I don't think it was up for the Oscar in cinematography. Maybe it didn't shake the foundations of cinema. But a little kid from New Hampshire watched it on repeat. Maybe the family reminded him of his own [12 Aunts and Uncles]. Maybe he wanted "Express Yourself" and "Under Pressure" and "Why Can't We Be Friends?" to play here and there in the background when right.
It's warm and funny. It's Steve Martin, man. I watched it today and teared up. I remember my Dad cackling at the part in the blooper reel where Steve Martin pretends to be the baby. I remember having a crush on Alyson Stoner. There's this line from when Steve is training his kids for the labor day cup. His daughters are fed up with his intense training schedule and one girl throws an egg on the grown in protest. Steve yells "Eggs cost money!" Sometimes I just shout "Eggs cost money!" I dunno why.
He's a little overbearing. He's annoyingly affectionate. I think I want to be a little like that. There was a moment in my teens [i bet in yours too] when I turned off in front of my parents. I hope that didn't hurt my mom too much. Steve's family is pulling away from him, growing up. His kids are right to forge their own futures and Steve is right to keep them together. The family vacation is a good compromise I think and in this imaginary universe I bet they go back to that lake every summer. [Norah and Bud bought the lake house so of course they do]
There are a couple ways to judge a movie. Do you judge it in a vacuum. Do you compare it to other movies like it, or all movies ever, or all art ever. But she's got charm to her and that's worth something to me.
Also I'm impressed by the scenes with the rat. I mean that's just-- They got a rat to do stunt work on camera and it plays. There's a shot with the rat scampering in the foreground and Steve clattering to the ground behind him and there's a focus shift from rat to Steve and it's like damn, this rat and this crew was on the money. [I've never worked with rats so I don't know how hard this would be in reality but some screenwriter put it in the script and some executive approved it and then people got together and actually did it. Steve Martin had a rat as a scene partner.]
Ahh. I'm going to push a bit deeper. I wrote that maybe this film reminded me of my own family but that's only partially true. Grandma had 11 kids so we had big Thanksgiving dinners and Christmases. But mostly it was Mom, Dad, Tay and me. I think as a kid I watched this with some sense of longing. Longing for the hustle and bustle of a big family. [The closest thing I can think of is when I'm on vacation with a bunch of people I love to just float in the breeze from time to time. Go silent in the back of the uber and soak it in a little. Stand out on the deck and just feel the voices inside vibrate out. Or being around other big families and watching their little bickerings and all the love disguised as callousness.] Maybe I felt I had too much attention as a kid, isn't that curious. I think I coulda used a couple sisters. I think I coulda used someone who knew youth culture but had a decade or so on me. So maybe I turned to Steve Martin's family and Kevin McCallister's family for a little taste.
[I just read that Eugene Levy was nominated for a Razzie. [[Actually ludicrous.]][[[He's pitch perfect.]]]]