Instant Favorite.

Good concept, poorly executed.

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

I didn’t really have many expectations going into the movie (good or bad), but I actually really enjoyed it. I really liked the characters and the banter between them.

I'm over 50 but I must have just missed this group's span of popularity. I do remember seeing them mentioned in "Tiger Beat" and other fan magazines back in the day when I was looking for All Things Cassidy, and wondering who they were. The last name certainly sticks with you; it's very unusual.Interesting documentary, and also very disturbing in places. I agree with the other reviewers who would have liked to see more identifying of the various brothers each time their interview clips were shown, since I wasn't familiar with which one was which, and I had trouble telling them apart.Obviously I wasn't there when any of this was going on, but I'm always a little disturbed when families "pile on" to a deceased member and accuse him/her of various transgressions. Whether or not it's true (and I'm not saying it's not), it would have been better to have had this come out after they were all adults but when their father was still alive, so he could at least have had an opportunity to offer his side of the story. That goes for the abuse allegations (many of which were apparently witnessed) as well as what happened to all the money the group earned over their brief but successful career.Worth a look to anyone who remembers them (and isn't afraid of getting their childhood memories messed with) or anyone who's into retro pop.

All families have a negative past. No one is perfect. The thing about the Cowsills is that they have musical genius, and made it into our pop culture. They are so cool. I liken them to the Beach Boys in many ways. genius is always subject to abuse. It is, of course, strange to defend their dads beating them, but in some ways it is familiar. Their dads loved them and tried to make them excel. Weird, but true. They did try and produce for the rest of their lives. Tough to watch. The brothers and sister held together like glue. All I know is that is loved the story. Susan is underrated in every way. A gem.Note that the brother that played the drums is playing for Brian Wilson today. Some kind of wild karma thing, or maybe just more Brian Wilson genius. Who knows. Totally cool in any case.

Wonderful documentary by Louise Palanker that chronicles the oft posed but rarely answered question: What happened to The Cowsills? The music cleverly used throughout the film tells us a lot without trying to but what is especially refreshing is that the film allows the story to unfold naturally (and this is so important to this kind of story) in the family's own words. I never get the feeling that the filmmaker intrudes upon the story in any way. The music is a large asset to the film because it was truly refreshing and creative. Interesting insert by Shirley Jones who played the mother in the televised version aka The Partridge Family. I often wondered why TV executives did not just let The Cowsills play themselves on a televised version. This would have been a successful reality TV show had the Cowsills happened today. Brought to mind another greatly talented family group, The Jackson Five with a similar issue of paternal bullying and worse. At times shockingly revealing, the film shows what being a family is truly about, dysfunction, tragedy and all. Don't miss it.

"Growing up in the bay area with "Live" acid rock from the likes of Jefferson Airplane and Big Brother and The Holding Company and never listening to AM Radio, I suppose I missed all the hoopla on The Cowsills Story." But thanks to these wonderful Filmmakers, I got to see just how bad they were! There is no way you are going to convince this real flower child that the Cowsills made anything close to good music. The flaw in the doc is that they only talk to folks close to the band and the remaining band-members themselves. They forgot to talk to all of us that hated bands like this. The Cowsills, The Monkees.. my god, you can't get any worse! So now on with the review: The doc is great even though it hugs their awful music. Extremely candid and unobtrusive. America's Family gone to all hell for sure is told in a way that you hate the abusive Father that made the whole thing up. Punching out his own boys, abusing his daughter and wrecking recording contracts is the perfect fit when it comes to the "stage father" out for the cash and not caring who gets in the way. The Films paints a vivid picture of how easily kids can be swayed into anything a parent in this case makes them all do. Be a band, be sweet to everyone, lie about your life at home and ask for top dollar. When Shirley Jones testifies to herself asking why the Producers of The Partridge Family didn't use the real Cowsills? She got "Their not actors" as a bad answer. Actually I disagree, the mature Cowsills could have their own Reality Show with all the fighting, the healing and the mess their Father made of their lives still happening after all these years.This Doc is in your face, hard hitting and provocative. But then its splattered with that pastel pop music that makes one physically sick.. well at least in my case. Talented, no way Jose.. a 2 hit wonder.. yes! Another story of Babylon but at least its not a Hollywood disaster this time. If you can get around the music, this one as a lesson of bad management and abuse in the music biz should not be missed.