People Like Us Movie Reviews
User reviews on People Like Us
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As a mother, I must confess that this movie really moved me to tears. Michelle Pfeiffer plays a lost mother (in the emotional sense) who gave up on her dreams and her child and was left with nothing except her own hope that the next day would be better some day. Though she's only in a minor supporting role, her performance is the one that stayed with me after the movie ended. It's Pfeiffer's best performance in years and I hope that they give her other such roles that allow her finesse to shine through.
Overall, the movie is about two half siblings who never knew the other existed until after their father passes away. One is a slick salesman who is buried under debt, the other is a struggling single mother who needs a helping hand because her son is out of control. Of course they both end up being exactly who and what the other one needs, which sounds like something that only happens in the movies, but I've seen it happen in real life and I was able to identify with this story. -
I wanted to get more into this movie than I could, and all because of one issue: why couldn't he just tell her he's her brother?? That would have spared us the whole two hours...oh yes, then there would be no movie, of course. Still, I don't get the what was the point of it all.
The most poignant part of the film was watching the single mom played by Elizabeth Banks wrestle with her troubled son. Though it's kind of a typical storyline, it resonated the most with me as someone who grew up with a single mom. The whole part of a stranger showing up out of the mist and giving her money to save her life and he also turns out to be her long lost half brother was very soap opera-y. I think the movie is too ambitious for its own good. The performances are all good, but are buried under all the different stories. Less is more, especially in a situation like this. -
I think this movie could have easily turned out to be like every bad TV movie you've seen on CBS but this one is handled very well and it works in unexpected ways. First of all, its stars the hottie Chris Pine as a guy down on his luck. He finds out one day that he's in terrible amounts of debt when his father dies. His dad leaves him a large sum of money which he thinks will solve his problems . . . but it's meant for a young woman he's never met who turns out to be his half sister he never knew about. How they forge their relationship and save each other is what the movie is really about.
Chris Pine is great in the movie, as is Elizabeth Banks who plays his half sister. But I think the movie really belongs to the touching performance by Michelle Pfeiffer who plays the mother. She's a lost soul who wants to save her son from himself, but she has a hard time letting him save himself. It's a very touching performance and one which I wish Hollywood would let older actresses play more often. It's supposed to be based on the real life of the writer who wrote the script, but I am sure some of it is fictionalized. A sweet and heartfelt movie that should make you grateful for the family and loved ones you have.
