
The Burnetts are dysfunctional. Jack and Bunnie barely speak, he fantasizes about women at work, she's having an affair with a neighbor and possibly others. Daughter Kelly is foul-mouthed; their son Eric is a militant Christian and an excellent shot. Bunnie's rich mom tries to control things. While a dead peeping Tom hangs undiscovered in a tree outside their bedroom window, Bunnie sustains a head injury and wakes up unable to remember anything after the first days of their m... (Full plot summary below)
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The Burnetts are dysfunctional. Jack and Bunnie barely speak, he fantasizes about women at work, she's having an affair with a neighbor and possibly others. Daughter Kelly is foul-mouthed; their son Eric is a militant Christian and an excellent shot. Bunnie's rich mom tries to control things. While a dead peeping Tom hangs undiscovered in a tree outside their bedroom window, Bunnie sustains a head injury and wakes up unable to remember anything after the first days of their marriage. Her newlywed sweetness infuses the family as Jack sorts through issues at work, Eric discovers flaws in his Christian posse, and Kelly makes friends with a lesbian classmate. Can this change of personality last?
Leave your thoughts about The Family Tree.
| New York TimesStephen HoldenThe only reason I can think of to watch Vivi Friedman's flat, satirical farce The Family Tree - and it's not a good enough reason - is the opportunity to play a game of spot the semi-star. |
| We Got This CoveredSean KernanThe Family Tree is a surprisingly funny dysfunctional family comedy that manages to entertain throughout. |
| Village VoiceMark HolcombThin as it is, Family Tree is no slog - the droll, attentive performances by Davis and Mulroney are endearing, and the extraneous guest-star bits (including Christina Hendricks as a secretary, no less) and rambling B stories aren't overly distracting. |
| Time OutAndrew SchenkerSurprise! The upper-middle-class family is still rotten to the core. In Vivi Friedman's overstuffed farce, the parents cheat on each other, the daughter dresses like a streetwalker, and the Bible-thumping son starts carrying a Glock. |
| Slant MagazineChuck BowenA few trite race and religion jokes goose up what's mostly a sentimental story of a dysfunctional family suddenly and magically learning to function again. |
| Los Angeles TimesGary GoldsteinDirector Vivi Friedman's inability to successfully reconcile the film's duality undercuts an eclectic cast gamely committed to Mark Lisson's thematically ambitious, if scattered, script. |
| Television Without PityEthan AlterDavis could play a role like Bunnie in her sleep, Mulroney often seems to be asleep and the rest of the overqualified supporting cast just appears relieved that their screentime is limited. |
| jackiekcooper.comJackie K. CooperThere are too many branches on this tree trying to give every unemployed actor in Hollywood a job. |
| VarietyAlissa SimonSuffers from severe problems of tone, a surfeit of undeveloped plot points and characters, and bland direction. |
| New York PostSara StewartFamily Tree, which seems to have been written using indie-film Mad Libs, devolves into way too many quirky subplots. |