The red pill (harsh reality) version __ 7.5/10
Grandma nails it. Her statement comes in the final scenes and synopsizes the life situation of Gil Buckman (Steve Martin) and Karen Buckman (Mary Steenburgen) and family to a tee. Life and family life, when truly lived, is a rocky sort of thing: the peaks and valleys are fairly evenly dispersed. No constant rose garden to be found. The question is: does the movie—with its seemingly neverending crises from this quarter and that: child development problems, teenage angst, gambling and alcohol addictions, control-freak parenting, professional disappointments, sexual issues, and emotional remoteness—stand up as entertainment? [more]
