Let's be realistic.

good back-story, and good acting

The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.

The movie is wonderful and true, an act of love in all its contradictions and complexity

I liked this one quite a bit. Robert DeNiro is excellent and ultimately what makes this so watchable. He plays a widower who sets out to visit each of his 3 grown children only to discover that they've been hiding their problems from him. I liked the idea that he had to reconnect with his kids because his entire relationship with them had been through his wife. I have seen this scenario play out myself through a couple of friends. Its awkward and tough going.Nothing too exciting really happens here plot wise, but the story still kept my attention as 'Frank' travels around the country from NY to Chicago to Denver, to Vegas, meeting other lonely people and basically intruding on his children's lives.There is a bit of a mystery involved regarding what's in the envelopes he hand delivers to each of them and also in what has happened to his son David. I enjoyed DeNiro's scenes with Drew Barrymore a lot even if her secret did seem a bit far fetched. Kate Beckinsale, Sam Rockwell & Austin Lysy play the other kids. I also enjoyed the flashbacks, where he sees his grown children as young kids. Ultimately I felt sad for Frank.I'm not sure why this is being marketed as a Christmas movie when it has nothing to do with the season. Even the (bad) poster has a tree on it. In actuality there is only 1 short scene involving the holiday. 3/28/15

This movie is about a father and his 4 children. He loves them so much, and when his wife is still alive, he didn't pay much attention to their status. When his wife is dead, he regrets about that and wants to get all the children together to have a family party. However, something bad happens, which makes it not possible. So he visits them one by one. During the visit, he knows that everybody is not as successful as they claim they are. However, he realized that David lives the life that he wants him to live, instead of doing something he himself really wants to do. This is bad thing, because people should live their own lives. Obviously he has spoiled David's life. Then he said "no matter you are a painter or an artist, I love you". It's touching. Overall this movie is good.

I understand why this movie was not a hit. It's a little slow, and much of it is pretty depressing. But if you stick with it, you'll be rewarded with a movie that's sweet and genuine and quite creative and inventive in some of the methods it uses to tell its story. It did, however, trigger one of my pet peeves. I've always been annoyed by Non-Americans pretending to be Americans. Even though Kate Beckinsale's American accent is perfect, while watching the film, I kept hearing her say things that an American would never say. "How could this happen?" I wondered. Answer: The writer/director and his co-writer are both Europeans. At one point, she says she had an appointment, but the man "didn't turn up." Ever hear an American say that? To me, it's like a slap in the face that distracts from the story and makes me wonder who the hell made this film that wouldn't catch such a thing. Later in the movie, the same character says twice that she flew from Chicago "out to Mexico." Anyone with the vaguest understanding of North American geography would say they flew "down to Mexico." Nonetheless, I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys a serious look at family relationships and the strains that come along with aging parents and siblings spread far and wide.

I'm not saying the acting was bad, just hear me out. First of all , don't pick this as a date movie, I made that mistake and me and my bf were looking at each other crying ridiculously and screaming "why!" this film kinda reminds me of the movie Crossroads just with way better acting and cast and no brittney spears!. Its just one tragedy after another and just too painful to watch. The only character I was really feeling sorry for was Robert De Nero. He was the one that had to really suffer. Having four kids that seem to not care about him to tell him the truth about anything, now that's depressing. And the secrets they are keeping aren't really that bad, they just build up drama, and everything really bad that happens, happens to him. Now the big finale when one of his kids die you really don't feel remorse for that because you never meet him, but just feel sorry for the dad.I just can't sit through it again. I'm not quite sure why so many people enjoyed it. It was OK just not heartwarming like some depressing films are. Maybe someone out there will agree with me