Inventing The Abbotts

''Inventing the Abbotts'' is a 1997 American period coming-of-age film directed by Pat O'Connor, and starring Liv Tyler, Joaquin Phoenix, Billy Crudup, Jennifer Connelly and Joanna Going. The screenplay by Ken Hixon is based on a short story by Sue Miller. The original music score was composed by Michael Kamen. The film focuses on two brothers and their relationship with the wealthy Abbott sisters.

Plot summary

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 Doug wasn't even 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 hooks up with Eleanor, the wildest of the three. As a consequence of their relationship, she's 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's 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.

Amidst the complicated dynamics brought about by their siblings, Doug and Pamela meet again by chance while attending college at Penn and Bryn Mawr, respectively. Their reunion is once again thwarted by the reveal that J.C. has in the meantime started a sexual relationship with Pamela, too. This creates a severe fracture between the two brothers.

When Doug and J.C. come back home for their mother's funeral, they find the document confirming their late father had sold his patent for the very car he drove to his death on the lake. This knowledge doesn't comfort J.C., who still finds it deeply unfair that they were denied the wealth of the Abbotts for arbitrary reasons. In the end, Doug convinces Lloyd of his true love for Pamela and the two finally find each other for good. The adult Doug who's narrating the story recounts how they married one year later and eventually gave birth to two daughters.

Cast

* Liv Tyler as Pamela Abbott
* Joaquin Phoenix as Doug Holt
* Billy Crudup as John Charles "J.C." Holt
* Jennifer Connelly as Eleanor Abbott
* Will Patton

HOME


Content is Copyleft
Website design, code, and AI is Copyrighted (c) 2014-2017 by Stephen Payne


Consider donating to Wikimedia



As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases