IMDb user comments for
Relative Strangers (2006)

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20 comments in total

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24 out of 29 people found the following comment useful :-
comedy stars are not enough for good comedy, 18 November 2006

Author: dromasca from Herzlya, Israel

Maybe it's somehow unfair that this movie was not distributed in the US (yet?). I have seen much worse movies and comedies that had less fun in them well distributed and promoted. However, I can understand the hesitations of the distributors. 'Relative Strangers' plays in a genre that has already squeezed all the juice, and makes no attempt to be something different.

Yet, the premises are good. What if you are a successful writer of self-control books and you found two weeks before your marriage with gorgeous Neve Campbell that your true parents are not the high-class couple that raised you but Danny DeVitto and Kathy Bates, a popular circus pair of failed clowns, throwing bad jokes and inheriting you nothing but a bunch of hereditary diseases?

Unfortunately, this is more or less where the fun of the movie stops. The rest is so predictable that you could have written the script yourself. Ron Linvingston is as funny as a evening news broadcaster, DeVitto and Campbell do their expected game, and only Kathy Bates is funny and looks comfortable and gorgeous (yes!) in her role, but this is not enough. Casting the stars is not enough for good comedy, you need something more in ideas and craziness which is definitely missing here.

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22 out of 31 people found the following comment useful :-
Fun Movie, 22 July 2006

Author: Fredmovieguy from United States

I had the pleasure of seeing this film at a sneak preview in Los Angeles earlier this year and have been waiting to see it's release here in the US. Apparently, it's being released overseas which is a shame as it would seem to go over better in America being so..American. This film was just a lot of fun. Danny DeVito and Kathy Bates play the white-trash birth parents of Ron Livingston, an uptight self help author. His fiancée is played by the incredibly sexy Neve Campbell who I could watch in anything. DeVito and Bates characters are very broad, almost cartoons but by the end of the film you really feel they are real people and the film packs an emotional punch that was really unexpected. Along the way are some hilarious scenes..Bates and DeVito are a great team! I loved the talk show appearance where his parents unexpectedly (of course) show up and he loses it. It seems like so many films have to be about something deep and have a cynical edge nowadays but this film was just fun to watch and left me smiling at the end. The audience I saw it with exploded with laughs frequently through out. I can imagine this film is not for every taste but if you can relax and just enjoy a feel good, fun comedy, I recommend this film highly

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5 out of 5 people found the following comment useful :-
Meet the parents, 19 April 2008

Author: jotix100 from New York

Imagine the cruelty of adoptive parents to tell an unsuspecting son that he is adopted? To make matters worse, the Claytons, a rich couple, have waited a long time to spring the news to Richard, who is about to get married! This is the premise for this comedy created by Greg Glienna, who also contributed to its screen play. The film, which went directly to video, never had a chance to make it commercially, in spite of the prominent figures in the cast. In fact, the film seems to this viewer as a variation of the more successful "Meet the Parents", which employed Mr. Glienna as a writer. Not that this film is horrible, by any means, but it appears the powers that be must have had doubts about its impact and sent it to the DVD limbo.

Ron Livingston, who is seen as Richard, the man who is told he has been living a lie, is quite good and shows a flair for comedy. Neve Campbell is also effective in playing the object of Richard's love. The combination of the vulgar Meneres as played broadly by Danny Devito and Kathy Bates have some good moments. Christine Baranski and Edward Herrmann play the Claytons, the uptight adoptive parents. The one that is hardly recognizable is Beverly D'Angelo, who must have gone through a procedure to change the way we remembered her.

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9 out of 13 people found the following comment useful :-
Not a bad movie, 24 January 2007

Author: sdchristine from United States

Why are the others who have reviewed this movie critically blaming the actors? It's a top notch cast. Honestly, whoever produced and edited this movie is to blame if it's not more popular. Obviously the actors must have seen something good in the script for all of them to accept their parts they played. To me, this movie was not a disappointment as others have commented. It's silly, yes. Goofy, yeah. To me, if it was produced a bit better, and the editing done a bit better I would have definitely given it at least a 7 out of 10. I watched this movie mostly because I just adore Ron Livingston. Even playing a straight-man character he's very funny. I hope this gets released in the U.S. at least on DVD because with it's cast it is well worth the watch.

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4 out of 4 people found the following comment useful :-
Mother Juggs and Speed!, 12 July 2007

Author: ozlifter from Oklahoma, US

This was by no means a great movie, but it was enjoyable.

The production values were low and the performances at times suffered from overacting -- especially by Danny DeVito. But, the film had a little bit of heart, and I couldn't help but smile at times.

Neve Campbell is so beautiful here; I can't understand why she's not more famous. She just radiates and lights up the screen every time she is on here.

Kathy Bates was great, as always, but I found Ron Livingston's performance to be a little stale.

If you're looking for a lighthearted movie to help you waste away a Sunday afternoon, this is it. Just don't expect too much and you won't be that disappointed.

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2 out of 2 people found the following comment useful :-
Great cast...great comedy...great cheese balls..., 7 November 2007

Author: merklekranz from United States

Ron Livingston who was wonderful in "Office Space", once again hits a home run with "Relative Strangers". What is essentially a one joke movie, comes across extremely well. Perfect casting, starting with Danny DeVito and a truly funny script. There is also a fine message that you should not be disappointed if people do not live up to your expectations. Kathy Bates and Danny DeVito as the "trailer trash" parents are so great, and Christine Baranski is the perfect foil for Beverly DeAngelo and her sequin dresses. Off the wall hilarious situations abound, and there are even some very sweet moments. Highly recommended. - MERK

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4 out of 6 people found the following comment useful :-
Hi, how the hell are ya?, 17 October 2007

Author: lastliberal from Florida

I was looking for a Christa Campbell fix until I could watch her next movie. I wore out last month's Playboy and Scars hasn't arrived. I noticed her in this little comedy and said, what the heck! Unfortunately, I waited about 75 minutes before she appeared for about 60 seconds, not saying a word. Oh, well, the wait was worth it and there was a pretty funny comedy in the meantime.

I have to say that Neve Campbell really surprised me in this film. She was really good. She made me forget all about those Scream and Wild Things.

Ron Livingston was great as the psychologist who finds out that his real parents are carny folk as opposed to the snobs that raised him. Danny DeVito and Kathy bates were hilarious as the parents. I always like Christine Baranski, and she didn't disappoint with her nose high in the air.

Lots of laughs, and you can guess the ending.

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6 out of 10 people found the following comment useful :-
"Dumb as a shovel...", 18 March 2007

Author: moonspinner55 from redlands, ca

Ron Livingston, star of the cult-hit "Office Space", bottoms out with this slapstick comedy which takes satiric aim at trailer-park yahoos but, alas, fails to be ironic or nostalgic--it appears to have been made by just the kind of low-class people it pokes fun at. A mild-mannered psychologist, the author of a new self-help book about anger-management, finds out from his family--an upper-crust bunch of boors--that he was adopted after his biological folks left him on their doorstep; worse, his birth parents turn out to be brawling, obnoxious hicks. Utterly predictable and dispiriting comedy. One waits in excruciating anticipation for the first crotch jab (nineteen minutes in), the first reference to either "Jerry Springer" or "Hee-Haw" (both clock in around the one-hour mark), and the proverbial cameo by a well-known talk-show host (it's Star Jones!). A few mindlessly funny one-liners; otherwise this flop makes "Meet the Fockers" look like "Wuthering Heights". *1/2 from ****

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1 out of 1 people found the following comment useful :-
A really funny and enjoyable little film, 11 June 2008

Author: Moviefreak4653 from United States

I really liked this movie, i mean at times i was laughing my ass off, it was just so funny.I mean i really don't understand all the crap its getting, i mean sure its not the greatest film ever, but in fact an enjoyable and fun film.I really didn't know what to expect, it looked like a film with tons of cliché'e's and low class comedy.In fact I basically got this movie because i love Neve Campbell.Well i discovered that this was a really good movie.I did find it to have some flaws, like it was a bit predictable at times, and a bit to out there, and it also at times really rattled my nerves and made me a bit irritated.The comedy is really good, like the whole obnoxious redneck thing is thought not the most original thing, but with Kathy Bates and Danny Devito, they totally make it into something funny and new.Overall if you can enjoy a comedy than you will hopefully enjoy this good film.

8.2 out of 10 stars

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2 out of 3 people found the following comment useful :-
Not a bad Saturday afternoon flick., 6 May 2007

Author: awofford79 from United States

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

This really isn't a bad film. I was surprised to find it on Comedy Central this afternoon, having never heard of it, and being a fan of most of the actors. Perhaps it would have flopped at the box office, and that's OK, so did Office Space.

Sure the plot is not mind-blowing, but it is original. The anger management doctor loses it after meeting his biological parents, OK, maybe the obvious irony is overdone in this genre. However, the details and production of this film are what set it apart. Also, as dry as Livingston many be, that is his charm. Each of the players had excellent performances. Frankly, I thought DeVito's overperfomance was the real weak point.

Did Matthew Perry make a cameo in this, as a newscaster? Will I buy the DVD? Probably not, but I will watch it again on a Saturday afternoon.

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