Wonderful character development!

Really Surprised!

I have absolutely never seen anything like this movie before. You have to see this movie.

Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

The latest (at the time) in a saccharin trend of kinder, gentler movies celebrating family values and filial responsibilities stars Ted Danson as a well-to-do yuppie who becomes reacquainted with his elderly, fragile father (Jack Lemmon) after his overworked mother suffers a mild heart attack. As might be expected the film has potential for turning maudlin at every change of scene (especially when every change of scene is set in a hospital), but each tear-jerking plot twist is handled with care and held in check by more than one notable performance: Danson, in particular, plays the dutiful son with a low-key skill in every way the equal of an old pro like Lemmon. In between the heart attack and the recovery room and the cancer ward (and so forth and so on) the script can be too aggressively tender, but by the not unexpected conclusion the film has built up enough surplus emotional depth to make any shortcoming easier to forgive.

Had potential but fell completely flat because of Ted Danson's inability to act in any emotional way. He had one believable scene where he displayed real anger, but other then that, he ruined this movie. I was disappointed because for all the top talent this movie had, it just fell flat. Plot line was disjointed and undeveloped. Yet somehow it still seemed like it was 2 and 1/2 hours long, it dragged. I think if Kevin Spacey and Ted Danson would switch roles, this movie might have worked. I didn't like Dukakus acting at all, what was with the New York accent in southern California? After living in southern Cal. for 30 years do you think it would be that strong?? The positives would be the great acting of Jack Lemmon and Ethan Hawke. They did great jobs and were enjoyable to watch.

A Family is so important in life,especially in times of crisis and turmoil.Danson(of Cheers fame),plays a divorced yuppie who must return home to care for his aging mother(Dukakis)and father(Lemmon).He has a son he hardly knows, and is overly obsessive in business.He is faced with the knowledge, of his father's shortcomings and weakness to stand up to a domineering wife.Lemmon plays a man resigned to her "take-over" attitude he accepts.It is heart wrenching to face any diagnosis;Danson's character screams, when a doctor goes against his wishes of silence about the father's condition. It would show a poor lack of ethics in the medical community.I gather from the film, the importance of strengthening family ties and relationships. Life is unpredictable, but the certainty is true Love and compassion for others.

Genuine tear-jerker that has the elderly Olympia Dukakis falling ill and leaving husband Jack Lemmon in limbo. Dukakis has done all the work in the relationship and Lemmon is helpless, plain and simple. Son Ted Danson comes to the rescue though and Dukakis starts to recover slowly. However trouble looms as Lemmon will be diagnosed with cancer and go into an emotional tail-spin that could kill him. A sappy screenplay works to near perfection here and steady direction helps the film's cause as well. Watch for a young Ethan Hawke as Lemmon's grandson. Heart-wrenching and heart-warming at the same time. 4 stars out of 5.