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Working within a tired construct, this movie puts stereotypes and almost-characters in painfully self-conscious "real-life" situations within which they ape human reactions. Although the plot is reliant upon a buildup of tension, no such progression comes, and nothing changes for any of the (mostly inexplicably) bitter characters who congregate in the family home for a supposedly revealing and explosive holiday reunion. This profoundly irritating story is clumsily written, poorly shot and populated by dull, unsympathetic and self-involved characters. Its 90 minutes felt like days.

Greetings again from the darkness. Caught this one on IFC and was really impressed with the ensemble cast. Especially great work from Julianne Moore, who's role in lesser hands would have crushed the film. Beautifully shot in Maine, the scenery and warm home almost lull you into normalcy. However, the characters shock you into the ultimate dysfunctional family. No warm holiday fuzzies here. A couple of great scenes with Noah Wylie. First, with him alone in bed, while everyone else in the house is "intimately involved". Also, a flashback scene showing a moment of true weakness with his father, and the subsequent 3 years of guilt he carries. Good stuff. My tidbit on this one involves the tangled web of the cast and crew. "Roseanne" series ties together 3 of the actors, while Julianne Moore and Laurel Holloman worked together on "Boogie Nights". Also director Bart Freundlich and Moore parented a child together. Aah, the close knit fabric on independent filmmaking! Worth a rental.

Ok, in all I loved this movie. I kept returning to a comparison of the other kids come home for another painful thanksgiving with the people you feel you have outgrown movie, Home for the Holidays. The Myth of Fingerprints was much darker, and in that way a little more real. No slap stick or cotton candy can be found in this film. However, this can also be looked at as a detriment. Other than an old movie shown twice in the film we see no evidence that this family ever liked, or even had any sort of playful feelings for each other. The joking atmosphere that mists about most families is conspicuously absent in this movie. So much so that you are nearly shocked to see Warren (Noah Wylie's character) attempt to comfort his sister Mia (Julianne Moore)when she is so obviously upset by something. You expect him to do as the rest of the family did: leave her there. They try to be a family. Warren, Leigh, and their mother (Blythe Danner) are the most accessible of this wacked out crew seeming to be the most feeling and tender. The father, Hal, and Mia are emotionally unavailable and distant, but Mia shows glimmers of hope every once in a while especially in her exchanges with her brothers and childhood sweetheart. Hal on the other hand remained a complete mystery to me. We see him trying to steal his son's girlfriend in one scene and watching home movies getting teary eyed at the sight of his young children in the next. I was barely aware that the eldest brother Jake was in the film, he was of little consequence but for one scene with Mia which is cut short in favor of sex with his girlfriend. They were all such very different people with one important thing in common. They loved their family and had no idea why. I think that's what it comes down to for all of us. After leaving home the first time we come back we look around and think, "Who the hell are these people?" I don't know if we ever figure out the answer to that question ever again. But I do know that one day, years after we asked it for the first time, we realize that whether we know who they are or not they are part of us and we love them. Even if we have to confront them, dislike them, or are forced to sever ties with them. It's just the way it is. "You have to remember the good things. They remind you of who you are." - The Myth of Fingerprints

I turned this off after the first five minutes when I first saw it on TV. After seeing it again years later I enjoyed it a lot more than I though I would. It's just a simple story of a fairly dysfunctional family getting together for the holidays.

I liked the beautiful, sparsely populated Maine setting. James LeGros' off the wall character was the best thing about the film. I would have liked to have seen more of him. And hallelujah, one of my all time favorite actors, Roy Schneider is back in A-list action after being stuck in B-movie hell for so damn long. Noah Wyle and redheaded vixen Julianne Moore dish out good performances as well.

It's not a great film by any stretch of the imagination. Just a surprisingly good one. It could have been a bit longer, maybe the screenplay punched up and it would qualify as great. But kudos all around nonetheless to the cast and filmmakers, they still did themselves proud, baby. This movie is a hidden gem. It wasn't widely seen as it should have been.

"The Myth of Fingerprints" promises reality and the audience is in fact confronted with a wave of honest, hurting, wonderful, banal, outstanding and intense situations. Everything turns out to be the pure essence of life. During the whole movie the spectator is looking for an extra-ordinary action that makes sure that "The Myth of Fingerprints" is a film, a visualized story, an artificial product but the expectations are again and again reduced to absurdity. Because life doesn't mean to immediately commit suicide when something does go wrong, real life is far away from having responses to all asked questions. Life is often quiet and simple with some beautiful, warm and grand moments. "The Myth of Fingerprints" is life projected to the screen: authentic and beautifully simple. The cast is brilliant and Julianne Moore, as always, gives a wonderful performance showing the versatility of a disillusioned character that though is still desperately looking for love, sympathy and understanding. 9/10