Inventing the Abbotts (1997)

I think that this is trying hard to be reminiscent of the melodramas from the '50s (think Peyton Place or Raintree County) -- small towns full of secrets and angst, the sins of the parents being visited on their poor miserable children.

Well, I didn't like the old ones and this update isn't any better. As a matter of fact it's worse because at least the secrets in the aforementioned films were juicy. The secret in this one is quite the letdown and makes all the posturing that came before the reveal feel childish rather than tragic...and that renders the entire exercise a waste of time.

D+