Review: Parents

Set in the 50s where the Laemle family have just moved into a new suburb. Young Michael (Bryan Madorsky) is a pint-sized, fussy eater, displeasing his man’s man father (Randy Quaid) to no end. When he inquires to mother (Mary Beth Hurt) as to where the ‘leftovers’ come from if they eat ‘leftovers’ every night, he doesn’t get a straight answer. Then late one night he spies his parents engaging in some kind of weirdo feeding ritual with bloody slabs of meat. Could Michael’s All-American parents be cannibals feasting on human flesh? Sandy Dennis plays a blowsy school psychologist who worries about the boy, and Deborah Rush plays the mother of Michael’s one ally, a local girl (Juno Mills-Cockell).

 

The directorial debut of actor Bob Balaban (Who played Russell Dalrymple, the NBC bigwig on “Seinfeld” as well as countless film credits), and also his best-known film as a director, this seriously black comedy is like a horror movie directed by John Waters (“Polyester”, “Hairspray”), but less kinky perhaps. It certainly shares his warped view of American suburbia, taking place (vaguely) in the 50s, albeit a hyperreal depiction of the 50s. Some of Balaban’s rather avant-garde visual flourishes are a tad unnecessary, but he does a pretty OK job here, though young Bryan Madorsky is a dud in essentially the lead role. He’s awfully small-looking and has no idea how to project his voice, which is really not good for a chief protagonist. He doesn’t really register on screen, and it’s no surprise that he didn’t have a career after this.

 

Scripted by Christopher Hawthorne, it’s not always on target (largely because Madorsky is so unengaging at the centre), and frankly not as amusing as it really ought to be. However I think it’s an interesting, slightly underrated film, and Randy Quaid is excellent in a performance more low-key and subtle than you might expect. With nerdy glasses, an intimidating size and somewhat sneering voice, he’s perfectly cast and undeniably creepy. The man can be a helluva talent when he’s not fleeing to Canada and making crazy pseudo-documentaries about actors being targeted for assassination (Look up ‘Star Whackers’ kids, it’s fun reading). Mary Beth Hurt isn’t my favourite actress to say the least, but she’s spot-on as a woman capable of being a cheery, all-American mum, but weird enough that she might conceivably be hiding something sinister. Poor Sandy Dennis, meanwhile, looks like she kept on drinking after “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” wrapped up in the 60s, she looks and acts rather sloshed in her small role here (She is Method trained, so I could be right about that).

 

Definitely one for the Randy Quaid fans, he’s in great form here, if not quite as wild-eyed and boisterous as you might expect. Another asset is the genuinely unnerving, ambient-sounding score by occasional David Lynch collaborator Angelo Badalamenti (“Blue Velvet”, “Lost Highway”, TV’s “Twin Peaks”) and Jonathan Elias (“Children of the Corn”, “Vamp”, “Two-Moon Junction”). Uneven and slightly uncomfortable to watch at times as a red meat eater, this is an occasionally amusing and interesting black comedy that won’t be for all tastes. It could’ve been even better if the script were funnier or if it pushed the envelope more with its cannibalistic subject matter. A better child actor in the lead would’ve also helped greatly.

 

Rating: C+