Back When We Were Grownups

Watched this on Hallmark Now and loved it and Will Highly recommend it. James Welch Henderson, Arkansas 2/14/2021

Rebecca got married to Joe when he already had three children, who didn't accept her (and still don't). Then they had a daughter together, but Joe died after only a few years and Rebecca had the entire responsibility for four girls. Not to mention Joe's Uncle Poppy. As the movie begins, she is a veteran at running the family business, planning parties. Other family members have related jobs--one daughter is a florist, and another is a caterer. All the girls have silly nicknames but not all are explained, or at least I didn't catch the explanation. Minerva, for example, looked Chinese, like a 'Min Foo', to her father when she was born. And one of the rebellious daughters, at a young age, yelled, 'No! No!' This must have been Nono.

While talking to her mother, Rebecca is reminded of Will, a former boyfriend, and she later contacts him after she discovers he is head of the physics department at the college he graduated from.

I didn't really care for any of the daughters or stepdaughters, but I felt Danner carried the movie as the charming and patient Rebecca, and Palance did a great job as well as the goofy 99-year-old uncle who was fussy and had trouble remembering. Faye Dunaway was good as the girls' self-centered appearance-conscious mother Tina, who came back for Nono's wedding but usually stayed out of their lives. The flashbacks to Rebecca's earlier life were helpful.

Peter Fonda is turning into his father. I say that never having seen Henry in anything where he wasn't old. His character was not that appealing to me, but maybe that's what he was going for. He just seemed tired of life and frustrated, though he tried to be polite to Rebecca.

The meeting between Rebecca and Will's daughter Beatrice was ... interesting.

Regardless of how I felt about most of the characters, I found this to be a charming story.

I read -Back When We Were Grownups- some years ago and I'm a big fan of Ann Tyler's novels. This broadcast was remarkably faithful to the book, and the casting, particularly in the principal roles, was truly inspired. This is what good acting is all about. Especially great to see the wonderful Blythe Danner. Peter Riegert as always brought warmth and subtlety to the role of the brother-in-law. I loved Jack Palance as Poppy, although he's so youthful it was necessary to suspend belief in his portrayal of a 100 year old man! Great set design, too, and subtle retro styling for the memory scenes. I always look forward to the Hallmark Hall of Fame specials for quality drama, great commercials, and beautiful Wagner-like theme music.

Nothing super flashy, no big special effects. A solid story with a superb cast. Not your type of movie if you're seeking big explosions with not much story. This is a touching story about lifelike characters. Very relatable.

Blythe Danner, Jack Palance, Peter Fonda, Peter Riegert, and Faye Dunaway were fantastic. The supporting cast was excellent as well.

This film was very enjoyable and showed a family with many problems and lots and lots of good time Parties! Jack Palance,(Poppy Davitch),"War Games",'96, was the star of this film with his great acting and very comical role as the Senior Citizen of the family. Poppy was constantly eating at the kitchen table and waiting for a Big Birthday Event, his 100th ! Peter Fonda,(Will Allenby),"The Laramie Project",'02, play a middle aged/old sweetheart friend, who was a stuffed shirt that was not able to accept the family and their way of living and was not able to understand why the family was such a big Melting Pot of all races. If you loved Jack Palance over the years and want to see him at his very best, this is the film for YOU!