"BROTHERS & SISTERS: THE COMPLETE SECOND SEASON"
DVD Review
by Kevin Carr
| MOVIE: *** (out of 5 stars)
DVD EXPERIENCE: **** (out of 5 stars) STARRING Calista Flockhart as KITTY Sally Field as NORA Rachel Griffiths as SARAH Ron Rifkin as SAUL Balthazar Getty as TOMMY Patricia Wettic as HOLLY Dave Annable as JUSTIN Matthew Rhys as KEVIN Rated TV-PG Studio: ABC Studios Back to DVD Review Home |  |
WHAT IT’S ABOUT
Follow the trials and tribulations of the Walker family as they provide support for each other and meddle in each other’s affairs. This season deals with Justin (Dave Annable) getting wounded in Iraq and coming home to live with his mother (Sally Field) as well as Kitty (Calista Flockhart) trying to balance her love life with Robert (Rob Lowe) and her career. Fall-out is still happening with Holly (Patricia Wettic) asserting herself at Ojai Foods while Kevin (Matthew Rhys) has trouble with his love life. Finally, more revelations happen in Rebecca’s (Emily VanCamp) involvement in the family as the lost daughter.
WHAT I LIKED
To be honest, I avoided the first season of “Brothers and Sisters.” The biggest stumbling block for me was Sally Field, who is one of those celebrated actors I really don’t like. (Incidentally, Meryl Streep falls in this category for me as well.)
However, upon viewing the second season, I will commend the filmmakers that this is an extremely well put together show. The acting is superb from a large cast that is generous enough to each other to not steal the spotlight. This could have easily become a show about Calista Flockhart, Sally Field or Rachel Griffiths. At least everyone gets out of each other’s way from the acting standpoint.
In some strange way, even though I’m not wild about the stories in the show, the characters are addictive to a certain degree. It is one of the best ensembles on television.
WHAT I DIDN’T LIKE
Let’s cut to the chase... if I were a member of this family, I’d probably kill myself... and everyone else in the family. They are all terribly annoying and overly nosy into everyone else’s affairs. I understand that this is what makes the show interesting, but they do tend to get on my nerves a bit.
Sally Field as the matriarch of the clan is overexposed in this role. She’s a real pariah, but her kids still cope with her. Being part of the Walker clan would be easier if she just backed off a bit... which might come a little in season three.
Finally, I understand the showrunners’ effort to try and bridge a political fence by making Kitty a died-in-the-wool Republican, but it comes across like many other Hollywood shows as liberals writing for what they perceive conservatives to be. They should just get out of politics completely with this show and simply tell the characters’ stories.
DVD FEATURES
Special features on this DVD are aplenty, as would be expected with the second season of a hit television show. The bonus material doesn’t start to suffer until season four or five.
There are audio commentaries for select episodes, multiple deleted scenes and a blooper reel. There’s also three featurettes, one on the guest stars, one on the production design and the last on the food used in the series.
And speaking of food, the DVD set comes with ten recipe cards from the Walker family’s basket. Sure, it’s kitchy, but it’s also one of the more clever – and useful – physical bonus pieces that have been included in the ABC Studios disc sets this year.
WHO’S GOING TO LIKE THIS MOVIE
People who think that good family dramas are disappearing from broadcast television.
