Review: Yours, Mine and Ours (*)

YOURS, MINE AND OURS
A film review by Steve Rhodes

Copyright 2005 Steve Rhodes



RATING (0 TO ****): *



Gag. I'm here to report that YOURS, MINE AND OURS isn't as bad as you
probably feared it might be. It's worse. Much worse. By SCOOBY-DOO's
director Raja Gosnell, this remake of the 1968 film, which starred Lucille
Ball and Henry Fonda, is nothing but shrill and frantic slapstick. Watching
it, you'll swear Gosnell had all of his actors running on a treadmill while
he yelled at them to scream louder and run faster. He also must have had a
clock on the set that went off every three minutes to remind the actors that
it was time for another pratfall. At one point during the movie, I put my
fingers in my ears in order to attempt to save my hearing.



The parents this time are played, actually overplayed by Rene Russo and
Dennis Quaid. As Helen North, Russo is a New Age thinker accustomed to
running a rule-free house. Other than having to hold the "talking stick"
during family conferences in order to express an opinion, her kids are free
spirits who are permitted, nay encouraged, to do absolutely anything their
heart desires, including spray-painting graffiti on their walls. Her family
of ten, by extensive use of adoption, looks like an a diversity poster since
she appears to have just about every race on earth.



In contrast, Frank Beardsley (Quaid) is a by-the-book Admiral, who has
recently taken the position as head of the United States Coast Guard
Academy. His eight children, who call him Admiral, wholeheartedly say,
"Aye, Aye Sir," to his long list of rules and commands. In short, his
family life is as over structured and organized as Helen's is a complete
mess. Of course, none of their kids are truly rebellious or get into any
trouble.



Before you can blink an eye, Helen and Frank, a widow and a widower who used
to date in high school, have met each other and gotten married. They fall
back in love at a black-tie dance aboard a fancy cruise ship that their high
school class has chartered for their 30th reunion. Boy, their high school
must have been a whole lot richer than most people's. Even harder to
believe is that, before they even told any of their brood that they were
dating, they got married. Right!



Once married, the movie goes to the center stage, set in a lighthouse that
will be their home. On the stage, the director features all kinds of
entertainment for our amusement from food fights to paint fights to water
fights to miscellaneous mayhem. Typical of the movie's scenes is the one of
the breakfast table, where the eighteen kids and one large pig gorge
themselves like animals.



"That was a disaster," Helen tells Frank at one point. And so is the movie.
I repeat. Gag.



YOURS, MINE AND OURS runs 1:30. It is rated PG for "some mild crude humor"
and would be acceptable for kids around 10 and up given the very long scene
featuring underage drinking.



The film opens nationwide in the United States on Wednesday, November 23,
2005. In the Silicon Valley, it will be showing at the AMC theaters, the
Century theaters and the Camera Cinemas.



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"Steve Rhodes" wrote in message
ink.net...
YOURS, MINE AND OURS
A film review by Steve Rhodes

Copyright 2005 Steve Rhodes



RATING (0 TO ****): *



Gag. I'm here to report that YOURS, MINE AND OURS isn't as bad as you
probably feared it might be. It's worse. Much worse. ....

For what it is worth... the ad I saw in my local paper reminded me of the
original movie with Henry Fonda and Lucille Ball,
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0063829/ . It turns out THAT is available in
DVD, and even more fortunate my local library system has a copy
(unfortunately neither the city nor county library have a copy of the book
it was based on). So I checked it out and watched. It was funnier than I
remembered when I watched it as a kid (I now get a couple of the more subtle
jokes). Lucille Ball's drunk episode after the Beardsley boys made her a
drink was funny and touching at the same time.

Another interesting thing... They show a scene at NAS Alameda (active then,
but no longer). I recognize it as the place where The Mythbusters stage
some of their "experiments".