A Major Disappointment

Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

It Runs in the family is a great movie to watch with family. The character's have great chemistry together. The cast is incredibly talented, especially, Kirk Douglas, he still has that spark in him that makes him a natural. Dina Douglas (mother,grandmother) is a delight to watch. Michael Douglas is an inspiration as Alex. Cameron Douglas is a very talented young man. Rory Culken is a clever and talented boy like his brother. Once again, Bernadette Peters shows that she is an incredible actress. If you want a great family movie to watch, this one is the one or if you want a comedy, this movie has some scenes that has some funny moments. I give this movie a 10/10 rating.

Though It Runs In the Family could have been Kirk Douglas's swan song, his signature on his career as The Shootist was for John Wayne, the man went out and did another after this. And at the age of 90 he may still try another.It's not as bad as watching James Cagney in Terrible Joe Moran, that television film which had Cagney in a wheelchair and nearly all his lines dubbed in by impressionist Rich Little. Kirk is conceding to his limitations in the part, the stroke we all know he suffered is written in. Still remembering him in Spartacus or The Vikings or even in something as trite as My Dear Secretary, one remembers the tremendous energy he brought to all his parts. The energy unlike with Cagney, is still there, only his slurred speech is a reminder of what he sustained.Personally I like to remember my movie idols as they were in their prime, going out the way Greta Garbo, Cary Grant, or William Powell did. Kirk is the patriarch of the Gromberg family and son Michael and grandson Cameron play the same roles in the film. Even former wife Diana Douglas, Michael's real life mom, plays grandma. The problems of each generation is shown. In the end the family is all brought closer together.Kirk did his own homage to one of his former starring roles, The Vikings, when he and Michael take his brother's body and give him a viking funeral on a lake. It's the most poignant scene in the film.When he wrote his memoirs Kirk made much reference to his Russian Jewish heritage. In his prime I can only recall in Cast A Giant Shadow where that was part of the plot. In his old age, Kirk Douglas has gone back to his roots in a few projects. Another favorite scene of mine is the Passover Seder.Still it's painful to watch him, but you got to admire the man's grit.

There might have been a good film project in pairing Kirk Douglas and his son Michael. These two actors have been leaders in their field in more than a half century of movie making. I would have preferred a documentary-style film in which these two legendary performers reminisce about their films, their careers, and their relationship. It is obvious that Michael adores his father. Unfortunately, "It Runs in the Family" was not a showcase for these actors' talents. The film proceeded in fits and starts. Oddly, the storyline was that of a dysfunctional family with many embarrassing scenes, including one jaw-dropper with Kirk and Michael setting a boat ablaze as a funeral pyre with Kirk's dead brother aboard. They flee the scene as the police and fire department arrive. Was this sequence supposed to be funny? The cast is rounded out by such fine performers as Bernadette Peters and Audra McDonald, who are wasted in the film. In their film careers, both Kirk and Michael Douglas consistently showed good taste in their film projects. "It Runs in the Family" was a notable lapse and an unfortunate exercise in self-indulgence.

I think the only person who's not a member of the Douglas clan in 'It Runs In The Family' is director Fred Schepisi. Okay, I exaggerate, but there are 3 generations PLAYING 3 generations (Kirk, Michael, and Cameron) and Kirk's ex-wife even plays his doting wife in the film. This is the first time that Kirk & Michael have worked together since the son's bit part in dad's '66 war drama 'Cast A Giant Shadow'. Young Cameron makes his film debut here and doesn't embarrass himself while acting with his world-famous elders. Bernadette Peters and Rory Culkin round out the headlining cast as the mother and youngest son of the Gromberg family.This picture received plenty of publicity in spring '03 because it was a rare on-screen appearance by movie god Kirk Douglas. He doesn't stray too far from his own reality as a stroke victim with a loving wife and a successful son. In the movie, the Grombergs are New York lawyers. It must have been an act of will not to make them movie producers or something filmic. The drama is actually mostly melodrama, some of which doesn't work. Mitchell (Kirk) has a complicated relationship with Alex (Michael), who has difficult relations with his own sons. Every character goes through romantic troubles of one kind or another (death of a beloved, first love, infidelity) and the movie deserves credit for managing to be cute, but not cloying. It even ends on the right note of non-finality, which I assume was a contribution by Schepisi (who's good at leaving some realistic loose ends in his films).Kirk probably comes off best here. He does a thing with pillows that just might bust your heart in two. Michael isn't stretching himself (although you can read the reverence for his dad in his eyes) and while Bernadette Peters & Rory Culkin do a nice job, they're merely providing low-key support to the Douglas gang. Kirk's still got it, even if he has to work extra hard to form sentences. The ferocity of 'The Bad And The Beautiful' isn't there anymore (hey, the guy is 88 this year, so the fact that he's working at all is amazing), but Kirk shows some funny facial expressions and double-takes. He's never anything less than compelling, which is the way it's always been in his career.'It Runs In The Family' was in & out of theatres in about 19 minutes last year, which is a shame. While I'm being generous to recommend it, I confess that I enjoyed myself and really grew to like what was going on in this flick. The humour is scatter-shot, but I like that they didn't camp it up and go for cheap gags. Perhaps Michael, Kirk & company have never had a strained relationship the way the Gromberg's do, but they play the pathos in Jesse Wigutow's script well enough to make you care. Am I being so nice because it's such a treat to see a feisty Kirk Douglas working again? Maybe, but I felt good about these characters, warts and all. Perhaps the Douglas' will do something else together and get Catherine Zeta-Jones to join in the fun.