The Thing about My Folks (2005)

Directed by: Paul Reiser | 96 minutes | comedy | Actors: Peter Falk, Paul Reiser, Olympia Dukakis, Elizabeth Perkins, Mackenzie Connolly, Lydia Jordan, Ann Dowd, Claire Beckman, Mimi Lieber, Bernie McInerney, Catherine Taormina, Rachel Robinson, Rich Duva, Marshall Efron, Dennis Sheehan, Timothy Hsu, Michael Duvert, Alison Fraser, Adam Mucci, Craig Pattison, Tonye Patano, Kevin Cahoon, Lauren Bittner, Marti Cooney, Samantha Musumeci, Tom Brokaw

In ‘The Thing about My Folks’ we meet two actors who we mainly know from television. Peter Falk will always be remembered as Inspector Columbo, the grubby detective with his raincoat and quirky way of interrogating. Paul Reiser is best known for the comedy series ‘Mad about You’, in which we followed the relationship joys and sorrows of the couple Jamie (Helen Hunt) and Paul (Reiser) and their extended family and acquaintances.

With ‘The Thing about My Folks’, for which Reiser wrote the screenplay, we stay close to ‘Mad about You’. This film also revolves around relationships, both between man and woman and between parent and child. The humor is clearly American-Jewish, where we recognize the influence of comedians such as Woody Allen and Jerry Seinfeld. We see these influences especially in the dialogues, in which relational musings are bluntly interspersed with nonsense stories about peaches and second-hand cars.

We also know the meddling family circle and the longing for nostalgia from many American-Jewish comedies. The theme of the film is equally well known. Interpersonal relationships that fail because there is too little communication. When after all these years there is talk, as here between son Ben and father Sam, it turns out that all points of conflict are based on misunderstandings and poor listening. As it should be in a feel-good movie, everything ends up on its feet in the end, without having to fight too much and without the drama hurting.

The fact that ‘The Thing about My Folks’ is ultimately worth a look is entirely due to the craftsmanship. Reiser and Falk make a couple of amiable characters (although with Reiser you always have the idea that he’s playing himself), while Elizabeth Perkins excels in her far too small part as Ben’s wife. The dialogues are perfectly fine, the alternation between comedy and drama is well dosed, and the picturesque locations make you want to take a road trip yourself. Thus, ‘The Thing about My Folks’ is a film without any urgency or originality, but one that will leave you with a big smile.