Staying Together

This genial family drama is formulaic without being entirely predictable. There's a symmetry to the story of three sons going through that troublesome teen phase: the smooth flow of their emotional lives is disturbed as each in turn has problems relating to Mom and Pop, and to the opposite sex. Gradually they come to realise - aaah! - that their greatest strength is each other. Everyone gets a Big Problem to wrestle with. How's Brian (Quill) ever gonna get reconciled with Pop? He's breaking his Mom's heart. How's Kit (Mulroney) gonna rescue his girl, due to be married to the town rich creep? How's Duncan (Astin) ever gonna lose his irksome virginity? When will any of them twig that Mom (Dillon) is more than just a service unit? There's an admirable lack of wish-fulfilment plotting, plus a casual, bollocks-scratching realism in the depiction of the teenage boys. The three leads all strain a bit after sensitivity, but overall it's amiable enough.