The Steps

I was more than surprised by the very good cast and plot of this comedic, poignant yet interesting family drama of a movie. Held my attention with the various personalities "start to finish" as they say. The couple of Christine Lahti and James Brolin was believable and realistic - two people from different backgrounds with past life regrets wanting to start new and with love on their side. Jason Ritter was the biggest surprise; actually a better dramatic actor than his late father and a claim of his own in being a fine actor. Tammy was hysterical (Kate Corbett) and Keith really 'stole' the brother-spotlight with his less than stellar life to date yet his turn around to the importance of family - if not what his mother sacrificed and did for him and his siblings. Very enjoyable and easy to watch and even more so - easy to identify with the feelings of each of the siblings in their finest if not worst moments during the weekend get together. If you THINK this was MEANT to be pure comedy? Then you're not too bright...Look a little deeper at the reality of each and the dynamic of the "good, bad & ugly" in each and every family on this earth.

The plot of the movie sounded like it could have real potential to be a great comedy. Plus there was a reasonable cast. However...the movie quickly degenerated into a dialogue rife with f-bombs and other filth that is getting more irritating with each movie. Like most "comedy/dramas" the comedy is unfortunately only sporadic and tries to go for cheap laughs with vulgarity instead of crisp writing. On top of this, there is absolutely no way that a social worker would ever trust this mess of a family with a precious little child. This is an unfortunate mess of bad writing propped up by high reviews that are definitely unwarranted and cheapen the integrity of IMDB.

I can't believe that I missed this one in the theatres. I watched it today & thoroughly enjoyed it. Probably because my husband & I had a blended family of 8 children. It was interesting to see the dynamics of the adult children and several scenes made me laugh. Some serious subject matter & not recommended for younger children.

I watched The Steps at Cineplex on Friday night. OMG it was so good!!! Jason Ritter plays this New York business dude who was fired, but pretends he's still got a job. Emannuelle Chriqui (from Entourage) is his sister who was a bit like me when I was in my 20s! They head up to northern Ontario to meet their new step mother and step siblings and the sh*t starts to happen. I really loved everything about this movie. It was funny, and charming, and really smart. Part way through I realized there was real emotional depth at work. It crept up on me, and I really started to feel the pain from these characters. It just felt like a lot of the people I grew up with. I went with my guy and he really loved it too. 10 out of 10!!!! So good, check it out. You will love it!!!

So, it started off OK. And I mean just OK. I liked where the characters were going. But then, it got to a situation where BULLYING and ASSAULT was involved. AND allowed by BOTH parents no less. As well as allowed by the family members. It's not acceptable. And not funny.

The acting was decent. Jason Ritter was pretty good. I liked Christine Lahti. Halfway through the movie, they were the stand outs for me.

After the halfway mark, the movie got even worse and made me regret thinking there was hope. Maybe the best thing about the movie was that amazing house they filmed in and the scenery / location.