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 YOURS,
MINE & OURS
by Jane Louise
Boursaw
Rated PG
for some mild crude humor. Ok for kids 7 and up. 90 min. Directed by
Raja Gosnell. Released in theaters Nov. 25, 2005.
Let me just
preface this by saying that the original 1968 version starring Lucille
Ball and Henry Fonda is one of my favorite movies. So I was a bit biased
going into it, knowing it would be hard to top the nostalgic charm of
the original.
In this
incarnation, Dennis Quaid plays widower Frank Beardsley, a Coast Guard
Admiral who runs his family of eight kids with military precision. Even
his young son calls him "Admiral," although Frank gently reminds him
that he IS allowed to call him Dad. Rene Russo plays the widowed Helen
North, a free-spirited handbag designer who takes a more relaxed
approach to parenting. In other words, she lets her kids all 10 of
them run wild, along with their pet pig and various other animals. As
a side note, there's NO WAY these two beautiful people look stressed out
enough to have 18 kids between them!
Frank and
Helen high school sweethearts way back when meet in a restaurant by
chance. He's on a blind date; she's with her agent, who's trying to
secure a contract for her handbags with Saks Fifth Avenue. Nice modern
spin. The two secretly moon for their lost love, but each mistakenly
believe the other is married. When they conveniently bump into each
other at their high school reunion, their courtship speeds quickly
along. They hold hands, dance, kiss, fall in love, and end up married.
Yep, all in the same night, it appears. Next thing we know, they've
bought a beautiful old lighthouse and moved their combined 18 kids into
it.
Needless
to say, the kids aren't too thrilled with the situation and decide they
need to break up their parents so they can go back to the way things
used to be. Most of the rest of the movie entails a series of madcap
hijinks a la "Cheaper by the Dozen" food fights, paint-and-spackle
fights, kids hanging out the window, pig chases, etc.
THE
WRAP-UP: Even if you haven't seen the original movie, you know
right away how this one is going to end and pretty much everything in
between. This movie is one predictable scene after another. That said,
my kids 8 and 11 loved the wacky mishaps, and I thought it was a fun
way to spend 90 minutes escaping from the holiday madness. I was also
thanking my lucky stars that I don't have 18 kids all out to get me.
BRINGING THE KIDS:
PRESCHOOLER
(ages 2-5): Youngsters aged five and under may not understand the
whole "merging families" storyline and will probably get bored and
restless. Instead, consider tuning your little ones into the Baby Looney
Tunes family (Cartoon Network, weekdays, 1 p.m.), which features baby
Bugs, Daffy, and the rest of the gang exploring their world and inviting
young viewers to do the same.
GRADE-SCHOOLER (ages 6 - 10): The scheming kids and pig-gone-wild
scenes will be a hit with this age group. In fact, there should be a
"don't try this
 at
home" warning at the beginning of the movie. Also, the fact that the
cast includes all ages gives this movie broad appeal.
TWEEN /
TEEN(ages 11+): Teens and tweens will love seeing their favorite
stars like Danielle Panabaker (Sky High) and Drake Bell (Drake & Josh)
on the big screen, trying to cope with new and unwanted siblings.
There are also a few lessons in family harmony.
SCORE:
TWO REELS out of FOUR
Jane's Reel Rating
System:
One Reel Pathetic.
Even The Force cant save it.
Two Reels
Tolerable. Coulda been a contender.
Three Reels
Thought-provoking. Something to talk about.
Four Reels Wow! The
stuff dreams are made of.
E-chat with me
at
jane@reellifewithjane.com - I
LOVE to talk about movies!
 Read my other reviews
here.
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