Family Band: The Cowsills Story (2011)

It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

Way back in the day, for my friends and me, it was all about rebellion against the mainstream, and the Cowsills seemed about as mainstream as you could get. You could just look at them and be pretty sure that while we were dropping acid and blowing our minds with Abbey Road, they were downing Hostess Twinkies and hanging out with their mom and little sister. Well, it turns out that they were a bunch of very talented and fun people who accomplished a whole lot more than my wasted friends and I ever did. You get to know them and like them in this movie, and hear all about the extreme ups and downs of their lives. It's great, I'm glad they seem to have hung together as a family, although a number of them have died. I think Susan is my favorite. How could you not cheer for a precocious little girl with seven big brothers. One thing that's kind of interesting to me is that they all appear to be very self-confident and outgoing people, both now and as kids, despite their tumultuous upbringing. It makes me ponder the "nature vs nurture" thing, especially since nurture was lacking in that household. Anyway, a really good movie, I enjoyed it and have done a complete 180 regarding my opinion of the Cowsills... they are fantastic!

The story of the Cowsills easily could have been summed up in 60 minutes--or much less. This is because so much of the thrust is how much the family patriarch was an abusive and hateful jerk. But after a while, it all became a bit numbing. It's a lot more like listening to family members gripe about a mutually hated family member in therapy instead of a documentary. The Cowsills, if you remember them, were a family singing group that went on to inspire the creation of the television show "The Partridge Family". However, unlike the TV show, the real family was NOT happy nor did they particularly enjoy their success. It seems that the father, Bud, was incredibly destructive, violent, abusive and evil. And, when the group was past their glory days, they realized that there was no money! They'd sold millions of records but the money was gone! All that I just told you was told in the first half hour...and there was still an hour more to go! Much of the rest of the film consists of talking about family dysfunction, early deaths and depression. And, eventually, the surviving members of the group began to talk about their awful father...and this pretty much makes up the rest of the movie.The bottom line is that the film was numbing. Yes, Bud Cowsill was a horrendous person...but after a while it all sounded repetitive and overly long. This all left little time for the post-we hate Bud Cowsill segment where the family learned to finally care about each other. All in all, fascinating and depressing at the same time.

Wonderful documentary by Louise Palanker that chronicles the oft posed but rarely answered question: What happened to The Cowsills? The music cleverly used throughout the film tells us a lot without trying to but what is especially refreshing is that the film allows the story to unfold naturally (and this is so important to this kind of story) in the family's own words. I never get the feeling that the filmmaker intrudes upon the story in any way. The music is a large asset to the film because it was truly refreshing and creative. Interesting insert by Shirley Jones who played the mother in the televised version aka The Partridge Family. I often wondered why TV executives did not just let The Cowsills play themselves on a televised version. This would have been a successful reality TV show had the Cowsills happened today. Brought to mind another greatly talented family group, The Jackson Five with a similar issue of paternal bullying and worse. At times shockingly revealing, the film shows what being a family is truly about, dysfunction, tragedy and all. Don't miss it.

For those of you who are over 50 and remember the Cowsills or even if you haven't, this movie is sure to interest you. The family band, popular in the late 60's was composed of five brothers, one little sister and their mother. All of them were talented musicians who perfected harmonizing. There were many hits, including "The Rain, the Park and Other Things", and "Hair".This story is about their journey from the time the original four brothers started the band, to the breakup of the band, and what happened to them many years later. They open up about very personal family issues, including a brother who wasn't allowed to join them even though he yearned to. They talk about family secrets, revealing a family who was far from the perfect, happy family the public saw.This is an entertaining movie, featuring the music of these very talented family members, many of whom became solo musicians and talented songwriters. At the same time, it is a story about a very real family with very real problems and tells each of its members individual stories. Throughout the movie you'll learn about how they coped and how most of them survived.This is a family who despite rejection, failure, tragedy and some other harsh realities, still love each other.