What They Had

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Anthony P Very good family drama set during a cold Chicago winter. Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 04/04/23 Full Review isla s This is a sad family based drama about facing your parents vulnerabilities in older age and trying to do the right thing for them and to convince the rest of the family that you have their best interests at heart. Its about perserverance and dealing with difficult family dynamics. I like that it doesn't sugar coat things for the most part (it is perhaps a little cheesy towards the end) and I felt Hilary Swank gave a good performance. It may be a bit hard to watch if you've dealt with aging family relations with dementia related issues but its certainly a good, thoughtful watch. I'm not sure I'd say its an especially great film but its certainly good and I would recommend it to others. Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Audience Member Spoilers: This is an ensemble gem. Double Oscar-winner Hilary is surely versatile, but this may be her best performance, as the go-along, get-along daughter, wife who never really self-fulfilled or even worked at it. Shannon, too, always worth a look, as the angry, combative, I do the work, let's get Mom settled in a memory care home son, brother, tavern owner with a failed marriage. This coulda been a mom's declining mentally, Dad and grown kids deal with the sorrow, pain and memories, and all move on after saying oh well, a fuzzy Hallmark TV special. But it went so much further, and painted five portraits of people including assertive, stay-the-course Robert, losing-it Blythe and unhappy granddaughter and college student, or not, Taissa, giving this a whole family layer past that oldies decline. When Robert gave only-part-there Blythe the locket with the two of them young, and she said, "I'm sorry," sorry she had slipped away, in a moment of lucidity, Robert gave an audible gasp and said, "It's OK, honey," and they hugged, I fought mightily to keep tears in my eyes from rolling down my cheeks, and I'm an old guy. When the stunner of who died first occurs, other big family changes occur. Hilary decides to follow her heart and drop the hubby and bring Mom from Chicago out to California, giving Michael a break from holding hands and running errands. The siblings go from reminiscing to laughing to arguing. Dad, Robert, ever the demanding hard charger, kids take the brunt, won't budge from keeping Mom home even though she likes to walk off in the snow in her robe -- until he does budge. Granddaughter Taissa, Hilary's kid, is alienated from Mom and Dad and college, but bends to go back. Dad and son make up a bit over Michael's award winning Manhattan at his bar. Blythe is touching as the can't remember much Mom. Life goes on, and the detail of each interaction in his piece is spot on. Bravo! Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/07/23 Full Review Audience Member A beautiful film that deals with heartbreaking themes in a way that still gives the viewer hope. Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/09/23 Full Review Audience Member Great movie. Michael Shannon is great. Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/03/23 Full Review robert r One of the first movies I've seen in quite a long time where literally no cast member pulls in a bad performance. Of course, it helps when you have such a who's who of heavy hitters like "What They Had" does. Swank, Shannon, Danner, Forster & Farmiga all act their proverbial asses off and it's quite the feat to behold. Further, as far as writer/directorial debuts are concerned, Elizabeth Chomko can most certainly hold her head high in light of this effort. It's a well-realized narrative from top to bottom, with the last act really delivering on the expected emotionality in a truly effective manner. There are even a few shots and creative choices made that end up lending themselves to the impact of certain scenes or thematic ideas. The Chicago setting, for this viewer in particular, was also a welcomed personal touch. Definitely would recommend this one. Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Read all reviews

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