When Frank Beardsley (Dennis Quaid), a widower of 8 children runs into his high school sweetheart, Helen North (Rene Russo), it?s as if thirty years never passed! Helen, also a widow with ten kids of her own that include t... more »he six she and her husband adopted, feels the attraction as well. It?s no wonder they rush into marriage without telling their kids. True love can conquer all?right? Unfortunately for Frank and Helen, the families don?t mesh quite as easily as the newlyweds had hoped. They probably should have seen the culture clash coming: the disciplined Beardsleys run things by the book; for the energetic and vivacious Norths, there is no book. Helen?s kids aren?t pleased about moving and sharing rooms with a bunch of uptight strangers. Frank?s children have nothing in common with the Norths. Since both sets of kids aren?t happy, they devise a plan to undermine the marriage and team up to plot the breakup. East meets west as the two families finds a way to work together?in order to separate. Just when it appears that the kids have succeeded, they realize they like each other despite their differences?they don?t want their families to split up! Can they save Frank and Helen?s marriage after they so brilliantly split them up? It?s up to Frank and Helen!« less
Jerry S. from OCEANSIDE, CA Reviewed on 3/28/2013...
W0W!! Excellent family Movie
1 of 1 member(s) found this review helpful.
Robert R. from EVERETT, MA Reviewed on 5/19/2011...
Great family film. My daughter and I enjoy this one a lot.
1 of 1 member(s) found this review helpful.
Della S. from DOTHAN, AL Reviewed on 2/1/2011...
Want to watch a great family movie? Look no further! Dennis Quaid and Rene Russo play old loves who meet again, but they are not alone. They each have large families in their own rights which must combine to form a REALLY LARGE family full of ups and downs, classic twists and turns, and a happy ending for them all, of course!
1 of 1 member(s) found this review helpful.
Jonathan B. from SAINT LOUIS, MO Reviewed on 1/6/2010...
Sweet little movie. Definatelly a disaster flick with all of those kids trying to do what kids do. Create a totally inhuman inviroment for their parents. If your thinking about having kids see this movie first! It will help decrease the population of viewed.
1 of 1 member(s) found this review helpful.
Lucy P. from ONTARIO, CA Reviewed on 10/20/2009...
an awsome movie
1 of 1 member(s) found this review helpful.
Movie Reviews
I Didn't Expect to Like It, but...
Mark J. Fowler | Okinawa, Japan | 12/12/2005
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Yesterday was our middle child's 18th birthday. As part of the festivities there was a trip to the local cinema. The birthday girl gets to choose the movie, you know, so "Pride and Prejudice" (my choice) wasn't chosen. Mom vetoed Brokeback Mountain. The compromise choice was "Yours, Mine and Ours".
Just before going out the door I checked a couple of on-line reviews. Yikes! Other reviewers were trashing this film. On top of that I'm not a big fan of the "madcap comedy featuring a housefull of characters." I gritted my teeth and vowed to not complain or cast any shadow over the sweet 18 celebration.
Okay - this is not Casablanca. But I liked it. This movie overcame my negative expectations and won me over despite it's numerous flaws. Why? The characters, though drawn with broad strokes, are nonetheless likable, and I found myself rooting for them going into the final act.
Dennis Quaid and Rene Russo are as attractive as actors my age get, and their characters are both essentially good. That was a good place to start.
Quaid is a 2-Star Coast Guard Admiral just assigned to take over leadership at the Coast Guard Academy in New London, Connecticut. A widower of several years, he presides over his brood of 8 kids along with housekeeper Linda Hunt. Russo portrays his high school sweetheart, still living there in New London. She is also widowed. After 4 children of their own, she and her previous spouse adopted 6 more. There is a real international feeling in that house. She works at home in a messily creative studio as a designer who sells things at places like Saks Fifth Avenue.
The admiral's kids are all quite regimented. They keep a tidy ship, adhere rigidly to written schedules and call their father "Admiral", which I thought sort of odd despite 22 years in the Navy myself. My children call me "Dad". But I digress. Russo is raising her children to be free-thinking spirits.
There would be no movie if the designer and the admiral didn't get together. The "conflict" that must be resolved is between the military brats and the flower children.
There is much to scoff at. There are several frenzied scenes of physical comedy - all ending with Quaid covered with wet stuff. With 20 family members there is scarcely a moment for any degree of character development. Rip Torn is absolutely fantastic in the right role - here he is badly miscast as the Commandant of the Coast Guard. At one point he is so pleased at the promotion of his subordinate Quaid that he lifts him off the ground in a big bear hug in one of those big Washington, D.C. rotundas. All the Admirals I know in real life are slightly more reserved in large public places. A portion of the family conflict comes when Quaid's 2-star Admiral is nominated to become the replacement for 4-Star Torn. This is about as realistic as the person who just got the job supervising orientation of new employees to the Ford Motor Company suddenly being named CEO. I know this sort of plot device happens in film all the time, but even a kindergarden understanding of arithmetic would allow you to know that a 2-Star Admiral doesn't replace a 4-Star without that intermediate 3-Star step.
Still - I liked it. I liked the couple. I liked the kids. I wanted things to work out for them.
I wouldn't cancel a trip to "Pride and Prejudice" or "King Kong" to see this, but if your kids or significant other drags you to it, don't run screaming."
Be Careful What You Wish For
Stephen Smith | CRANSTON, RI USA | 11/24/2005
(4 out of 5 stars)
"These ninety minutes will fly by if you think a noisy house full of squabbling kids sounds familiar, or if it sounds like something you mistakenly believed you'd never miss. The storyline is an easy pop-up: a Coast Guard admiral with eight disciplined children impulsively marries his high school sweetheart, a widow dedicated to encouraging her ten children to find themselves through creative expression. The kids simply don't get along, and when they aren't playing pranks on each other they start playing pranks on their parents to try to get them to split up. There's not much individual character development for the children; they make The Brady Bunch look like Shakespeare. But the parents are portrayed as realistic adults with whom it is easy to identify. Dennis Quaid and Rene Russo have a warmly human comic touch and a tangible, memorable chemistry. Their housekeeper Mrs. Munyon is, unfortunately, no Alice: she is irresponsible, uncouth, and unfunny. At the other end of the spectrum is Quaid's boss, played by Rip Torn in a performance that leaves you hungering for more. Quaid, Russo, and Torn provide more than enough reason to go out and buy a ticket."
A Welcome Family Comedy
K. Fontenot | The Bayou State | 06/17/2006
(4 out of 5 stars)
"It's not everyday that you can walk up to the DVD rack in your local department store and pick up a flick that everyone in the family can enjoy, but "Yours, Mine & Ours" is one such flick. I wasn't expecting much from this film at first. I only picked it up because it's PG and looked harmless enough for everyone to watch. In other words, I skipped out on flicks like "Underworld: Evolution" and "Wolf Creek" in order to watch a film with my entire family.
I was quite surprised by this family film. Sure, I've seen funnier flicks with a PG (and even G) rating, but this film rolls along at a frantic pace with pratfalls galore and plenty of "aw, shucks" humor. It has a certain appeal to it that makes you feel as if you've gotten your money's worth. Dennis Quaid and Rene Russo are funny as the heads of two separate and very different families who become one whenever Quaid and Russo marry unannounced to their children. Oh, and I've forgotten to mention that Quaid had eight children and Russo has ten (four biologically, six adopted).
There's little room for character development. In fact, I couldn't give you but maybe two or three of the elder children's names. Quaid's bunch are regimental, what with a military father at the helm. Russo's kids are free spirited and artistic, without a care in the world. The kids hate living with each other, so they devise a plan to breakup their new parents. Of course, this leads to an obvious bonding of the families that makes for a predictable ending, but it's done with so much silliness that it manages to work.
Rip Torn and Linda Hunt have minor roles in the film, though I must say that Hunt's nanny role is hilarious at times. The rest of the cast does a solid job. Youngsters and hip parents such as myself will recognize Drake Bell and the girl who plays his little sis, Megan, on "Drake and Josh." Even hipper parents will pick out Danielle Panabaker, who's made a name for herself on the Disney Channel and in another recent wonderful family comedy, "Sky High."
Predictable, silly, and sometimes too sugary sweet, I still feel that "Yours, Mine & Ours" deserves a modest four stars. It's a wonderful film for the whole family to watch together, and I think Nickelodeon is well on its way to making even better family films."
Brady Bunch meets the Odd Couple [SPOILER ALERT]
S. Zayas | Detroit | 05/03/2006
(2 out of 5 stars)
"Once again, Hollywood, fresh out of ideas, has remade another old movie. I have not seen the original Yours, Mine & Ours, but the 2005 incarnation is 2 parts Brady Bunch, 1 part Odd Couple.
Five minutes into the movie, you know that Frank Beardsley (Quaid), a buttoned-down, anal retentive Coast Guard Admiral, and Helen North (Russo), a free-wheeling, artsy, fashion designer, will fall in love despite their differences, will try to blend their children, strain will nearly tear the "family" apart, and that love will save them in the end. There's not even much mystery as to how all this will occur.
The movie is pure drivel. I truly appreciate that Quaid and Russo signed on to do a light-hearted family film. But why couldn't they have picked one with a better script? The way Yours, Mine & Ours ends is sickeningly sappy. My wife, who's generally pretty tolerant of Hollywood sappiness, said, "Oh, God, I want to puke!" at the end of this one.
The kids in the movie are cute (which is also part of the problem.) Little kids will enjoy some of the physical comedy and the cuteness factor. But for most adults, Yours, Mine & Ours will be just plain embarrassing to watch.
Parents, put this on TV for your little ones and leave the house -- or at least the room -- for about 1 1/2 hours.
[RATING NOTE: From an adult perspective, this is a 1 star movie. Because it is very kid friendly, I gave it 2 stars.]"
Just dont
elfdart | 10/05/2009
(1 out of 5 stars)
"i really disliked this movie. not only does the movie run on the stereotypical plot and themes of countless movies that have come before it... but it's based on a movie that was actually very good. i suppose i wouldn't mind this version so very much if i hadn't seen the lucille ball version first, it would have been just another crude attempt at mashing together a feel-good movie about family values to get people to pay money to go see it, like a lot of the other things playing in theaters. but since i've seen and enjoyed the original, watching this actually offended me personally. i would have preferred that they take these characters and make a new movie.. not attempt to ride on the success of the last one.
as for the movie itself, the mom was of course the with the big heart and the dad a heartless dictator, stereotypical gender roles ftw. the mom of course had to adopt a kid from every visually different racial category so that all races were represented... while making them play out their 'racial role', one chinese kid was an effeminate designer, the other tech savy, the indian kids went barefoot and liked gardening, the black kid was 'gangsta' and made a rap song for them all at one point, and of course all the white kids were the focus of the story ... so they reaaaallllyyyy tried hard to create dynamic and interesting characters here, and at the same time did a most excellent job of challenging the status quo and the stereotypes that influence kids to perpetuate racist stereotypes. honestly. there should be a committee or something for things like this. and of course the men made all the rules and the women had 'great personalities' aka 'strong' but did what the men said in the end. again, great film for the kids.
i'm getting a bit overly sarcastic now so i'll stop. suffice it to say i was not impressed."