Cousins (1989)
Director: Joel Schumacher
Movie review
From Time Out Film Guide
In this uninspired remake of the 1975 French film Cousin Cousine, dance instructor Larry (Danson) and flirtatious wife Tish (Young) become, through complications attendant upon a marriage, distant relatives of some sort to aggressive car rep Tom (Petersen) and his dithering spouse Maria (Rossellini). Celebrations hardly begin before Tish is openly attaching herself to Tom. Confiding their mutual sense of an impending collapse of family ties, Larry and Maria find themselves platonically drawn to one another. Tom, being aware of his wife's growing relationship, does what any butch hypocritical chauvinist would do, and thumps Larry. Will Tom and Tish and Larry and Maria find total happiness, or just go back to being odd couples? The answer's sadly obvious. The film's failure lies in its characterisation: far too many folk have been flung in from all directions, allowing little chance for the central figures to emerge, let alone gell. A ragged, unfunny affair.Author: DA
Cast & crew
Director: Joel Schumacher
Producer: William Allyn
Cast: Ted Danson, Isabella Rossellini, Sean Young, William Petersen, Lloyd Bridges, Norma Aleandro, Keith Coogan, Gina De Angelis, George Coe full cast
Duration: 113 mins
Most popular on this site
Top Stories
Ang Lee talks 'Taking Woodstock'
Ang Lee talks to Tom Huddleston about his tale of the men behind history’s greatest music festival
Hippies who work for The Man
To celebrate George Clooney comedy 'The Men who Stare at Goats', we look back at six memorable onscreen hippies who fought the system from within
Roland Emmerich's guide to disaster movies
Ahead of the release of '2012', Roland Emmerich offers his ten tips on creating the perfect global catastrophe
Grant Heslov: interview
Grant Heslov, director of 'The Men who Stare at Goats' talks about his old pal George Clooney, his interest in the paranormal, and his fond memories of working on 'Happy Days'
The Coen brothers discuss 'A Serious Man'
Masters of contrary comedy, Joel and Ethan Coen have struck gold again with their latest, ‘A Serious Man’
Ten inspirations behind 'Avatar'?
Time Out ponders the influences behind James Cameron's anticipated space-opera on the basis of the trailer
Michael Haneke: The man behind the menace
From Cannes to Munich to London, Dave Calhoun tours Michael Haneke's Palme d'Or winner, 'The White Ribbon'
How Jane Campion brought John Keats back to life
Time Out gets Romantic with the ‘difficult’ New Zealander about her new film, 'Bright Star'
Time Out's 50 greatest animated films with commentary by Terry Gilliam
In celebration of the release of Pixar's 'Up' and Wes Anderson's 'Fantastic Mr Fox', read our rundown of fifty classic feature length animations











What do you think?
Post your review now