23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Originally funny!, January 20, 2004
I gave this movie four stars because I laughed almost throughout. When I sit down to watch a comedy, I don't care about plot so much as I care about being entertained in an original way. Daddy & Them is funny because it echoes real life... not my life, but some people I've had the misfortune of getting trapped next to for seemingly unending periods. This movie has some of the most stupid conversation I've ever heard, played with flawlessly straight faces - and that's what's funny. I wish I could go over all the wonderfully funny parts, but that would spoil it for you :). It's definitely worth at least one viewing. I'm adding it to my DVD collection.
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26 of 28 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Humorous Southern Style Soap Opera, September 13, 2003
For fans of Billy Bob Thornton, this is a great film, because he gets a lot of screen time. After all he wrote the screenplay. There is a shot of him in cut-off jeans with no shirt and a little further into the movie he wakes up with a shirt on, but with his bluejeans (full-length jeans) down to the top of his, what else?, cowboy boots, and later still we get to visit him in the bathroom where he is wearing a shirt, and well....a magazine. Those are the highlights of his wardrobe as I recall them, keeping in mind a lot of discussions with Laura Dern (wife Ruby in the film) took place before going to sleep..don't know what he wearing below the chest, but mostly he didn't sleep with his shirt on.
But enough about Billy Bob's wardrobe, down to the film now; be prepared to laugh when you get to see 'Daddy & Them". Especially if you happen to be from the south. You are going to feel right at home among the Montgomery family.
The script is cute and touching and it made me laugh out loud lots of times... I haven't done that in a movie for a long time. Being a southern girl by birth, I could readily relate to the communication problems this family was facing.
I like the way Thornton thinks, writes, and acts. He's a keeper for his talent, no doubt about it.
This is the story of a dysfunctional southern family with a lot of personal history.
Claude Montgomery (Billy Bob) now married to Ruby (Laura Dern - Billy Bob's ex-girlfriend), once dated her sister Rose (Kelly Preston - Mrs. John Travolta). Claude and Ruby, accompanied by sister Rose and Claude's mother-in-law, Jewel (Diana Ladd) go home to help out Claude's bother, Alvin (John Prine) and the family patriarch, O.T. (Andy Griffith) when O.T.'s brother Hazel (the late Jim Varney) gets arrested. O.T. unfortunately suffers from attacks of dementia and has a difficult time recalling exactly which sister Claude married. Ben Affleck and Jamie Lee Curtis appear as married lawyers hired by the Montgomery family.
All this sudden southern togetherness erupts in confusion, discussion, memories, and changes.
There is an accident scene that is very, very funny. Good ole boy Claude, as portrayed by Billy Bob, is really a romantic guy at heart. The dual-dueling-jealous competitions between Claude and Ruby are priceless.
I wished the font on the credits has been easier to read. Still the credits are well worth watching in order to hear the John Prine song, "In Spite of Ourselves" being sung over the credits. It's great!
So was the film, if you like to laugh and aren't expecting an Oscar caliber film. You will have double the pleasure if you happen to be southern.
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15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Sleeper, December 20, 2004
This movie was one of those pleasant surprises...I anticipated it being bad and ended up laughing until I was sick. This has got to be the best kept secret I've seen this year.
I can definetly see how it's not for everyone, though. If you're from the south, the dialogue will slay you. I would imagine you would appreciate this movie more if you've been exposed to the type of people the movie portrayed.
My favorite line: "Like that book said 'It was the best time I'd ever had, it was the worst time I'd ever had.'"
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