Infamous for knocking out Raging Bull at the Oscars, this middle-brow,
middle-weight study of a family in crisis is somewhat better than its
rap. The talented Hutton won Best Supporting Actor for what’s really
the lead, as an earnest, troubled young man trying to come to terms with
being partly responsible for his brother’s death. Moore and
Sutherland, playing his parents, get inside the damaged soul of a
suburban marriage far more convincingly than their counterparts in
American Beauty. Nevertheless, it’s the kind of film in which
Pachelbel’s Canon stands in for wistful contemplation of life’s
regrets.
