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Inventing the Abbotts Customer Reviews (10 - 12 of 13 Reviews)

Engaging Story, Good Performances
The lives of two brothers living in a small town in Illinois are profoundly affected by an alleged incident which took place even before one of them was born, in "Inventing the Abbotts," directed by Pat O'Connor. The Abbotts are one of the wealthiest, most respected families in Haley, Illinois; Lloyd Abbott (Will Patton) is a successful businessman who, along with his wife, Joan (Barbara Williams), has raised three daughters, the oldest of whom, Alice (Joanna Going), is about to be married, while the youngest, Pamela (Liv Tyler), is about to graduate from high school. The Holts, on the other hand, are from the other side of the tracks, and Helen Holt (Kathy Baker) has had to raise her boys on her own. John (Billy Crudup), the oldest, was two-years-old when his father was killed in an accident, while Helen was pregnant with his brother, Doug (Joaquin Phoenix). There's no mystery about what happened in the accident; the bone of contention concerns what happened afterwards-- at least in the eyes of John, even all these years later as he is about to enter collage.

John and Doug's father, it seems, had been business partners with Lloyd Abbott, but after his death, a patent that Mr. Holt owned somehow ended up in Lloyd Abbott's name, making him a wealthy man, while the Holt's ended up in their current state of affairs-- not exactly poor, but barely making ends meet. And since his youth, John has been fixated with the Abbotts, especially their daughters, and one in particular, Eleanor (Jennifer Connelly). But as with most things involving an obsession, it only put John on a lifelong emotional road to nowhere.

Told from Doug's point of view, the story becomes a lesson in life; when to leave the baggage of things best forgotten behind and move on. Phoenix gives an affecting performance as Doug, who has an on-again-off-again relationship with Pamela, the one sister who is, "Just there," as she says (according to her, Alice is the "good" one, Eleanor the "bad"). He captures that sense of being at an age when uncertainty is the only absolute, and you feel his need to search and seek out that toe-hold on life that is often elusive to the young. There's an understated ring of truth in his portrayal that adds that depth which makes his character credible, and one to whom it is easy to relate.

Crudup delivers, as well, with a performance wound in introspective tension so tightly that there are moments when it seems almost tangible. He carries a burden-- that from which his obsession was born-- and it shows. John has so much going for him (the love of his mother and brother; good looks; intelligence), that watching him suffer so emotionally-- even at arm's length-- is sad to see, especially in light of the fact that it is so unnecessary. Still, some of his actions (especially one late in the film) are intrinsically almost too brutal to forgive; only so much, after all, can be buried amid rationalization. In the end, you feel for him, but only so far; and then you are compelled to do what he could not-- you move on.

As Pamela, Liv Tyler turns in a reserved performance that captures something of that same sense of confusion reflected in Doug's character. A bit more grounded, perhaps, but there is still that "searching" going on within her. Connelly, meanwhile, gets into her role as the"bad" sister with relish, exuding a self-assured sexual tension qualified with just enough restraint to make Eleanor a memorable and effective character. Going does a nice job, also, though by the nature of her character alone, she is bound to be somewhat overshadowed by Tyler and Connelly.

The supporting cast includes Michael Sutton (Steve), Alessandro Nivola (Peter), Shawn Hatosy (Victor) and Michael Keaton as the narrator. An engaging and often poignant drama, "Inventing the Abbotts" puts love, loss and confusion (one might say the mainstays of life) into perspective, and illustrates that how we deal with it all is not necessarily a matter of individual choice. Some, in fact, just may have to invent whatever it is they need to hang onto. At one point in the film, Doug says of his brother, "If the Abbotts hadn't existed, John would've invented them." And maybe that's the way it is; taking life as it comes and dealing with it the best way you know how.

Things just get dragged out way too slowly in this one
Every once in a while there is a rude reminder that where I live is, relatively speaking, in the backwaters of the country. In 1997 I must have seen the trailer for "Inventing the Abbotts" a half-dozen times, but the film never came here, so I never had to actually decide if I would pay money to see it in a movie theater or not, although clearly I took my time in getting around to finally watching it. Of course, now the cast of "Inventing the Abbotts" is much more recognizable than it was back then, with Jennifer Connolly being an Oscar winner, Joaquin Phoenix an Oscar nominee, Billy Crudup having traded Penny Lane for a case of beer, and Liv Tyler becoming mortal to marry the King of Gondor. But it is not that difficult to think back to when they were relatively known faces.

The greatest strength of this film is the original score by Michael Kamen, which consistently gave scenes and moments of this film a power that was beyond what the script and the actors were providing. The story is about the Abbotts, a rich family in the 1950s living in a small Illinois town with three daughters, and the Holts brothers, Doug (Phoenix" and J.C. (Crudup). The former is the narrator of the tale, while the later is "addicted" to the Abbotts, attempting to blot out a grievance against the family by seducing the daughters. Doug is more fascinated with J.C.'s story than with his own, but it is Doug that is of more interest to us, especially with his affection for young Pamela Abbott (Tyler), which is momentarily forgotten for a while by his lust for Eleanor (Connelly).

Basically this is a film that gives every indication that Doug and Pamela should end up together and be allowed to live as happily every after as their tortured families and histories might allow, but J.C. and his obsession keeps getting in the way. Meanwhile some of the secrets hidden by each family are doled out bit by bit, completing the picture of the animosity that exists between the Abbotts and the Holts. Lloyd Abbott (Will Patton) knows all about marrying into a rich family, and he is not going to allow that to happen with his daughters, but he is just one of several roadblocks that stands between any of these characters and some home of happiness.

One thing for sure is that "Inventing the Abbotts" is set in a slower time. The pacing of the film is slow, the dialogue is spoken in slow and measured terms, the narration is redundant repetitive, and you become convinced we are never going to get to where the film should end because it will slowly grind to a complete halt. If it were not for our affection towards Pamela, Kathy Baker's performance as the boy's mom, and Kamen's score, I might have given up on this film, especially when Eleanor was shipped away by her father as soon as she had given the story some energy. But by that time we learn that J.C. has committed the greatest possible sin against his brother, I was at least ticked off enough to stay around for the end. The fault for this lies with director Pat O'Connor, especially since he showed in his previous effort, "Circle of Friends," that he can breath live into a story. However, he failed to do that here.

The Invention of a Great Movie
I love this movie with passion. It has everything that a movie could possibly need it has romance, fighting, disease, death, and everything in between. Even though it is something like a soap opera it is still a beautiful story in my mind I mean when you have all those elements it is just a great movie. The story is that two families from different sides of the tracks romance each other. Doug (Joaquin Phoenix) and Pam (Liv Tyler) romance each other through the entire movie but they keep breaking up so we never know whether or not they will end up together in the end. Now Jacey (Billy Crudup) Doug's brother romances Elinor (Jennifer Connelly) and Alice (Joanna Going) and we never know if he will ever grow up. If I give away anymore information other than that it will completley ruin the movie for you so I recommend this to all people out there who are over the age of 14. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did!!!

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