Common Sense Media Review
By Carrie R. Wheadon
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Absorbing docu on family secrets. See with teens.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 14+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Watch
What's the Story?
When filmmaker Doug Block's mother dies suddenly, his 83-year-old father remarries three months later, and 30 years of his mother's daily diaries are left to him. Block makes the decision to go where he'd never allowed his camera to go before.
Is It Any Good?
This is a very difficult and rewarding personal journey thoughtful viewers will relish. When Doug is offered 30 years of his mother's daily diaries, he debates about whether or not to read them, and finally does. The entries reveal that she feels overwhelmed and unhappy as a '50s housewife to the typical strong-and-silent type husband. She eventually goes to psychotherapy and falls hard for her therapist; she obsesses both about her therapist and her self-discovery process. She writes intense, introspective poetry.
Interspersed with these revelatory diary entries are interviews with Doug's siblings, recalling how "she wasn't a warm mother" and that poetry they read in the past was their only clue about her richer inner life. They also discuss never spending alone time with their stoic father growing up, and wonder over the "new improved dad" they're seeing now. Doug also talks to his mother's best friend, his mother's brother, and a rabbi. In the process he pieces together a portrait of a difficult marriage of two people who meant well and he cautiously tries to forge a better relationship with his father before he packs up and moves to Florida.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about quite a bit in this movie. Parents can talk with teens about how this documentary looks at marriage and commitment -- in a way you never see portrayed in films and on TV. (It may serve as an antidote to some shows like MTV's Engaged and Underage.) They can also talk about how Doug's relationship with his father developed through the course of the documentary -- how is it stronger now? If your parents had diaries, would you read them if you could? Do you think Doug made the right decision?
Movie Details
- In theaters : October 18, 2006
- On DVD or streaming : August 14, 2007
- Cast : Doug Block
- Director : Doug Block
- Studio : Image Entertainment
- Genre : Documentary
- Run time : 88 minutes
- MPAA rating :
- Last updated : September 20, 2019
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