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Parenthood poster

Parenthood

year 1989decade 80sdirector Ron Howardgenre Comedygenre Drama

124 minutes

Cast

Selected cast credits · Film reference

Steve Martin Gil Buckman
Mary Steenburgen Karen Buckman
Dianne Wiest Helen Buckman Lampkin Bowman
Jason Robards Frank Buckman
Rick Moranis Nathan Huffner
Tom Hulce Larry Buckman
Martha Plimpton Julie Buckman-Lampkin Higgins
Keanu Reeves Tod Higgins
Joaquin Phoenix Garry Buckman-Lampkin (credited as Leaf Phoenix)
Harley Jane Kozak Susan Buckman
Dennis Dugan David Brodsky
Helen Shaw Grandma
Jasen Fisher Kevin Buckman

Parenthood | The Rewatchables

host Bill Simmonshost Chris Ryanhost Van Lathanproducer Craig Horlbeck theme F’ed Up Family February
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Half-Assed Internet Research

Failed 1990 NBC series; Blonde Goddess tape; Wiest and Steenburgen friendship; Florida location; Plimpton wig and mohawk; Helen Shaw’s final film; cast murder game; Martin’s late fatherhood

In the discussion (11)
Approx. transcript time · 00:35:39Read transcript
  • Brought forward from internet research: NBC ordered a Parenthood series from a rough cut, per Bill Carter in The New York Times, and the 1990 show was canceled after twelve episodes.
  • The 1990 series cast David Arquette and a young DiCaprio in the Garry role, part of a late-1980s wave of failed movie-based shows such as Ferris Bueller, Working Girl, Uncle Buck and Dirty Dancing.
  • The later Parenthood series is considered good by those who watched early seasons; Friday Night Lights is an outlier because it reworked the premise.
  • The Ferris Bueller TV show’s joke about a poster of Matthew Broderick playing him is recalled as hacky.
  • The adult tape Helen finds was reportedly Blonde Goddess, a 1982 film whose opening parodied Indiana Jones.
  • Dianne Wiest and Mary Steenburgen were reportedly best friends who worked as waitresses together at the Magic Pan before being cast as sisters-in-law; both won Oscars.
  • The film is set in St. Louis but was shot in Florida, with palm trees and a Publix visible.
  • Martha Plimpton dated River Phoenix for nearly five years and began the shoot bald from a prior role, wearing a wig until Ron Howard had her shave her head into a mohawk.
  • Helen Shaw, who played the grandmother, made her final film here and died in 1997 at age 100.
  • During filming the cast became obsessed with a Mafia-like murder game played through eye contact, including during the dinner scene.
  • Steve Martin did not become a parent until age 67 in 2012 despite starring in two iconic parent movies of his generation.

Picking Nits

Towering Little League pop fly; Martin playing 35; baseball positioning; uninjured car-crash couple; sexual content; Moranis’s classroom song; developed sex photos

In the discussion (10)
Approx. transcript time · 00:52:20Read transcript
  • Moved up from picking nits: the first baseman explodes into the outfield impossibly fast under a pop fly that hangs for about fifteen seconds.
  • A 32-mile-per-hour pitch and a weak batter could not produce that pop fly, and the first baseman is a slow slugger type rather than a quick first baseman like John Olerud.
  • The biggest nitpick is that Martin, 44 and looking older, plays a 35-year-old; he is called miscast despite being great.
  • If Gil is 35 with a nine-year-old, he would be about fifty at the college graduation yet appears elderly with a cane.
  • A generational talent gap is suggested between the Hanks-Keaton group and Martin; Dan Aykroyd or Bill Murray might have fit, but the character should have been written older, which would also sharpen the late pregnancy.
  • The team’s best player would pitch or play shortstop rather than first base; Lou’s grievance comes from Gil’s positioning of Kevin, and a manager could simply move the left fielder to second.
  • Gil or his wife should have been hurt in the car accident, although the nature of the crash is unclear.
  • The film pushes the limits of its rating with a vibrator, pornography, oral sex and sex photographs.
  • Rick Moranis singing in the classroom is called a least-favorite, overly long scene.
  • Developing sex photographs at a local shop seems implausible; developers reportedly refused to print some photos.

Casting What-Ifs

In the discussion (2)
Approx. transcript time · 01:09:42Read transcript
  • Casting what-ifs is announced, then paused so one more thing about what aged worst can be said.
  • Casting information was hard to find and many actors were rumored for Gil; Robin Williams is the interesting alternative who could have handled the Little League scene, though Robards as his father might have felt odd.

Probably Unanswerable Questions

Sequel about Cool; Cool’s name and race; Kevin’s current job

In the discussion (4)
Approx. transcript time · 01:33:45Read transcript
  • Both others would have watched a 2000 sequel about Cool, perhaps a thriller searching for Larry in Chile like Proof of Life.
  • Cool’s name, his sudden appearance and the choice to make him Black are called off-putting, though the viewer chose not to be bothered while watching.
  • Kevin’s current job is imagined as Padres GM in advanced analytics, Twitter CEO or a Bitcoin investor, or simply a healthy life.
  • Kevin is also imagined blocking a host on Twitter or working for The Ringer and making the tense face on Zoom.

Producer review

Nostalgia for the era’s simpler look and technology

In the discussion (3)
Approx. transcript time · 01:38:42Read transcript
  • The producer liked the film a lot and feels nostalgia for the era’s look, clothes, home life and simpler technology despite not being alive then. — Craig Horlbeck
  • The hosts mock the nostalgia as insulting to people who lived then; the producer adds film cameras and no iPads.
  • One host agrees the era through about 1995 had more conversation and looked better on camera, citing When Harry Met Sally.