Cousins (1989 film)

Cousins is a 1989 American romantic comedy film directed by Joel Schumacher and starring Ted Danson, Isabella Rossellini, Sean Young, William Petersen, Keith Coogan, Lloyd Bridges and Norma Aleandro. The film is an American remake of the 1975 French comedy Cousin Cousine, directed by Jean-Charles Tacchella. It was filmed in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, but set in Seattle, Washington.

Cousins
Theatrical release poster
Directed byJoel Schumacher
Produced byWilliam Allyn
Written byJean-Charles Tacchella
Stephen Metcalfe
Starring
Music byAngelo Badalamenti
CinematographyRalf D. Bode
Edited byRobert Brown
Distributed byParamount Pictures
Release date
  • February 10, 1989 (1989-02-10)
Running time
113 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Box office$22,026,369

Plot

Larry Kozinski (Danson) and Maria Hardy (Rossellini) meet at the marriage of Larry's uncle Phil and Maria's mother Edie (Aleandro). Newly made cousins-by-marriage, they begin talking to each other when they both realize their spouses are missing. As they talk in the reception area, Larry's wife Tish (Sean Young) and boorish Tom (Petersen) come in together, saying Tom was showing her a car and it broke down. Tom is shown to be a serial cheater, as he meets with several women to tell them he can't see them anymore. He visits Tish to supposedly sleep with her again, but she isn't having it.

A few weeks later Maria asks Larry to lunch, and tries to ask him a "difficult" question, until he blurts it out, "You want to know if Tish and Tom slept together at the wedding?" At first Larry acts like he doesn't care, but then blows up. Maria returns home to Tom, and tells him, "Oh, I had lunch with Larry today," Maria clearly likes it when Tom gets visibly upset. Maria and Larry continue to meet, but commit to just being friends. They plan to "meet" for dinner in the same restaurant, with their spouses and Larry's dad. Maria and Tom are already there when Larry and his family arrive. Larry and Maria keep looking at each other, and Tish sees it, gets upset, and leaves the table. Maria follows her into the bathroom and tells her calmly, "We aren't having an affair, we were playing a little game, to get back at you and Tom."

Over time, however, they realize they're falling in love with each other, and finally consummate the affair one afternoon. Maria returns home to Tom, who obviously knows where she was. He starts to say, "Sometimes a man has to prove himself by being with a lot of women..." but Maria cuts him off by saying, "Tom, if you tell me about your infidelities I'll have to leave you forever." He shuts up, but then calls Larry's house to say, "If you come near my wife again, I'll kill you." Vince answers the phone and thinks it's his brother Phil calling from beyond the grave to tell him not to date Edie. Larry returns from his day with Maria to discover Tish with her bags packed. She goes to stay with her mother, but then goes to meet Tom at the car dealership. They sleep together at a hotel, but when Tish notices he's "different," she realizes he's the type of guy who only sleeps with women there's no chance of getting serious with. She storms out.

Maria finds out that Chloe has been getting into fights at school. But when she discovers that Chloe has been instigating the fights as a way of acting out, she ends the affair with Larry, saying, "My husband and daughter need me." Larry gracefully bows out.

Later, Vince tells Larry "you've just got one life." So when Larry and Maria see each other again at Vince and Edie's wedding, he asks her to dance, but also to spend the rest of her life with him. Tom, standing right next to Maria, tells her that if she doesn't get in the car with him right then, he'll leave her forever. Maria goes to dance with Larry, and in an epilogue, Larry and Maria are seen sailing away with their children, living a fantasy they had shared from their earlier affair.

Cast

Production

The film was directed by Joel Schumacher, known mostly for his works St. Elmo's Fire and The Lost Boys. Although not identified as such, the locations were primarily shot around Vancouver, Canada, among the first times the city was featured so prominently, and led to the city being used as a film location much more. The score was composed by Angelo Badalamenti, who was extremely popular at the time from his work with Twin Peaks and Blue Velvet director David Lynch. Film Score Monthly described Badalamenti's melodic score as a definite asset to the film, underscoring several scenes with comical, Henry Mancini-like cues, and others with a delicate, poignant theme that blossoms into a waltz over the end credits.[1]

Reception

The film has received mixed reviews. Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports that 50% of 8 film critics have given the film a positive review, with a rating average of 5.8 out of 10.[2] Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a grade of "A-" on scale of A+ to F.[3] The film received two thumbs up from Siskel & Ebert, who were the only major critics to respond enthusiastically to the film upon its theatrical release. The film grossed a total of US$22 million, with an opening weekend of $3.5 million.[4]

Individual praises were held as well, particularly praised was Rosellini, whom critics found able to create a sweet, affectionate role after appearing in David Lynch's Blue Velvet.[5] Other comments called the film "underrated" and "While not amongst the great movie romances, there is something undeniably touching—and dare I say heart-warming—about Cousins".[5]

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References
  1. Film Score Monthly Archived 2008-05-04 at the Wayback Machine
  2. "Cousins – Rotten Tomatoes". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved December 22, 2012.
  3. "Cinemascore". CinemaScore. Archived from the original on 2018-12-20.
  4. "Cousins (1989)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved December 22, 2012.
  5. Digitally Obsessed.com Review of "Cousins"
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