Mon vrai père et moi

Maybe it's somehow unfair that this movie was not distributed in the US (yet?). I have seen much worse movies and comedies that had less fun in them well distributed and promoted. However, I can understand the hesitations of the distributors. 'Relative Strangers' plays in a genre that has already squeezed all the juice, and makes no attempt to be something different.

Yet, the premises are good. What if you are a successful writer of self-control books and you found two weeks before your marriage with gorgeous Neve Campbell that your true parents are not the high-class couple that raised you but Danny DeVitto and Kathy Bates, a popular circus pair of failed clowns, throwing bad jokes and inheriting you nothing but a bunch of hereditary diseases?

Unfortunately, this is more or less where the fun of the movie stops. The rest is so predictable that you could have written the script yourself. Ron Linvingston is as funny as a evening news broadcaster, DeVitto and Campbell do their expected game, and only Kathy Bates is funny and looks comfortable and gorgeous (yes!) in her role, but this is not enough. Casting the stars is not enough for good comedy, you need something more in ideas and craziness which is definitely missing here.

I had the pleasure of seeing this film at a sneak preview in Los Angeles earlier this year and have been waiting to see it's release here in the US. Apparently, it's being released overseas which is a shame as it would seem to go over better in America being so..American. This film was just a lot of fun. Danny DeVito and Kathy Bates play the white-trash birth parents of Ron Livingston, an uptight self help author. His fiancée is played by the incredibly sexy Neve Campbell who I could watch in anything. DeVito and Bates characters are very broad, almost cartoons but by the end of the film you really feel they are real people and the film packs an emotional punch that was really unexpected. Along the way are some hilarious scenes..Bates and DeVito are a great team! I loved the talk show appearance where his parents unexpectedly (of course) show up and he loses it. It seems like so many films have to be about something deep and have a cynical edge nowadays but this film was just fun to watch and left me smiling at the end. The audience I saw it with exploded with laughs frequently through out. I can imagine this film is not for every taste but if you can relax and just enjoy a feel good, fun comedy, I recommend this film highly

Ron Livingston who was wonderful in "Office Space", once again hits a home run with "Relative Strangers". What is essentially a one joke movie, comes across extremely well. Perfect casting, starting with Danny DeVito and a truly funny script. There is also a fine message that you should not be disappointed if people do not live up to your expectations. Kathy Bates and Danny DeVito as the "trailer trash" parents are so great, and Christine Baranski is the perfect foil for Beverly DeAngelo and her sequin dresses. Off the wall hilarious situations abound, and there are even some very sweet moments. Highly recommended. - MERK

I see this all the time sadly. Movies that get little to no recognition by hardly anyone that, even though they are not masterpieces, could be a lot of fun to many people. Here again is another movie I decided to watch primarily based on the cast. I mean, with Neve Campbell, Kathy Bates and Danny Devito, I hoped I was going to get some satisfaction at least, and I was certainly right. I thankfully came across this movie because it was at a video store near me that I went to all the time that carried a lot of obscure movies, among popular ones of course. I most definitely did not find it because it had any publicity or anything, which is why it is so unknown. Relative Strangers is all around very fun and entertaining, and well worth the time.

While it is not a masterpiece, like I said, I enjoyed it a lot and thought it was a well made film, regardless of minor mediocrities due to budget and indistinguishable crew members (I mean, the director was only known for the Meet the Parents series basically, if anyone knew him for that), and also I do realize it is not the greatest film ever. I got the movie for the cast as I have mentioned, that's it, and that is another reason why I enjoyed it as much as I did. Though the film is not necessarily fantastic on it's own, the cast is wonderful and works with the material amazingly. Neve Campbell and Kathy Bates are a delight for me at least in any film anyway.

The story is not amazing and the other main actor, whose name escapes me if I ever knew it in the first place, is not as enjoyable as the other three really well known stars, but it's genuine enjoyability, if you loosen up, is what makes this film come through in the end. So should you give Relative Strangers a chance if you happen to come across this comment? If you know you will be able to like it for what it is, a fun and endearing little speculation, then most definitely, because it is just a very fun movie with some heartwarming qualities. I was very pleased with the outcome, and am glad I had the chance to view it. Do not even pay attention to it's ridiculous rating.

Well, you know what you are in for with a movie such as "Relative Strangers". And with that being said, this movie follows the how-to-make-a-comedy script-book page by page. As such, the movie is very generic and predictable.

That being said, I will say that the movie is still enjoyable for what it is. There are some fun situations here and there, and there are some nice enough laughs throughout the movie. And there is just enough awkward situations to make it enjoyable enough to sit through to the end of the movie.

What really saves the movie is the cast. Danny DeVito can be somewhat of an acquired taste, but he did pull this off well enough. Kathy Bates was very well-cast for this movie. I had some reservations about Ron Livingston and Neve Campbell, but they both genuinely surprised me in a good way.

"Relative Strangers" is the type of movie that you watch once, then bag and tag it, most likely never to watch it again. Director Greg Glienna managed to muster but a mediocre comedy here.