policy134 A better movie than expected, but what is with all the comments about it being a comedy. If it is, it must have been the first one where i didn't laugh once.Al Franken takes on a gutsy project but it is really not that interesting. It has some nice characters but it is a little too nice. Maybe it was watered down for a PG-13 rating to sell it to a teen audience. If it was, it shows a serious miscalculation of marketing strategy. There is virtually nothing here that appeal to that group.It did get the addiction part almost right, although the ending is a little too nice again. I wish they would have ended it on the intervention stuff and left the last scene out.Still, I am glad I saw it, because it was somewhat different and the main character wasn't as annoying as I thought. Just wish they had made it a little more raw.

Lee Eisenberg "Stuart Saves His Family" came out before I had heard of Al Franken, so I took no notice. After I read Franken's book "Rush Limbaugh is a Big, Fat Idiot and Other Observations", I decided to check it out. It turns out that there's not really very much here. Franken plays Stuart Smalley, a character from "Saturday Night Live", and the movie portrays him having a crazy family. Why do movies and TV shows always seem to portray families as nearly mental? I actually giggled when he resorts to name-calling ("You are a big...!), but it seemed like the movie didn't have much of a point beyond that. Then again, few "SNL" skits make good movies. Of course, I might just be too tough on Al Franken; having read his political satires, I expect the highest quality from him.So I don't recommend it. I do think that Al Franken would make a really good senator (in case you haven't heard, he's running for senate in Minnesota), but for entertainment, he should stick to mocking the Bush administration and right-wing commentators.

TobyDammit I really liked this movie. And no, I have never been in a 12 step program. But we all know people like this and we all share some of these experiences. But beside all that, it is funny. Al Franken is excellent. Julia Sweeney's "I'm sorry" character is hysterical. Sure it's a little movie but great if you are interested in human behavior.

tfrizzell Saturday Night Live routines always find a way to the silver screen and that is unfortunate for the most part. "Stuart Saves His Family" is another pure mess as the titled psychiatrist (the likeable Al Franken) goes home after his aunt's death and tries to keep his family talking to each other, but fireworks just continue going off with what are supposed to be hilarious results. Once again a lack of material just makes the film little more than a very long skit. 2 stars out of 5.