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Inventing the Abbotts
In the 1950s, brothers Jacey and Doug Holt, who come from the poorer side of their sleepy Midwestern town, vie for the affections of the wealthy, lovely Abbott sisters. Lady-killer Jacey alternates between Eleanor and Alice, wanting simply to break the hearts of rich young women. But sensitive Doug has a real romance with Pamela, which Jacey and the Abbott patriarch, Lloyd, both frown upon.
1997 · Directed by Pat O'Connor · 110 min · Drama · Romance · Screenplay in the scene database · 10 frames
Tagline
When you want it all but can't have it, there's only one way to handle life... invent it.
Plot
The lives of two families, the Holts and the Abbotts, intersect in the small Illinois town of Haley in the 1950s. Two brothers, J.C. and Doug Holt, are being raised by their single working mother. Their father Charlie was a reckless risk-taker who lost his life when J.C. was two years old and before Doug was born, after driving on a frozen lake over a bet made with Lloyd Abbott. Lloyd had just acquired Charlie's patent for a steel file-drawer in return for almost nothing, consequently becoming one of the town's wealthiest and most-admired citizens. Lloyd and his distant wife, Joan, are the parents of three beautiful daughters, Alice, Eleanor, and Pamela. The parties for the girls' birthdays and other milestones are among the most anticipated events in the town.
Thinking his father's death was Lloyd's fault, and that the money raised from the patent was unfairly stolen from his family, J.C. seeks revenge on Lloyd through the calculated seduction of the Abbott daughters. First he seduces Eleanor, the wildest of the three. As a consequence of their relationship, she is sent away to a mental hospital, and will end up never returning to Haley again. Meanwhile, Doug, who initially admires his brother's libertine lifestyle, starts harboring reciprocated feelings for the youngest Abbott, Pamela. The two awkwardly circle each other, but she protests his early, fumbling sexual advances.
During a summer home from college, J.C. seduces the oldest Abbott daughter, Alice, who is divorcing her abusive husband after the birth of their daughter. The relationship between J.C. and Alice also leads to heartbreak, as well as to Lloyd taking extreme measures to keep them apart.
Plot summary from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA.
Crew
- Screenplay: Ken Hixon
- Cinematography: Kenneth MacMillan
- Edited by: Ray Lovejoy
- Music: Michael Kamen
- Production design: Gary Frutkoff
- Produced by: Janet Meyers, Brian Grazer, Ron Howard
Cast
- Joaquin Phoenix as Doug Holt
- Liv Tyler as Pamela Abbott
- Jennifer Connelly as Eleanor Abbott
- Billy Crudup as Jacey Holt
- Joanna Going as Alice Abbott
- Kathy Baker as Helen Holt
- Will Patton as Lloyd Abbott
- Michael Sutton as Steve
- Garrett M. Brown as Webb Crosby
- Barbara Williams as Joan Abbott
Production
- Country: United States of America
- Language: English
- Studios: Fox 2000 Pictures, Imagine Entertainment
- Box office: $5,926,128
- Themes: new love, sibling relationship, family secrets, coming of age, working class, period drama, wrong side of the tracks, 1950s, wealthy family, misguided
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