Too many fans seem to be blown away

Self-important, over-dramatic, uninspired.

Most undeservingly overhyped movie of all time??

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

Way back in the day, for my friends and me, it was all about rebellion against the mainstream, and the Cowsills seemed about as mainstream as you could get. You could just look at them and be pretty sure that while we were dropping acid and blowing our minds with Abbey Road, they were downing Hostess Twinkies and hanging out with their mom and little sister. Well, it turns out that they were a bunch of very talented and fun people who accomplished a whole lot more than my wasted friends and I ever did. You get to know them and like them in this movie, and hear all about the extreme ups and downs of their lives. It's great, I'm glad they seem to have hung together as a family, although a number of them have died. I think Susan is my favorite. How could you not cheer for a precocious little girl with seven big brothers. One thing that's kind of interesting to me is that they all appear to be very self-confident and outgoing people, both now and as kids, despite their tumultuous upbringing. It makes me ponder the "nature vs nurture" thing, especially since nurture was lacking in that household. Anyway, a really good movie, I enjoyed it and have done a complete 180 regarding my opinion of the Cowsills... they are fantastic!

"Family Band: The Cowsills Story" is a low budget and rather slap-dash documentary charting the rise and fall of the 1960's Rhode Island family pop group. Clearly compiled from years of haphazardly conducted interviews with various band members, relatives, and entertainment industry business associates and acquaintances, the documentary is rather uneven. It has numerous interviews where the interviewee(s) neither say anything of substance nor provide any particular insight into the topic being discussed. Plus, the documentary assumes that the only people who will watch are former Cowsill fans who would already be familiar as to who is who and thus it doesn't identify who these gray-haired people are in relation to the wholesome-looking, apple-cheeked, toothy kids they were over 40 years ago.The documentary just feels unfocused. It can't make-up its mind to be a history of a band or cautionary tale of abuse or a therapeutic story of healing among a broken family. Apparently, the filmmakers struggled financially for years to complete this film and it shows.Still as disjointed and unfocused as the documentary is, the story of The Cowsills is fascinating. It's the oft-told pop music tale of rags to riches then back to rags except it destroyed a family and not just a band. The documentary charts the rise of four young Rhode Island brothers who in the mid-1960's dreamed of being the next Beatles. They and a million other teenage boys who shared the exact same dream. However, the Cowsill brothers had some serious talent especially the eldest, Billy, and they had their unbelievably driven father, Bud, an ex-Navy lifer who truly believed in his children's talent and was determined to bust down doors to see them succeed.Along the way Bud's vision of success clashed with that of his sons', and, as typical with all things Cowsill, Bud's vision won-out. With "The Sound of Music" then currently smashing box-office records, Bud either came-up with or listened to the idea of turning his sons' rock band into an American pop version of the Von Trapps complete with a singing mother. So, mom, Barbara, was forced rather unwillingly into the band. Naturally, her sons were horrified by this decision, but then the band scored their first hit, "The Rain, the Park and Other Things," with mom singing on the harmonies and they were stuck with her. The brothers' dream of rock stardom then completely evaporated when their father decided that their cute-as-a-button baby-sister, Susan, should join the band for no other reason than she was cute-as-a-button.With the final inclusion of a fifth brother, The Cowsills managed to score four Top 40 hits including three in the Top 10. They appeared in numerous TV shows, performed hundreds of concerts, and even had an endorsement deal with the American Dairy Association. With their well-scrubbed good looks and non-controversial music, they were marketed as family-friendly and wholesome during the tumultuous late 1960's.And then it all fell apart. The documentary does discuss some of the immediate after effects of The Cowsills' amazingly quick fall from the pop scene and the loss of everything they had earned due to their father's gross mismanagement, but it doesn't provide too much detail as if it's still too painful to recall. The long term effects are given a lot more attention especially relating to the premature demise of two of the founding brothers, Billy and Barry.The Cowsill story is both so fascinating and tragic that even a substandard documentary can make it interesting. Their father, Bud, rivals and maybe even surpasses other infamous stage-dads, Murray Wilson and Joe Jackson, for abuse and mismanagement. On the other hand, their mother doesn't really resonate and the image one gets is of a mouse of a woman afraid to stand-up to an abusive husband and thus failing her children. Their entire wholesome image was a façade created to sell milk and records. And when Bud had burned their last bridge within the entertainment industry and with their trust funds empty, where does that leave six kids who had spent their formative years as entertainers? The younger ones were expected to just go back to school and carry on as if nothing had happened. A sort of nightmare reverse version of "Hannah Montana." It would make a good Hollywood tragedy.

For those of you who are over 50 and remember the Cowsills or even if you haven't, this movie is sure to interest you. The family band, popular in the late 60's was composed of five brothers, one little sister and their mother. All of them were talented musicians who perfected harmonizing. There were many hits, including "The Rain, the Park and Other Things", and "Hair".This story is about their journey from the time the original four brothers started the band, to the breakup of the band, and what happened to them many years later. They open up about very personal family issues, including a brother who wasn't allowed to join them even though he yearned to. They talk about family secrets, revealing a family who was far from the perfect, happy family the public saw.This is an entertaining movie, featuring the music of these very talented family members, many of whom became solo musicians and talented songwriters. At the same time, it is a story about a very real family with very real problems and tells each of its members individual stories. Throughout the movie you'll learn about how they coped and how most of them survived.This is a family who despite rejection, failure, tragedy and some other harsh realities, still love each other.

The Cowsills were a band made up of brothers, one sister and their mom, ho had a few major hit records in the ate 60s. They were the inspiration for the show The Partidge Family. While this documentary chronicles the fairly short time they were fairly big stars, it more goes into the psychology of the family itself, especially about their abusive father Bud. There are interviews with all of them, and the insight they give to themselves and what they meant to both the world and each other is kind of fascinating. Although they look back in some regret you also see the love that still exists between them. This film is recommended for anyone who is interested in music documentaries that delve beyond the music to what all of their time in the sun and beyond meant. You see immense talent, but you also see the struggle. By the way, the music is good. If you remember them or are curious, this is just about a must see.