Synopsis
In the 1950s, brothers Jacey and Doug Holt, who come from the poorer side of their sleepy Midwestern town, vie for the affections of the wealthy, lovely Abbott sisters. Lady-killer Jacey alternates between Eleanor and Alice, wanting simply to break the hearts of rich young women. But sensitive Doug has a real romance with Pamela, which Jacey and the Abbott patriarch, Lloyd, both frown upon.
Your Movie Library
Cast
- Joaquin PhoenixDoug Holt
- Liv TylerPamela Abbott
- Jennifer ConnellyEleanor Abbott
- Billy CrudupJacey Holt
- Joanna GoingAlice Abbott
- Kathy BakerHelen Holt
- Will PattonLloyd Abbott
- Michael SuttonSteve
- Garrett M. BrownWebb Crosby
- Barbara WilliamsJoan Abbott
Recommendations
- 75
ReelViews
Inventing the Abbotts has the cast and characters to be something special; the script just isn't ambitious enough. - 75
Rolling Stone
The film belongs to Phoenix ("To Die For"), who is terrific. He has the gift, shared with his late brother, River, of conveying emotions without pushing them at you. The delicacy of his scenes with Tyler lets you enjoy the film for what it truly is: a heartbreaker. - 70
Chicago Reader
Apart from the script, it's the actors who make this a film worth seeing; all of them look and sometimes even act like real people rather than types or icons, and behind their interactions can be felt the depths of lived experience. - 60
The New Republic
All the actors caught me up so warmly that I stopped feeling guilty about liking this corny picture. [28 April 1997, p.30] - 60
The New York Times
Best watched as a showcase for radiant young talent. - 50
Chicago Sun-Times
The picture is haunted by a story problem: It isn't about anything but itself. There's no sense of life going on in the corners of the frame. - 50
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
This thing can take pride of place in a long tradition of Hollywood howlers. - 50
San Francisco Chronicle
An awkward script, a mannered style and the selection of hill-and-dale Petaluma as a stand-in for an Illinois small town all undermine the film.
