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Inventing the Abbotts

Play trailer 2:21 Poster for Inventing the Abbotts R Released Apr 4, 1997 1h 50m Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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37% Tomatometer 27 Reviews 51% Popcornmeter 5,000+ Ratings
In the 1950s, brothers Jacey (Billy Crudup) and Doug Holt (Joaquin Phoenix), who come from the poorer side of their sleepy Midwestern town, vie for the affections of the wealthy, lovely Abbott sisters. Lady-killer Jacey alternates between Eleanor (Jennifer Connelly) and Alice (Joanna Going), wanting simply to break the hearts of rich young women. But sensitive Doug has a real romance with Pamela (Liv Tyler), which Jacey and the Abbott patriarch, Lloyd (Will Patton), both frown upon.
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Inventing the Abbotts

Critics Reviews

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Jonathan Rosenbaum Chicago Reader Apart from the script, it’s the actors who make this a film worth seeing; all of them look and sometimes even act like real people rather than types or icons. Rated: 3/4 Jun 15, 2022 Full Review Lisa Schwarzbaum Entertainment Weekly Rated: C+ Sep 7, 2011 Full Review Emanuel Levy Variety Cast of newcomers is appealing, but this small-town melodrama is so old-fashioned and out-of-touch with contemporary youth that it feels as if it were made the same time that its story is set, in 1957. Rated: C Aug 8, 2007 Full Review David Nusair Reel Film Reviews ...an evocative, entertaining drama... Rated: 2.5/4 Dec 28, 2023 Full Review Jake Euker F5 (Wichita, KS) Rated: 1/5 Mar 18, 2006 Full Review Philip Martin Arkansas Democrat-Gazette Rated: 2/5 Apr 2, 2005 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View All (253) audience reviews
Chiemezie E A fantastic melodramatic masterpiece. The casting was amazing and the acting was top-tier. We all wish we got to see more of Jennifer Connelly but Liv Tyler's performance and rawness really filled that void and gave us a memorable iconic character. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/02/25 Full Review Audience Member What people miss is that this movie has less to do with envy of the wealthy than it does of two nerotic family that needed therapy more than anything else. After awhile it became overbearing and I lost interest. It's either a obsession with sex, money and power, or inrequited love. There's not a stable person in sight. There really wasn't any reaolutuin for the neurosis continues to the end of the film. Hard to care about a movie that's bascialll watching one car crash after another with no resolve in sight. It was OK but I wouldn't recommend it. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 02/03/23 Full Review Audience Member This moving was boring, corny, dull, unoriginal what else am I missing .... 1.7. Acting wasnt terrible given the script but cmon . This really felt like a cheap lifetime movie Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars 12/12/20 Full Review Audience Member "Life is not a cafeteria" Good movie set in the late 1950s, early 1960s. A coming of age film that has ping pong, work, academics, class, cocktail parties, love, & loss. There is also forgiveness, love, & redemption. Well worth seeing. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/23/23 Full Review Audience Member Easily one of the most underrated movies of the 90's. Always thought this was a well-regarded movie, but just looked it up on Rotten Tomatoes and critics / audiences hated it. I guess they just weren't in the mood for it, which is lame, because it's really good. Well acted, beautiful, and told economically. What more can you want? Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/19/23 Full Review panayiota k A bit slow paced but the characters are interesting. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Inventing the Abbotts

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Cast & Crew

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Pat O'Connor

Director

Joaquin Phoenix

Doug Holt

Billy Crudup

Jacey Holt

Liv Tyler

Pamela Abbott

Will Patton

Lloyd Abbott

Kathy Baker

Helen Holt

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Inventing the Abbotts

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Inventing the Abbotts

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Movie Info

Synopsis In the 1950s, brothers Jacey (Billy Crudup) and Doug Holt (Joaquin Phoenix), who come from the poorer side of their sleepy Midwestern town, vie for the affections of the wealthy, lovely Abbott sisters. Lady-killer Jacey alternates between Eleanor (Jennifer Connelly) and Alice (Joanna Going), wanting simply to break the hearts of rich young women. But sensitive Doug has a real romance with Pamela (Liv Tyler), which Jacey and the Abbott patriarch, Lloyd (Will Patton), both frown upon.
Director
Pat O'Connor
Producer
Ron Howard, Brian Grazer, Janet Meyers
Screenwriter
Ken Hixon
Distributor
20th Century Fox
Production Co
Fox 2000 Pictures, Twentieth Century Fox, Imagine Entertainment
Rating
R
Genre
Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Apr 4, 1997, Original
Release Date (Streaming)
Nov 25, 2015
Box Office (Gross USA)
$5.9M
Runtime
1h 50m
Sound Mix
Surround
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