PARENTHOOD
A film review by Steve Rhodes
Copyright 1997 Steve Rhodes
RATING (0 TO ****): *** 1/2
When they are told that their son Kevin (Jasen Fisher) must go to a special school next year due to his behavior problems, his parents, Gil (Steve Martin) and Karen (Mary Steenburgen), start blaming each other and then they come up with various crackpot ideas. "We'll throw away the TV," Gil blurts out. "We'll perform Shakespeare in front of him."
Although Ron Howard's 1989 film PARENTHOOD is a master at the verbal humor, the physical humor has its own special, subtle beauty. When the lights go out at the big family dinner, everyone goes looking for a flashlight. When power is restored Gil ends up holding the pulsating vibrator of his grown sister Helen, played in a knowing, Academy Award nominated performance by Dianne Wiest. In another scene, Helen flips through the graphic sexual pictures of her daughter Julie (Martha Plimpton) and Julie's boyfriend Tod (Keanu Reeves). Never letting us see the pictures, Helen laughs in horror as she interrogates Julie about how the pictures came to be made.
Interlaced with the humor is a multigenerational parenthood story. Frank (Jason Robards) is the family's patriarch, and Gil is one of his children. Most shows concentrate on the kids, but this show stays true to its title and focuses almost exclusively on parenthood itself, including relationship of adults to their parents.
Gil flashes back with daydreams about his relationship with his father when he was young and forward to a dream of his son's being valedictorian and thanking him in the commencement speech. When things don't go quite as Gil wishes, the dreams turn to nightmares of Kevin being as a campus sniper.
Lowell Ganz, Ron Howard and Babaloo Mandel's intelligent and profoundly wise script manages to be serious and delicious funny at the same time. Martin, in his prime, is the Dad who remains willing to do anything for his son, right down to impersonating Cowboy Dan at his son's birthday party. (The real Cowboy Dan was beaten to a pulp at an adult male's birthday party when a stripper and Cowboy Dan got their addresses mixed up.)
Gil resents the way his father ignored him when he was young. Gil doesn't understand Kevin either although he certainly tries harder than his dad did. "Where does he get this excessive behavior?" Gil asks about Kevin, while Gil obsessively washes his hands.
Most films are advised not to include too many featured parts lest none be adequately developed, but director Ron Howard is one of the few who can and does bring this off. Among the many minor players, Tom Hulce appears as Frank's ne'er-do-well son and compulsive gambler, Larry. Frank feeds Larry money which only exacerbates Larry's troubles.
Besides coping with her daughter Julie, Helen has other difficulties. One day, Helen uncovers the big secret of her 9-year-old son Garry, played by Joaquin Phoenix (then known as Leaf Phoenix). She fears it's drugs he's been keeping in his carefully guarded brown paper bag, but it's porno tapes instead. Relieved, she takes a charitable view, saying he must be "interested in sex -- or filmmaking."
My personal favorite scene is when Nathan (Rick Moranis) drills his 4-year-old daughter with flashcards of the chemical elements. It's never too soon to get ready for the best universities.
Gil loses his big promotion to partner to a guy who is so dedicated to his job that his boss doesn't even know if the guy has children. "Women have choices, and men have responsibilities," an angry Gil explodes to his wife when overcome by the pressures of both being a good father to his kids and keeping an adequate job. When his wife points out the fallacies in his argument, he backs down, but feels even more lost.
After being detestable in most of the movie, Frank finally becomes sympathetic toward the conclusion. "It never ends," Frank tells Gil about fatherhood. Frank's grown son Larry, being threatened with extinction by gangsters wanting their money, is still more than Frank can handle. And like a good father, he comes up with what he views as an eminently reasonable resolution of the problem, complete with an installment scheme payoff. Larry, never able to grow up, of course, does not see it that way and wants to chase another get-rich-quick scheme, this time with platinum.
Leave it to Grandma to explain it all. Although some people like merry-go-rounds, she says she has always preferred the roller coaster. Gil realizes his life is a roller coaster, and he comes to relish it. The marvelously life-affirming film ends in a massive baby birthing scene with enough joy for every member of the audience.
PARENTHOOD runs 2:04. It is rated PG-13 for profanity and sexual humor and situations. The film would be fine for kids 10 and up.
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