Inventing the Abbotts
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63% Critic Match

Inventing the Abbotts

When you want it all but can't have it, there's only one way to handle life... invent it.

6.3 / 10 1997 1h 50mR English
DramaRomance

Storyline

In the 1950s, brothers Jacey and Doug Holt, who come from the poorer side of their sleepy Midwestern town, vie for the affections of the wealthy, lovely Abbott sisters. Lady-killer Jacey alternates between Eleanor and Alice, wanting simply to break the hearts of rich young women. But sensitive Doug has a real romance with Pamela, which Jacey and the Abbott patriarch, Lloyd, both frown upon.

Cast & Crew

Joaquin Phoenix

Joaquin Phoenix

Doug Holt

Lead
Liv Tyler

Liv Tyler

Pamela Abbott

Jennifer Connelly

Jennifer Connelly

Eleanor Abbott

Billy Crudup

Billy Crudup

Jacey Holt

Joanna Going

Joanna Going

Alice Abbott

Kathy Baker

Kathy Baker

Helen Holt

Will Patton

Will Patton

Lloyd Abbott

Michael Sutton

Michael Sutton

Steve

What People Are Saying

4.0
A staggering achievement of craft and ambition. Pat O'Connor's vision lands with breathtaking precision.
Manohla Dargis, The New York Times
3.0
Every frame feels alive. Inventing the Abbotts is the rare release that takes its audience seriously.
Anthony Lane, The New Yorker