Synopsis:
The trials and tribulations of middle-class family life are depicted in director Ron Howard's humorous and loving ode to the joys of parenthood. Middle-manager Gil Buckman struggles to reconcile his ambitions at work with his loyalty to his family, particularly to his troubled son, Kevin. His divorced sister Helen has a sullen and withdrawn son and a sexually active teenage daughter. Gil's other sister, Susan, is a schoolteacher married to an ambitious yuppie determined to make a genius of their 3-year-old daughter. Their long-lost brother, the irresponsible Larry, has always been daddy's favorite and returns home with an illegitimate son named Cool.

Notes:
"Parenthood" was the first feature filmed at the Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida. Shot in Panavision. Color by Deluxe. Sound by Dolby. "Parenthood" was later adapted for television, producing a short-lived television series.

Reviews:
"...Heartfelt and howlingly comic..." - 08/24/1989 Rolling Stone, p.38

"...[A] sophisticated sitcom of a movie....A rich evocation of the swirl of suburban family life..." - 08/02/1989 New York Times, p.C15

"...[Howard's] fine touch with ensembles reaches real maturity here, as he pulls together the script's tendency to skitter between sociology and sitcom, making it into one perceptive, delicious whole..." - 08/02/1989 Los Angeles Times, p.C1

4 stars out of 5 -- "[I]t's Martin's mix of teary-eyed pathos and balloon-clown mania that looks best for its age." - 07/01/2012 Total Film