McCabe Movie Review

Parenthood, an absolute masterpiece from 1989, still holds up in 2025.  If you like Steve Martin in his prime (aka neurotic dad-mode – see also:  Father of the Bride I and II) you are in for a delicious treat.

Parenthood is about 4 adult siblings and how they navigate the chaos of work, children, spouses, ex-spouses, and Life 101.  Martin plays Gil, a middle-aged dad who is just barely hanging on. 

The film opens with Martin’s character attempting to wrangle his 3 children and his wife into a minivan after a baseball game.  The sheer effort of making it through the parking lot, into the car, and with all the swag is Herculean.  To top it off, the children are singing the “diarrhea” song throughout (IYKYK).

It is beyond me how they got this ensemble together, many on the brink or in the middle of HUGE careers.  He is married to his lovely wife (Mary Steenburgen, pre Back-to-the-Future III) who, as a stay-at-home mom, is exasperated at Gil’s inability to just relax and accept the fact that his son who may or may not need therapy while simultaneously trying to appease a nitwit boss who wants Gil to “dazzle” him.

Dianne Weist plays his sister, who is in a delightfully typecast role, is a single mother of two teenagers with an absentee ex-husband.  Can anyone say Lost Boys?  Dianne Weist, who earned an Academy Award nomination for this role, is amazing in this.  The friction with her daughter Julie (Martha Plimpton) is electric and explosive and the acting between their scenes just seems so relatable and real and true.  And how on earth did they get a pre- Point Break Keanu for Julie’s boyfriend?  As “That Tod” he is a thorn in any teenage parent’s side and dreamy to any teenage daughter at the same time. And don’t forget a pubescent Joaquin Phoenix as her son Gary, who masters being uncomfortable and vulnerable in a few really poignant scenes.  And they even got Rick Moranis!

This is a very, very relatable comedy.  As a parent myself of a beautiful 1-year old, I can feel the stress, frustration, joy, euphoria, and despair all at once.  Who knew that a kid catching a fly ball in a baseball scene would make or break a man’s year – no, life?

This film brought out bigger laughs, and more tears than it ever had before.  Every grimace, scowl, and feeling of helplessness that Steve Martin’s character brings sharp delight and joy (not unlike his character in Father of the Bride – please, why can’t I have 90’s Steve Martin dad in an IV dip on my arm for when I need it?). I loved this film as a child, and love it even more now. 

An astute grandma at the end of the film likens parenthood to choosing the roller coaster over the merry-go-round.  You could choose the merry-go-round, but why?  It just goes around and around.  Why not pick the roller coaster, which has the fear, terror, panic, anxiety, and euphoria too?

Yes, that’s just it.