The Family Tree

The Family Tree (2010)

Genres - Comedy  |   Sub-Genres - Black Comedy, Family Drama  |   Release Date - Aug 26, 2011 (USA - Limited), Sep 26, 2011 (USA)  |   Run Time - 87 min.  |   Countries - United States  |   MPAA Rating - R
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Synopsis by Mark Deming

A mother forgets her troubles the hard way in this independent black comedy. If the Burnett family isn't the most dysfunctional household in town, they're a good bet to be in the top three. Man of the house Jack (Dermot Mulroney) is a depressed businessman having an affair with a buxom co-worker (Christina Hendricks), his wife, Bunnie (Hope Davis), plays curious sexual role-playing games with their neighbor Simon (Chi McBride), sexually adventurous teenage daughter Kelly (Britt Robertson) is having an affair with a female classmate (Madeline Zima) while blackmailing one of her teachers (Selma Blair), and son Eric (Max Thieriot) is a fervent Christian whose loyalties are divided between a preacher obsessed with guns (Keith Carradine) and a drug-addled punk rocker (John Patrick Amedori) with a soft spot for Kelly. Things have gotten so bad for the Burnetts that their analyst has given up on them, but fate gives the family a curious second chance -- after suffering a head injury during a tryst with Simon, Bunnie develops a mild case of amnesia that wipes most of the family's troubles from her memory. The first feature film from director Vivi Friedman, The Family Tree received its world premiere at the 2010 Seattle International Film Festival.

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Keywords

amnesia, analysis/analyst [psychotherapy], businessperson, Christianity, dysfunctional, extramarital-affair, family, minister, neighbor, punk, role-playing