Back When We Were Grownups

Back When We Were Grownups Review

Back When We Were Grownups is a delightful film. I watched it when it was presented as a Hallmark movie and it stayed in my mind for weeks after I viewed it.

It's the story of Rebecca Davitch (Blythe Danner) who at the age of 53 finds herself looking at her life and wondering how she became the person that she turned into.

As a young woman, still in college, she was engaged to a Will Allenby (Peter Fonda), a serious academic and they had a plan for their future. While at a reception, she met Joe Davitch, a divorced man, several years her senior. Rebecca was flattered and very much infatuated by the attention from Joe, and she married him without much consideration, except that she seemed to love him. She immediately became a stepmother to three little girls and manager of a home based business. She also inherited her husband's Uncle Poppy (Jack Palance) who had been living with the Davitch family since his wife died. Within a few years, Rebecca and Joe had their own child, another daughter. To further add to the confusion, Rebecca also has to deal with her husband's former wife who is played by Faye Dunaway

Although, amusing in many ways, I felt this story had a real feeling about the various relationships and jealousies that can crop up in any family. It also shows how one person often takes on the responsibility of keeping a family together.

Like many avid readers, I find that movies based on books, are rarely as good as the books. However, in this case, I enjoyed the film more than the book. I also thought that Blythe Danner did an excellent job in the major role of Rebecca.

With courage, grace, and celebration, a woman embarks on a search for herself, for a life she feared was long gone, and for a new awareness she never imagined possible. Based on the New York Times best-selling novel by Anne Tyler, the quirky story revolves around a widow who is contemplating what her life would have been like if she had married someone else and calls her ex-boyfriend to see if she can rekindle the old flame and spice up her life. Since her husbands death after only six years of marriage, Rebecca has single-handedly raised his ever-challenging and now adult daughters, as well as one of her own. Rebecca also inherited her husbands uncle, 99-year-old Poppy (Jack Palance), a crotchety old man whose total focus is his upcoming 100th birthday. A party planner by trade, Rebecca is always cheerful and upbeat, but, even after many, many years, shes still not really sure about her standing in this bizarre family. Stars: Academy Award-winners Faye Dunaway (Network) & Jack Palance (City Slickers), Tony Award-winner Blythe Danner (Butterflies Are Free), Academy Award-nominee Peter Fonda (Easy Rider) and Peter Riegert (Traffic).