This is the first work of art I've ever seen that truly *gets* recovery, and this is coming from someone who is an eating disorder survivor. Not everything turns out great in the end, but that's the point! It's about accepting that you can't have everything you want, nor is recovery some sort of promised land where everything goes right and there is always a happy ending. But you can still enjoy yourself, and maybe find other people who understand. (And movies like this one that also understand). That's a pretty weighty message for an SNL spinoff movie that many people blow off, thinking it's only a dumb parody of self-help platitudes.
People who come from dysfunctional families will instantly get this movie, too. Sure, the dysfunction of Stuart's family is an exaggeration, but there are so many moments that will ring true to people that come from alcoholic folks. Hell, I do *not* come from alcoholic parents, and my family wasn't dysfunctional at all, but I still get it because I've seen so much such behavior elsewhere, so it doesn't even have to hit terribly close to home. The title is both misleading and revealing-Stuart does *not* save his family, but the title reflects not the idea that he does, but that he feels it's his job to do so. That he doesn't (or can't) hardly matters, because it's the intention that we relate to.
My opinion is, the world in 1995 wasn't ready for this movie. The world of 2020 may *still* not be ready for this movie, because this isn't your typical SNL movie, with laughs a mile a minute, or the kind of nutbar humor you get in movies like Wayne's World. There are some good laughs in it, though-especially if you've ever heard addicts talk about their experiences, and how they learned to see them with a certain perspective that makes horrible times sound funny. This movie really should have been aimed at them, instead of the SNL crowd, and if I were to teach about addiction and dysfunctional families to a class, I would incorporate this film into the lesson plan, no matter what else I'd have to juggle around to do it. It is that true to life, and it's like a magic mirror for those who've lived through it.
People who come from dysfunctional families will instantly get this movie, too. Sure, the dysfunction of Stuart's family is an exaggeration, but there are so many moments that will ring true to people that come from alcoholic folks. Hell, I do *not* come from alcoholic parents, and my family wasn't dysfunctional at all, but I still get it because I've seen so much such behavior elsewhere, so it doesn't even have to hit terribly close to home. The title is both misleading and revealing-Stuart does *not* save his family, but the title reflects not the idea that he does, but that he feels it's his job to do so. That he doesn't (or can't) hardly matters, because it's the intention that we relate to.
My opinion is, the world in 1995 wasn't ready for this movie. The world of 2020 may *still* not be ready for this movie, because this isn't your typical SNL movie, with laughs a mile a minute, or the kind of nutbar humor you get in movies like Wayne's World. There are some good laughs in it, though-especially if you've ever heard addicts talk about their experiences, and how they learned to see them with a certain perspective that makes horrible times sound funny. This movie really should have been aimed at them, instead of the SNL crowd, and if I were to teach about addiction and dysfunctional families to a class, I would incorporate this film into the lesson plan, no matter what else I'd have to juggle around to do it. It is that true to life, and it's like a magic mirror for those who've lived through it.