Inside the Osmonds

I just loved this movie! Not just because I am an Osmond fan, but because it's simply a nice movie to see. It's good to see a movie where, yes fame and fortune can go to ones head and spin it around a bit, but it's comforting to see that in the end, to the Osmonds, it always was, is, and will be "family, faith, career in that order." Wonderful acting by all! If you're like me, you may need a couple of hankies for the end of the movie. Don't fear. They will be tears of joy! :-)

...but honestly, it does have high entertainment value. If not for the sickeningly sweet, poorly written story and truly disgusting acting, then only for the sheer hilarity of the 70's fashion and ridiculous dialogue. It was amazing to me how everything in the Osmond family seemed to magically work itself out, including the impossibly high amount of harbored resentment between the siblings which seemed to vanish into thin air at the end of the movie. Still I laughed very hard at the bellbottoms with playing cards on them and the sequined lobster costumes, so all was not lost on the Osmonds...

I missed part of the start of Donnie and Maries career because I was overseas in the military in the mid Seventies. But this movie catches you up easily on parts you may have missed. I was always curious about how they lost their money in building the recording studio back in their home state. This movie cleared it up and more. I have read Donnie's autobiography and also Maries. Donnie did not give monetary statistics on how they came close to losing everything. Just that the family threw all their money into one hat and came up losing. This was really heartbreaking to me. The books were very eye opening and such good reading. It shows you how a close, large, and religious family achieved so much with sort of limited resources and a lot of pluck and talent. They would not be where they were today without the father being a guiding hand. Donnie told in his book how the family kept their morals while traveling around the world and in sometimes questionable surroundings (Las Vegas for example). Before anyone knocks this family or this movie they should read the books and examine their own life. The family reached the peak of entertainment success and preserved their families traditions at the same time. I say Bravo to the Osmonds and I wish there were more families that could entertain us all like this!

Say what you want about the Osmonds, this is a very strong, loving, honorable family. I enjoyed this program very much. There is not a lot of families that could withstand the public scrutiny they had to go through. Even with some of the problems they had, they all stuck together. They should be very proud of themselves.

Sprinkled with a fine soundtrack and some very good acting, 'Inside The Osmonds' is a bio-pic that documents the meteoric rise and subsequent fiscal downfall of the Osmond family.

The story's main focus is on the family as they attempt to maintain their popularity while staying committed to each other throughout the turbulent seventies and early eighties.

Each family member is given time to develop, but the film focuses mainly on Donny and Marie. Especially, Donny (Patrick Levis) as he must endure his forced transition from praised musician to a veritable laughing stock on his daily variety show.

Many things are touched upon throughout the film, including the family's devotion to religion and Marie's weight problem which is merely glanced but not truly elaborated upon. One element that was allowed to flourish was the family's manipulation at the hands of television and recording executives.

The family remains consistently close until final scene when they lose all of their savings. Unlike other movies where this might have been a huge tragedy, in this film, the impact is sort of anti-climactic. They haven't really lost anything, they still have each other and to them, at least, that is truly all that matters.

Look for fine performances by Bruce McGill, as the over-protective but loving father George, and Veronica Cartwright, as the comforting Olive. The film will leave a sweet taste in your mouth, especially the final frame where the real Osmonds take center stage, where they belong, singing 'He aint' heavy, He's my brother'. Look for this one!