Home | Movies By Year | Movies from 2008
Familiar Strangers
Buy Familiar Strangers now from AmazonFirst, read the Wikipedia article. Then, scroll down to see what other TopShelfReviews readers thought about the movie. And once you've experienced the movie, tell everyone what you thought about it.
Wikipedia article
'Familiar Strangers' (formerly known as 'Pretzels & Pills') is a 2008 film about an American family going through the process of negotiating the changing relationships between parents and children, especially as those children grow into adulthood.
Plot
The film follows the Worthington family through a four-day Thanksgiving family gathering. Brian, who has moved away and kept his distance for the past several years, is reluctantly returning for this family tradition carrying the baggage of conflict with his father, Frank.
Frank feels he has failed as a father, having lost the ability to connect with his maturing children. When the children grew to adulthood and created their own identities and lives, Frank replaced them with his pets, new children who never have to grow up.
The film is populated by Frank and Brian, mother Dottie who holds the reins on this family beneath the surface, brother Kenny who as a twenty-something has not yet found his path, sister Erin who is struggling to find herself after a painful divorce, and Erins young daughter Maddy, truly wise beyond her years.
Through this story and the conflict and communication that occur, the Worthington family comes to recognize the friendship and love that can exist between parents and their adult children.
Cast
* Shawn Hatosy as Brian Worthington
* DJ Qualls as Kenny Worthington
* Tom Bower as Frank Worthington
* Nikki Reed as Allison
* Ann Dowd as Dottie Worthington
* Cameron Richardson as Erin Worthington
* Georgia Mae Lively as Maddy
References
Buy Familiar Strangers now from Amazon
<-- Return to movies from 2008