Product Details

• Actors: Julianne Moore, Roy Scheider, Noah Wyle, Randee Allen, Arija Bareikis
• Directors: Bart Freundlich
• Writers: Bart Freundlich
• Producers: Noah Wyle, Bart Freundlich, Anthony Bregman, Howard Bernstein, James Schamus
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, NTSC
• Rated: R (Restricted)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Sony Pictures
• VHS Release Date: April 20, 1999
• Run Time: 93 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (30 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 080019344X
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #288,635 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

A Sundance Festival special, this indie family comedy-drama was given unduly harsh treatment by critics when it was released. Starring as the long-estranged son of an emotionally distant father, Noah Wyle comes home to his family for Thanksgiving in hopes of reconnecting with his old girlfriend, and receives unexpected results. But he's not the only one coming back. There's the brother with a cute fiancée (Hope Davis), who doesn't quite understand what all the tension is about. There's the glum sister (a hilarious Julianne Moore) who is down on love and everything else until she connects with a childhood acquaintance. And Mom (Blythe Danner) is there to referee it all. But the central conflict involves Wyle and his father (Roy Scheider in a wonderfully eccentric performance). --Marshall Fine

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Creepy - nobody EVER discusses anything REAL .........., May 10, 2004

By 

foreverbooks "LondonW1" (Northeast USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Myth of Fingerprints (DVD)

I've watched this movie several times - to see if I missed anything before, just to see it again, because it's mesmerising (for me, anyway), and because I'm secretly hoping that it wasn't really THAT sick ......... the acting, photography, direction were all superb - the message came across so very true to life in every way ........... and because of all that, I often watch it when it's re-run on the tube; Noah Wyle does an excellent job of portaying the son who suffered so pointedly, the betrayal that goes on in this family - and as in all (or most anyway) families - this one is affected via the trickle down of the tone set by the parents - the father - Roy Scheider - isn't just distant; he's downright mean and destructive - blurred from being discerned clearly, because of his eccentricities - although I did feel that he contrived all of those too. And Blythe Danner did an excellent job of portraying the mother who goes on for decades overlooking her husband's cruel streaks, his creepy deceits, his silence, anger, and his tone-setting refusal to tolerate open communication; in spite of all this unpleasantness in the household, and the effect this all has/had on the now grown children - I enjoy this movie because it all "hangs together" so real and true. It's hard to believe that in this day and age, that there surely are families like this - who simply never communicate openly atall - ever!

9 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars 'Ordinary People' go 'Home for the Holidays', January 3, 2001

By 

J. Michael Click (Fort Worth, Texas United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Myth of Fingerprints (DVD)

A beautifully photographed film with an incredible cast of wonderful actors ... and a very heavy-handed script about a supremely disfunctional family. The plot offers no real exposition or resolution, treating the audience as unwelcome guests who have gate-crashed a private family gathering; we interrupt a drama that has been unfolding for many years, witness the latest exchanges of unpleasantness and angst, and then are asked to leave prematurely. Too many characters are left unfully explored or developed. For example, does the mother not wonder why her oldest son knocks his father down?! What causes the youngest son to suddenly conquer his doubts concerning emotional commitment? Is there a reason for the father's nocturnal singing activities?

The DVD offers an excellent anamorphic picture and remarkable sound. Worth a look just for the cast, but the main theme of a family in relationship crisis was more successfully explored in the dramatic "Ordinary People" and the comedic "Home for the Holidays" (which featured "Myth" bookshop owner Cynthia Stevenson in the role of Holly Hunter's younger sister).

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars dysfunctional family so real, it hurts....., March 6, 2006

By 

MATT (ARIZONA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Myth of Fingerprints (DVD)

you'll recognize yourself and people you know, and it will strike an emotional chord wth you.
thought provoking, intense, distant and cold.
all performances are a sensation, julianne moore a standout as usual. a thanksgiving gathering gone wrong. buried and bitter feelings abound and resurface again.
look elsewhere if your expecting a happy ending, this isn't that kind of movie. the father/son relationship is very sad. anger underneath the surface between them.
there is a cellar scene where the father goes down and sees a family film from long ago. a birthday party for his son. this scene is very moving, showing the father how horrible he acted toward him. the look on roy scheider's face while watching the reel is heartbraking....he has no feelings at all of what he did, and why. subtle to its center, it is a good film.