The Perfect Family

I'm surprised at such a low score for this movie! First, please know that I was born, baptized, and raised Catholic. I've since moved to another religion, but not for any "Catholic hate" reasons at all. So I have a STRONG knowledge of Catholicism. It seems MOST of the negative reviews claim it's "Christian/Catholic bashing"... I would wonder how many of those folks actually WATCHED it or just wrote a review based on a presupposed notion. There is NO Christian bashing at all IMO. Just portraying people such as I've known all my life the way they are, and the portrayal isn't bad in any way, as far as I'm concerned.

Overall it's very balanced - yeah there's a few potshots at Catholics ("I don't have to think... I'm Catholic") but overall, the portrayal is VERY accurate to my Catholic upbringing and those in the faith I know today. Sure, hardly ANY nuns still wear the habit - but it's just little things. By and large the portrayal I thought was fair on ALL SIDES, not only for the Catholics but all the other characters.

I'll be honest and say I FULLY EXPECTED a "Christians are stupid knuckle dragging Neanderthals" flick - I expected to shut it off half way through. Instead, I watched the whole thing and rather enjoyed it.

The movie itself actually plays quite well - Kathleen Turner takes a bit of getting used to because of her very deep, manly voice... but overall, it has a nicely done "indie" feel to it in every way.

No, it's NOT an award contender in any way - some of the acting is rather stiff and forced, the plot is predictable, and there are quite a few clichés and stereotypes. But it's VERY watchable, totally held my attention, was touching in places, and ENJOYABLE to watch right up to the end for me.

Give it a shot - don't let the negative reviews implying it's a "Christian bashing" flick deter you.

This movie fell prey to several misconceptions. First.., The Perfect Family was unfortunately categorized (somewhere) as a Comedy. That was a bit of a mistake..; and subsequently.. certain reviewers were disappointed and miffed.., having brought to the film certain expectations, which only got in the way. Once chagrined however, some of these hard-nose reviewers seemed to take pleasure in accusing the film of Catholic bashing. I am not Catholic myself; and I never noticed ANYWHERE that it was supposed to be funny. On the other hand, I do admit to holding a certain amount of anti-Catholic sentiment, and would likely have noticed any significant amount of bashing.., which I did NOT. Ergo, I simply watched the movie.. more-or-less tabula rasa.. and enjoyed it, while having my belief confirmed.. that a wife and children are inevitably more trouble than they're worth.

What I noticed most.. was the irony -- that the hard-line generally taken by mom Cleary.. was reproduced by some of the more negative reviewers.., who seemed quite offended that the movie was not virtually a true-to-life documentary.., especially because of the liberal spin that was given to the alleged family values and Catholic doctrines depicted, while trying to present them nonetheless as if they were still conservative. And, admittedly.. this would be irksome.

Next.., these kind of movie viewers might have a hard time with movies in general.. if they CAN'T accept that Art is NOT obliged to represent reality with total accuracy. So, rather than dissect the plot, or compliment Turner on her acting, or assess the various details of production.. since everyone else has already done so .., I want to remind everyone that when you watch a Hollywood movie, you will be getting a heavy dose of indoctrination or propaganda, mostly designed to further the globalist/liberal/satanistic agenda.., such as has gotten us where we are - here, awaiting our modern-day boxcars.. all, like sheep, wearing ineffective masks for a pandemic which is a total fiction anyway.

The real, un-cinematic Truth here is that most religions will fail us.., since they are fashioned and dominated by corrupt individuals who seek power, money, and self importance. And, all modern Organized Religion is rife with corruption at the top.., while neared the bottom, you can find true, sincere, humble believers, bought with the blood of Jesus Christ.. and many Catholics, who try to serve their church, their family, and their community.. far better than a lot of fundamentalist Protestants I know. (I hereby proclaim next week to be.. Take A Catholic To Lunch Week.., though I would avoid Friday.)

Forgive the aside.., but FOR the one person who might ever read this, and who is a born-again Catholic.., you have a truly great spokesman for Truth in the YouTube channel "Church Militant".. presenting episodes of "The Vortex", a Catholic news show.. which is doing a good job of truthing, while trying not to deeply offend those Catholics who misguidedly think "Mother Teresa" was one of the good guys.., or are oblivious to the pagan roots of Catholicism.. or the fact that the Pope's Audience Hall is deliberately shaped to resemble a snake's head, thereby revealing the Pope's true Luciferian allegiance. (Hear me now, and believe me later.)

All in all.., The Perfect family was moderately enjoyable, with the possible exception of Emily Deschanel, who is the quintessential One Trick Pony. cheers!!😇

As a fallen-down Catholic with reservations about the Church, I wasn't prepared for an even-tempered story about a devout mother, Eileen (Kathleen Turner) facing a family at odds with some basic Church doctrines. While I still stay away, I found The Perfect Family wise about the devotion of true believers and wary of extremists.

Eileen has been nominated for Catholic Woman of the Year (disclosure: one of my former wives was elected Vermont Catholic Mother of the Year—a true irony). In order to impress the archbishop, she must show an exemplary family. Not easy, as she discovers a son about to divorce and a daughter marrying a woman and having a child. Modern as these situations are, they are not acceptable to the teachings of the church about the sanctity of marriage and children born of that union. The film gently but assuredly moves Eileen's life along just as you might expect it to go with any contemporary Catholic family facing decisions.

Although the denouement is too pat, it doesn't deviate too much from what might really happen, and with a little surprise accompanying it all. Kathleen Turner provides the right amount of hyper-ventilation when faced with the truth of her children's situations and her formerly alcoholic husband. Richard Chamberlain as Monsignor Murphy shows director Anne Renton's sense of humor using an actor who played a randy prelate in The Thorn Birds. In Catholic town, nothing is as it seems except for my very real indoctrination by the Sisters of Saint Joseph.

Eileen Cleary (Kathleen Turner) is desperate to be the best Catholic in the neighborhood. So it's great news when she's nominated for Catholic Woman of the year. Except her family is a mess of inappropriateness and she needs to be better than all the rest for the award. Her lesbian daughter Shannon (Emily Deschanel) is pregnant. Her son Frank Cleary Jr. (Jason Ritter) left his wife and kids for the beautician next door. Her husband Frank Cleary (Michael McGrady) can't stand her.

This is not anti-Catholic in my opinion. It is much more anti-competition to see who's the best Catholic. It's the competition that's ugly. The central theme is acceptance. After all, she wins the award even when all is revealed. Kathleen Turner's character is too harsh and unlikeable. It's hard to watch sometimes. However, it was nice to watch her character grow.

Kathleen Turner was great as a neurotic and psychopathic mom in Serial Mother. When I watched the trailer of The Perfect Mother, I laughed, and so I expected to find in it the same folly as in John Waters' comedy. Eileen Cleary is a mother and a devout catholic. She happens to be nominated against her best enemy for the award of the catholic woman of the year. If she wins, she will receive the greatest prize : the absolution of her sins. To be elected, she needs to be assiduous at church and in her charity works, but she also needs to have a perfect family. The trouble is, her husband is a former alcoholic, her son has just left his wife and kids for the manicurist next door, and her daughter is gay, and pregnant. The accumulation of clichés as obstacles can be funny in a comedy, but not here. The film – except for some good lines and Turner's acting – is pretty boring. I didn't laugh, I barely smiled. It takes ages to actually start, and when it does, it doesn't go very far. Eileen is in a quandary : she has to choose between her family and her faith. What will she do ? I mean come on, this is a comedy, we all know how it is going to end. The problem is not the end really. The problem is that the scenes that are supposed to illustrate Eileen's conflict with her family, and her own dilemma, are not funny, but they are not sad either, or deep. The film remains on the surface so as not to shock anyone. It remains politically correct, full of good intentions, so of course, it fails as a comedy, and it also fails as a drama. Don't waste your time watching more than the trailer.

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