SummaryLife in suburban Serenity, Ohio is never quite as serene as it appears. The dysfunctional Burnett family – Bunnie, Jack and their twin 17 year olds Eric and Kelly – seems like a lost cause. When a freak accident leaves Bunnie with a case of amnesia, the Burnetts get an unexpected second chance at happiness. Meanwhile, next door neighbor Simon is... Read More
Directed By:Vivi Friedman
Written By:Mark Lisson
The Family Tree
Metascore
Generally Unfavorable
24
User score
Generally Favorable
7.1
My Score
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Top Cast
Metascore
Generally Unfavorable
24
0% Positive
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
57% Mixed
4 Reviews
4 Reviews
43% Negative
3 Reviews
3 Reviews
Aug 25, 2011
40
Director Vivi Friedman's inability to successfully reconcile the film's duality undercuts an eclectic cast gamely committed to Mark Lisson's thematically ambitious, if scattered, script.
Aug 24, 2011
40
Surprise! The upper-middle-class family is still rotten to the core. In Vivi Friedman's overstuffed farce, the parents cheat on each other, the daughter dresses like a streetwalker, and the Bible-thumping son starts carrying a Glock.
Aug 23, 2011
40
Thin as it is, Family Tree is no slog - the droll, attentive performances by Davis and Mulroney are endearing, and the extraneous guest-star bits (including Christina Hendricks as a secretary, no less) and rambling B stories aren't overly distracting.
Aug 20, 2011
40
Suffers from severe problems of tone, a surfeit of undeveloped plot points and characters, and bland direction.
Aug 22, 2011
38
A few trite race and religion jokes goose up what's mostly a sentimental story of a dysfunctional family suddenly and magically learning to function again.
Aug 26, 2011
25
Family Tree, which seems to have been written using indie-film Mad Libs, devolves into way too many quirky subplots.
Aug 25, 2011
10
The only reason I can think of to watch Vivi Friedman's flat, satirical farce The Family Tree - and it's not a good enough reason - is the opportunity to play a game of spot the semi-star.
User score
Generally Favorable
7.1
70% Positive
7 Ratings
7 Ratings
10% Mixed
1 Rating
1 Rating
20% Negative
2 Ratings
2 Ratings
Aug 31, 2011
9
This movie has a great cast and heart. Not a perfect movie, but a very fresh and funny look at what it takes for a family to survive in suburban American chaos. I especially liked the young actors (Brittany Robertson, Max Thieriot, Madeline Zima) and also Hope Davis. And Mad Men's Christina Hendricks adds enough spice to keep men awake at night. All in all, a refreshing indie change from the summer's same old same old.
Jul 2, 2024
7
After watching the trailer, I thought it was a good movie. I thought it was a funny movie with a script that satirizes ordinary life events and attracted people's attention with humorous events. When people watch such movies, they understand the plot, get absorbed in the story, and have fun.
Production Company:
- Driving Lessons
Release Date:Aug 26, 2011
Duration:1 h 35 m
Rating:R
