Average Difference Between Reviews (Norm is 18.4pp; <18.4pp = More Consistent; >18.4pp = More Mixed)
The Family Tree's reviews are separated by an average 12.3 percentage points. The norm for this measure is 18.4 percentage points. Less than 18.4 indicates more consistent reviews; greater than 18.4 indicates more mixed reviews. In the chart below, each dot represents a review, with the dots at the top more positive than the dots at the bottom. From left to right, the dots represent reviews in big, bigger and biggest publications. Roll over each dot for more detail.
The Family Tree (8 reviews) Roll over dots for each review
Coverage:The Family Tree's reviews cover 10.3% of potential readers (average is 67.9%). Volume:The film's reviews total 2,765 words involume (average is 20,194 words). Length:The film's reviews average 346 words in length (the norm is 517 words).
The Family Tree Coverage, Volume & Length (8 Reviews, reviews below)
Reviews Broke 18 Days Before Release (Norm is 1.2 Release)
The Family Tree's reviews on average broke 18 days before opening. Norm for this measure is 1.2 hours before. The chart below shows reviews on opening day and the days before and after opening; the left side is earlier and the right side is later. The red bars extending above the horizontal mid-line represent more positive reviews, and the red bars extending below represent more negative reviews. The white space/red bar in the middle is The Family Tree's opening day. Click on any bar for a list of the reviews for that day.
The Family Tree (8 reviews, click on bars for reviews)
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