Pluskylang Great Film overall

FirstWitch A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

Humaira Grant It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

Jonah Abbott There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

Mr-Fusion I've been chomping at the bit for several years to see this, and it's thankfully been made available - albeit in a severely truncated form. "An American Family" was a 1971 experiment in cinéma vérité that placed a camera crew in an upper-middle class Santa Barbara household - The Louds - for a period of six months. The resulting footage was edited into a 12-hour miniseries that aired on PBS in '73. That miniseries would become part of the national conversation (for months) and make television history.And I use cinéma vérité because that's exactly what this is: cameras observing the interactions and behavior of a particular subject matter. There's no commentary, no plotted narrative to abide and no comic music strategically used to let us know when we're supposed to laugh. So to compare it to the current crop of "reality-based" TV is both unfair and disingenuous.Within the 2-hour pared-down material, we meet the Loud family (parents Bill and Pat, kids Grant, Kevin, Lance, Delilah and Michele) during a half-year that sees foundational shifts in the family. Lance, having recently come out to his family has moved to New York City, while Bill and Pat, in a gradually deteriorating relationship, file for divorce. Son Grant gets some screen time and attention as the apathetic teenager who squares off with his self-made man father over what he'll do with his life. The other siblings go largely ignored, leaving me to wonder what material of theirs was left on the cutting room floor. And that's really my only beef with this disc. The compression into 120 minutes leaves no breathing room, and the other members of the family get backseat treatment. Aside from that, the image and sound quality are pretty rough, but this is a 40 year-old TV series that was shot on 16mm. No complaints. I'm also curious as to how this family was chosen, and why the producers didn't go with a less well-off household. The house at 35 Woodale Lane is no shoebox, and Patricia's close friend even tells her "You don't even know what it is to be unlucky". Bill is constantly on his kids to be enterprising and work hard for a living; Pat and the kids, on the other hand, definitely come off as those who have never known hard times. Producer Craig Gilbert, in his introduction, says, "The Louds are neither average nor typical. No family is. They are not THE American family. They are simply AN American family". The choice of such a nicely-appointed household, makes me wonder if they make better lab rats for us to peak in on. Or maybe just see how other richer people have it in life. The bottom line is this: this is an utterly fascinating experiment. It requires you to remember that this was filmed in a time and place where Reality TV didn't rule the airwaves. Manufactured drama wasn't everywhere you looked. So to see this family go through such shifts made for a TV show that was truly ahead of its time. I'm genuinely thankful to have what's so far been released (the full affair is tied up in music licensing hell). I see "An American Family" as a footnote in television (hell, even American) history, so I'll see it any way I can get it. Watching this is like watching Albert Brooks' "Real Life" or "Network"; both posit such an outrageous situation that it's all the more hilarious (or disturbing, depending on your point of view) when TV networks adopt that absurdity for cheap junk food TV. This is nothing like Reality TV. This is history; bold, unique, and absolutely mesmerizing.7/10

Diane A If you found An American Family dull, you weren't watching it properly. In order to appreciate this documentary, you have to take it as a very special, intimate look at a family with some dramatic twists and turns, accompanied with a fascinating "slice of life" look at how things were in 1971, the year the documentary was filmed. There are so many more interesting elements to the program aside from the bits where Lance was involved -- Grant and his striving for rock and roll success while chafing under the expectations of his parents; Kevin and his struggle to carve his own identity while being a good, honorable, decent, and obedient son; Delilah and her struggles to grow up in a tumultuous family environment while keeping up with her passions and responsibilities; and Michelle and the roller-coaster of a ride she's on as she copes with the gargantuan highs and lows of early adolescence.Then there's Pat and Bill. Their relationship and its attendant struggles forms the centerpiece of this fascinating documentary. Unbeknownst to the viewer in the first half of the program, Pat's suspicions of Bill's multiple affairs has been verified and solidified and this spurs her own to make plans of her own. But Bill is no ogreish cad -- he, like everyone else in this program, is extremely likable, so when he arrives back home at the beginning of episode 9 and Pat presents him with her attorney's information and tells him to move out, it is nearly torturous to watch. The whole of the episode is thus tinged with that element of sadness, even at the very end when Grant sits down with his family (minus Bill and Lance) and strums rock and roll songs. By that time you've gotten to know everyone -- and seen just how accurate Lance was with his overall assessment of his siblings (i.e. very accurate) -- and it feels like this is happening to friends or relatives of yours.This is the finest example of the "reality TV" genre out there. It's incredibly emotionally involving, the Loud family are all very likable (something no other reality TV program can claim), it's a perfect time capsule for an era and a time that hasn't gotten much actual memorialization (only kitschification), and it is a highly entertaining program to watch. And it stands the test of time.

Steven Capsuto I videotaped most of the series when it reran on WNET some 20 years ago, and I keep trying to like it. But even to this avid TV viewer who lived through that era and is fascinated by cultural anthropology, the show is largely unwatchable.The problem is that except for a couple of episodes (episode 2 and maybe the one with Lance in Paris), it's dull and slow. What made it shocking in 1973 -- the strangeness of being able to peek into someone else's day-to-day life -- has now been eclipsed by a torrent of tell-all talk shows and contrived "reality shows." Without the show's original voyeuristic shock value, ten of the twelve hours are unadulterated tedium (though I imagine a nifty 100-minute documentary could be culled from the footage).

cllrdr-1 I saw it when it was first ran and taped it when it was repeated during the first Gulf War.Despite all the pontificating and finger-pointing the Louds come off as quite a nice family. Divorce didn't "tear them apart" at all. They're still connected to one another to this very day.Lance was of course the breakout 'star" of the show, thanks to episode for. The critics claimed he "came out" in this episode. But Lance was never "in," and his whole family adored him. Bill's disapproval had less to do with Lance's sexuality than the fact that he was goofing off too much and should set some goals in life. Lance tried a number of them, with mixed success, but he remained a terrific guy. (I got to know him personally as we were both writing for "The Advocate" and had many mutual friends.) His memorial service (captured in the documentary sequel "ADeath in An American Family" ) was quite an occasion, bringing together all manner of people in the arts and all the Loud family to celebrate Lance's life.