Inventing the Abbotts

Inventing the Abbotts
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Pat O'Connor
Screenplay by	Ken Hixon
Based on	"Inventing the Abbotts" by Sue Miller
Produced by	Brian Grazer Ron Howard Janet Meyers
Starring	Liv Tyler Joaquin Phoenix Billy Crudup Jennifer Connelly Joanna Going Will Patton Kathy Baker
Cinematography	Kenneth MacMillan
Edited by	Ray Lovejoy
Music by	Michael Kamen
Production companies	Fox 2000 Pictures Imagine Entertainment
Distributed by	20th Century Fox
Release date	April 4, 1997 (1997-04-04)
Running time	112 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Box office	$5.9 million

Inventing the Abbotts is a 1997 American coming-of-age film directed by Pat O'Connor and starring Liv Tyler, Joaquin Phoenix, Billy Crudup, Jennifer Connelly, and Joanna Going. The screenplay by Ken Hixon is based on a short story by Sue Miller. The original music score was composed by Michael Kamen.

Plot summary

The lives of two closely linked families dangerously intersect in a small Illinois town in the 1950s. Two brothers, Jacey and Doug Holt are being raised by their single, working mother in Haley, Illinois. Their father Charlie was a reckless risk-taker who lost his life when Jacey was two-year-old and Doug wasn't even born, after driving on a frozen lake over a bet made with Lloyd Abbott (Will Patton). Lloyd had just acquired for almost nothing Charlie's patent for a steel file-drawer, and thanks to that he eventually became one of the town's wealthiest and most-admired citizens. Lloyd and his distant wife, Joan, are the parents of three beautiful daughters, Alice, Eleanor and Pamela. The parties for the girls' birthdays and other milestones are among the most waited events in the town.

Thinking his father's death was Lloyd's fault, and that the money raised from the patent were unfairly stolen from his family, Jacey (Billy Crudup) seeks revenge on Lloyd through the calculated seduction of the Abbott daughters. First he hooks up with Eleanor (Jennifer Connelly), the wildest of the three. As a consequence of their relationship, she's sent away to a mental hospital, and will end up never returning to Haley again. Meanwhile, Doug (Joaquin Phoenix), who initially admires his brother's libertine lifestyle, starts harboring reciprocated feelings for the youngest, virginal Abbott, Pamela (Liv Tyler). The two awkwardly circle each other, but she protests his early, fumbling sexual advances.

During a summer home from college, Jacey seduces the oldest Abbott daughter, Alice (Joanna Going), who's divorcing her abusive husband after the birth of their daughter. The relationship between Jacey and Alice also leads to heartbreak, as well as to Lloyd taking extreme measures to keep them apart.

Amidst the complicated dynamics brought about by their siblings, Doug and Pamela meet again by chance while attending college at Penn State and Bryn Mawr, respectively. Their reunion is once again thwarted by the reveal that Jacey has in the meantime started a sexual relationship with Pamela, too. This creates a severe fracture between the two brothers.

When Doug and Jacey come back home for their mother's funeral, they find the document confirming their late father had sold his patent for the very car he drove to his death on the lake. This knowledge doesn't comfort Jacey, who still finds deeply unfair that they were denied the wealth of the Abbots for futile reasons. In the end, Doug convinces Lloyd of his true love for Pamela and the two finally find each other for good. The adult Doug who's narrating the story recounts how they married one year later and eventually gave birth to two daughters.

Cast

• Liv Tyler as Pamela Abbott
• Joaquin Phoenix as Doug Holt
• Billy Crudup as JC (John Charles) Holt
• Jennifer Connelly as Eleanor Abbott
• Will Patton as Lloyd Abbott
• Kathy Baker as Helen Holt
• Joanna Going as Alice Abbott
• Barbara Williams as Joan Abbott
• Alessandro Nivola as Peter Vanlaningham
• Michael Keaton as Narrator/Older Doug Holt
• Zoe McLellan as Sandy

Reception

Inventing the Abbotts was not well received by critics. On Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 31% based on reviews from 26 critics. On Metacritic, which assigns a weighted mean rating out of 100 reviews from film critics, the film has a score of 49 out of 100, based on 21 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews."

Emanuel Levy, Variety: "Cast of newcomers is appealing, but this small-town melodrama is so old-fashioned and out-of-touch with contemporary youth that it feels as if it were made the same time that its story is set, in 1957." Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times gave the film 2/4.

External links

• Inventing the Abbotts at IMDb
• Template:Amg title
• Inventing the Abbotts at Rotten Tomatoes
• Inventing the Abbotts at Box Office Mojo