The defence The Sentimental Softie
“Sincerity is not manipulation.”
The film risks embarrassment to make emotion communal, and that openness is harder than fashionable detachment.
Back to trending 
Parenthood
Comedy · Drama · 1989
The story of the Buckman family and friends, attempting to bring up their children. They suffer/enjoy all the events that occur: estranged relatives, the 'black sheep' of the family, the eccentrics, the skeletons in the closet, and the rebellious teenagers.
Movie details
Parenthood
“It could happen to you.”
1989 Comedy · Drama 2h 4m
Critical arithmetic
The consensus, allegedly.
Scores change. Arguments endure.
IMDb
7.1 / 10
57.3K votes
Rotten Tomatoes
92 %
Tomatometer
Metacritic
82 / 100
Metascore
TMDB
6.7 / 10
Community rating
External scores via OMDb · CC BY-NC 4.0. Values normalized for display; availability varies by title.
The story of the Buckman family and friends, attempting to bring up their children. They suffer/enjoy all the events that occur: estranged relatives, the 'black sheep' of the family, the eccentrics, the skeletons in the closet, and the rebellious teenagers.
CriticWise case file
What this film says about your taste.
Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.
The archetype split
Who fights over Parenthood?
For the defence
The Sentimental Softie
“You came to feel something, and you will.”
Read their case For the prosecution
The Popcorn Loyalist
“Big screen, big feelings, no apologies.”
Read their objectionThe split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.
Taste neighbourhood
Nearby on the taste map.
TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.
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Where it lives
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Names above the title
The people responsible.
Cast & crew
Directed by
Ron Howard
Written by
Babaloo Mandel · Lowell Ganz · Ron Howard
Steve Martin
Gil Buckman
Mary Steenburgen
Karen Buckman
Dianne Wiest
Helen Buckman Lampkin Bowman
Jason Robards
Frank Buckman
Rick Moranis
Nathan Huffner
Tom Hulce
Larry Buckman
Martha Plimpton
Julie Buckman-Lampkin Higgins
Court is in session
Put Parenthood on trial.
Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.
The prosecution The Popcorn Loyalist
“The strings are showing.”
Every cue tells you exactly what to feel and when, leaving sentiment to do the work character should have done.