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Such a frustrating disappointment

Fantastic!

Don't listen to the negative reviews

Crappy film

Veteran character actor Bob Balaban made his filmmaking debut with this darkest of dark comedies, set in 1950s suburbia. Young Michael Laemle (Bryan Madorsky) has moved from Massachusetts to a new setting, where he starts to become suspicious of his incredibly straight-laced parents (Randy Quaid, Mary Beth Hurt). The biggest issue is that the only thing they ever seem to have for dinner is leftovers, and Michael is curious as to where the meat came from in the first place. He's become a fairly odd, disturbed kid, but growing up in this setting, you can't hardly blame him.Written by Christopher Hawthorne, "Parents" does benefit from portraying the less pleasant aspects of childhood life, although one has to wonder if the budget for Balabans' film was cut down at some point. The script has its interesting qualities (it's partly a social satire), but "Parents" reeks of potential not fully realized. It wraps up a little TOO quickly, and has at least one plot thread (Michaels' befriending of offbeat classmate Sheila Zellner (London Juno)) that never really gets paid off.Still, this film shows off an admirable visual sensibility on the part of Balaban and his crew. There are some truly creepy moments, and gore hounds need not fret as things do eventually get fairly bloody. The score, credited to both Jonathan Elias and Angelo Badalamenti, is quite effective - the mambo music is insidiously catchy.The cast is first-rate. Quaid delivers a remarkably controlled performance, Hurt is delightfully giddy, and Sandy Dennis gets to be a little off-kilter herself as the social worker concerned with Michaels' welfare. Young actors Madorsky and Juno are appealing, and Kathryn Grody (the schoolteacher) and Deborah Rush & Graham Jarvis (the girls' parents) offer fine support.Balaban could have continued to have a somewhat lucrative directing career with features of this sort (his next big picture was the romantic horror comedy "My Boyfriend's Back"). His direction is certainly capable enough; his daughter Mariah has a small role.Six out of 10.

Parents is an interesting, but flawed black comedy/horror flick. This takes place in suburban 1950's America and is a story of a disturbed young boy and his nightmares. Parents is a lot of things, psychological horror film, dark comedy and social satire. But as a whole, it doesn't always flow well. The film has a lot of surreal moments and does not always make sense. Parents is really inconsistent and choppy viewing as a whole and as a genre piece it is hard to put into one category, which is a good and a bad thing. It is good that it is a different offbeat movie, but the tone of the piece is all over the place. The story is really hard to follow and is very choppy as a whole. Parents has some things really going for it, great dialouge, creepy ambiance and an outstanding performance by Randy Quiad. The whole all American middle class family that are murderers and cannibals is very interesting, but better character development and story could have made this a whole lot better. Parents has more style than substance, but is still an interesting, but very quirky and weird film . This is recommended to those who revel to watch something offbeat or unusual, Parents would most likely please those audiences.

I liked this film, but I'm honestly torn between the aspects I liked and the obvious flaws. This film couldn't decide what it wanted to be. A dark comedy, a satire, a surrealist film, a thriller? In some ways, the film is a blend of all of these genres, but it sparsely executes any aspects of those genres effectively.There's not enough laughs for it to be a dark comedy. There's a scene in particular where a character is getting stabbed, whilst a '50s pop song plays. The delivery of the scene is like a thriller, yet the use of the song makes it feel like a comedy. I feel like an opportunity for some great dark comedy was missed (think Shaun of the Dead, with the use of the Queen song). The nods to '50s pop culture are cute at best. There's some suspense near the end, but we already know from the start that the parents are cannibals - so why was there a "big reveal" scene? The dream sequences are fun, but never really amount to much. It seems like the dreams were only added to make the audience think the lead character had a wild imagination, so that the "big reveal" scene would be even more shocking. Again, it's not really a secret that the parents are cannibals... the poster gives it away! The directing by Bob Balaban was quite good. Some fun takes, and great set up shots. Going back to the flaws though, it really feels like the director had a plethora of creative ideas, and wanted to fit them all in to one film. There's a a recurring theme of the colour red throughout... but then there's also a theme of the colour green... then both seem abandoned when the nearing the finale. It's like the director wanted to throw in some symbolism, or deep meaning, but then forgot about it due to focusing on another idea. It's sad, because I think Balaban is a creative director, and he went on to director a legit underrated cult classic - "My Boyfriend's Back". This film was more like a "my first cult film" than a true classic.The acting was great by all involved, especially Randy Quaid. The soundtrack was generally good, with the use of some '50s songs. The placement of the score was hit or miss though.Despite the flaws, there's something charming about the film. Maybe it's the '50s setting, or the surreal aspects, interesting direction, or even a surprisingly good performance from Randy Quaid. Whatever it is, this film has all the makings of a cult film... however, this is more like a cult not-so-classic.

I found out about 'Parents' after watching 'The Children'. I was more curious when I had found out that Bob Balaban had directed it. Was it worth the watch? Yes. Balaban really succeeds in creating a tense chilling atmosphere. Moreover, the 50s suburban setting was refreshing. The sound effects are used effectively. He cleverly includes the stereotype that people have of those who lived in 50's suburbs into the story. The mom and dad characters appear to be your typical all American family but nothing is as it seems on the surface. In addition, to show the film from the perspective of a child is an innovative idea and it also keeps the viewer in suspense because of the lingering question as to whether his suspicions were correct. The humour also works Balaban uses many interesting references like the scene where the kid's splashing in blood reminds one of the highlight scene from Kubrick's 'The Shining'. The performances are first rate. Randy Quaid and Mary Beth Hurt are fantastic as the 'perfect' couple. Bryan Madorsky too does a competent job in carrying the film. 'Parents' is a solid but underrated 'slasher' film. Strongly recommended to fans of the genre.