Release Date: April 25, 2003
Starring: Michael Douglas, Kirk Douglas, Cameron Douglas, Diana Douglas, Bernadette Peters
Directed by: Fred Schepisi
Written by: Jesse Wigutow
Distributed by: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
MPAA Rating: PG-13 (drug content, sexual material, language)
There could have been many things to admire in It Runs in the Family, a loosely autobiographical film starring three generations of Douglas actors. For one, this would have been appropriate as Kirk Douglas’s farewell to the motion picture industry, and for another, it would have been a touching memento to spring Cameron Douglas on the public in the same film. Unfortunately, so much more could have been achieved with this intriguing family than what the story allowed.
Nevertheless, this film offers a glimpse into a fictional family’s life and reveals a lot more truth and sincerity about the relationships between the Douglas men than would’ve otherwise been known. They play the Grombergs, members of a wealthy New York family that have issues with communication. Mitchell (Kirk Douglas), the patriarch, finds himself brooding over his own mortality a year after suffering a stroke. His son, Alex (Michael Douglas) is constantly trying to avoid the pitfalls of fatherhood while struggling with his marriage. And Alex’s son, Asher (Cameron Douglas), is a rebellious college student who has problems with drugs. Focusing on the dual father/son relationships, most of the film is devoted to the family coming together to deal with these problems.
Similar to American Beauty in its slice-of-life portrayal of a dysfunctional, disjointed family in which each member is living their own separate life unbeknownst to the others, It Runs in the Family fails to reach the same sort of groundbreaking conclusion that Beauty did. The characters never have the epiphanies or make the life changes that often distinguish great films of this subgenre. It’s understandable that the director, Fred Schepisi, is trying to capture the reality of life, but his audiences have come for a movie, most likely to escape their own lives for awhile -- so why not dabble in a bit of the melodramatic? The film ends with the characters saying goodnight and going to bed. What’s the point, really?
Rather, the viewer has to be satisfied with interpreting the relationships between the characters. Truthfully, it is entertaining to feel like you’re sharing personal moments between fathers and sons, and the fact that each actor is essentially playing himself makes the experience even more authentic.
Kirk Douglas, despite his trouble articulating words, is still understandable; he’s responsible for nearly all of the witty one-liners in the film. Michael Douglas assumes the role of a workaholic who’s too busy to notice his family’s problems (reminiscent of his role as a hard-driving drug czar in Traffic) and is constantly seeking the approval of his father. It wouldn’t be much of a stretch to say this dimension of his performance is based on fact and only adds to the believability of his performance. And while Cameron Douglas’s performance really doesn’t hold a candle to those of his father and grandfather, he does enough to support the plot (though viewers may find he is the least likeable of the Douglases).
In this sense, It Runs in the Family is a worthwhile film for people who want to see a glorified version of what the Douglases’ home video collection must look like. Kirk still has it, but Michael shows that the family talent stops with him. If there’s any solid acting from the younger generations in this movie, it comes from Rory Culkin, who clearly has the capability to steal scenes from top-notch actors such as these. The only way the Douglas name will continue to be associated with superb acting is if Michael adopts Rory; until then, it’s best to watch this film and just tune Cameron Douglas out.
-- Ed Malinowski (edman_mal_pal@hotmail.com)