Stuart Saves His Family (1995)

Director:

Harold Ramis

Writers (WGA):

Al Franken (screenplay)
Al Franken (book)

Release Date:

12 April 1995 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama

Tagline:

You'll laugh because it's not your family. You'll cry because it is.

Plot:

Stuart Smalley, the Saturday Night Live character, comes to the big screen. Stuart, the disciple of the 12 step program...

Plot Keywords:

Saturday Night Live | Public Access | Hunting | Accidental Shooting | Alcohol

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Al Franken	...	Stuart Smalley
Laura San Giacomo	...	Julia
Vincent D'Onofrio	...	Donnie - The Smalley Family
Shirley Knight	...	Mom - The Smalley Family
Harris Yulin	...	Dad - The Smalley Family
Lesley Boone	...	Jodie - The Smalley Family
John Link Graney	...	Kyle - The Smalley Family
Marjorie Lovett	...	Aunt Paula - The Smalley Family
Walter Robles	...	Smalley Uncle - The Smalley Family (as Walt Robles)
Erik Cord	...	Smalley Uncle - The Smalley Family
Denver Mattson	...	Smalley Uncle - The Smalley Family
Grant Hoover	...	Young Stuart - Flashbacks
Cory Milano	...	Young Donnie - Flashbacks
Michelle Horn	...	Young Jodie - Flashbacks
Harris Laskaway	...	Mr. Dimmit - Flashbacks (as Harris Laskawy)

Also Known As:

Stuart Stupid - Eine Familie zum Kotzen (Germany)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for language and substance abuse.

Runtime:

Brazil:96 min | USA:95 min

Country:

Germany | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Singapore:PG | Iceland:L | Canada:PG | USA:PG-13 (No. 33363) | Spain:T | UK:12 (video premiere) | Sweden:11

Filming Locations:

Chicago, Illinois, USA

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Goofs:

Factual errors: When Stuart gets his show on Health Cable Network, he goes to have twenty episodes shot. The time they give him to do this is four hours, which is impossible because all the shows are fifteen minutes. At least five hours would be needed, even if the cameras were never turned off.

Quotes:

Stuart Smalley: As they say in Al-Anon: Trace it. Face it. And Erase it.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Saturday Night Live: Bob Saget/TLC (#20.19)" (1995)

Soundtrack:

I Want To Be Happy

not at all what I expected

I rented this movie expecting a movie like "A Night at the Roxbury", "Superstar", or "Coneheads" - not a great plot or great acting, but a lot of laugh-out-loud, tasteless jokes that will cause me to feel guilty for laughing later. Not very good movies critic-wise, but I need a good tasteless comedy every now and then.

However, "Stuart Saves His Family" is different. It had a bittersweet plot and some pretty good acting. It turned out to be a good movie. On the other hand, it wasn't tastelessly laugh-out-loud funny. In fact, I only remember laughing once in the whole movie.

So did "Stuart Saves His Family" accomplish its goal, or did it fail miserably? I'm not quite sure. I still don't know what to think of this movie. I'd say it's worth renting just for its uniqueness.