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Inventing The Abbotts [DVD] [1997]
 
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Inventing The Abbotts [DVD] [1997]

DVD ~ Liv Tyler
3.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
RRP: £12.99
Price: £4.98 & eligible for Free UK delivery on orders over £5 with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions
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Frequently Bought Together

Inventing The Abbotts [DVD] [1997] + Waking The Dead [DVD] [1999] + House Of Sand And Fog [DVD] [2004]
Total RRP: £33.97
Price For All Three: £12.44

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What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

Inventing The Abbotts [DVD] [1997]
73% buy the item featured on this page:
Inventing The Abbotts [DVD] [1997] 3.5 out of 5 stars (6)
£4.98
Waking The Dead [DVD] [1999]
7% buy
Waking The Dead [DVD] [1999] 4.6 out of 5 stars (7)
£3.48
House Of Sand And Fog [DVD] [2004]
7% buy
House Of Sand And Fog [DVD] [2004] 4.5 out of 5 stars (25)
£3.98
Reservation Road [DVD] [2007]
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Reservation Road [DVD] [2007] 4.0 out of 5 stars (2)
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Product details

  • Actors: Liv Tyler, Jennifer Connelly, Joaquin Phoenix, Billy Crudup, Will Patton
  • Directors: Pat O'Connor
  • Writers: Ken Hixon, Sue Miller
  • Producers: Brian Grazer, Jack Cummins, Janet Meyers, Karen Kehela, Ron Howard
  • Format: PAL
  • Language English
  • Region: Region 2 (This DVD may not be viewable outside Europe. Read more about DVD formats.)
  • Number of discs: 1
  • Classification: 15
  • Studio: 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
  • DVD Release Date: 1 Mar 2004
  • Run Time: 103 minutes
  • Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
  • ASIN: B00013YQD8
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 20,797 in DVD (See Bestsellers in DVD)

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Reviews

Synopsis
In the placid, potboiler-perfect 1950s hamlet of Haley, Illinois, life revolves around the wealthy and powerful Abbott family, which boasts three strapping brunette daughters in addition to its monetary assets. On the other side of the proverbial tracks live two fatherless brothers--one idolises the Abbotts, while the other seeks to destroy them by systematically deflowering and debasing the sisters.

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Customer Reviews

6 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
3.5 out of 5 stars (6 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars Things just get dragged out way too slowly in this one, 5 Jan 2004
By Lawrance M. Bernabo (The Zenith City, Duluth, Minnesota) - See all my reviews
(TOP 50 REVIEWER)      
This review is from: Inventing the Abbotts [DVD] [1997] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC] (DVD)
Every once in a while there is a rude reminder that where I live is, relatively speaking, in the backwaters of the country. In 1997 I must have seen the trailer for "Inventing the Abbotts" a half-dozen times, but the film never came here, so I never had to actually decide if I would pay money to see it in a movie theater or not, although clearly I took my time in getting around to finally watching it. Of course, now the cast of "Inventing the Abbotts" is much more recognizable than it was back then, with Jennifer Connolly being an Oscar winner, Joaquin Phoenix an Oscar nominee, Billy Crudup having traded Penny Lane for a case of beer, and Liv Tyler becoming mortal to marry the King of Gondor. But it is not that difficult to think back to when they were relatively known faces.

The greatest strength of this film is the original score by Michael Kamen, which consistently gave scenes and moments of this film a power that was beyond what the script and the actors were providing. The story is about the Abbotts, a rich family in the 1950s living in a small Illinois town with three daughters, and the Holts brothers, Doug (Phoenix" and J.C. (Crudup). The former is the narrator of the tale, while the later is "addicted" to the Abbotts, attempting to blot out a grievance against the family by seducing the daughters. Doug is more fascinated with J.C.'s story than with his own, but it is Doug that is of more interest to us, especially with his affection for young Pamela Abbott (Tyler), which is momentarily forgotten for a while by his lust for Eleanor (Connelly).

Basically this is a film that gives every indication that Doug and Pamela should end up together and be allowed to live as happily every after as their tortured families and histories might allow, but J.C. and his obsession keeps getting in the way. Meanwhile some of the secrets hidden by each family are doled out bit by bit, completing the picture of the animosity that exists between the Abbotts and the Holts. Lloyd Abbott (Will Patton) knows all about marrying into a rich family, and he is not going to allow that to happen with his daughters, but he is just one of several roadblocks that stands between any of these characters and some home of happiness.

One thing for sure is that "Inventing the Abbotts" is set in a slower time. The pacing of the film is slow, the dialogue is spoken in slow and measured terms, the narration is redundant repetitive, and you become convinced we are never going to get to where the film should end because it will slowly grind to a complete halt. If it were not for our affection towards Pamela, Kathy Baker's performance as the boy's mom, and Kamen's score, I might have given up on this film, especially when Eleanor was shipped away by her father as soon as she had given the story some energy. But by that time we learn that J.C. has committed the greatest possible sin against his brother, I was at least ticked off enough to stay around for the end. The fault for this lies with director Pat O'Connor, especially since he showed in his previous effort, "Circle of Friends," that he can breath live into a story. However, he failed to do that here.

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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best films I've ever seen, 26 Nov 2002
By J. Minne "Mini Me" (Stockport, Cheshire) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This review is from: Inventing The Abbotts [VHS] [1997] (VHS Tape)
I stumbled across this movie late one night whilst channel hopping. The film was a quater of the way through and I'd missed much of the 'scene setting'. It didn't matter much because after a couple of minutes watching it I was enthralled.
The film is excellantly directed and produced and documents the friendship and ultimate romance between the daughter of a welathy businessman and a boy from 'the wrong side of the street'. It is a lovely, heartwarming and touching story that I would recommend anybody to watch.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Lovely Story, 30 Aug 2007
By S. B. Janse Rensburg (England) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This is a good bit of entertainement. I really enjoyed this film, it had a really nice story line and I found all the characters captivating & endeering. I would highly recommend this film as it's packed with themes of love, revenge, tragedy & a little bit of comedy too.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

2.0 out of 5 stars This is not a hidden gem
With the quality of the cast, you might be hopeful that this film, purporting to be about truth, lies and perceptions, might produce unexpected dividends. Don't. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Peter M

4.0 out of 5 stars touching story
This film is very beautiful, set in the 1950's which complements the story of romantic limitations and desires. Read more
Published on 2 Jan 2006

3.0 out of 5 stars Things just get dragged out way too slowly in this one
Every once in a while there is a rude reminder that where I live is, relatively speaking, in the backwaters of the country. Read more
Published on 11 May 2005 by Lawrance M. Bernabo

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