A talented cast brings some uneven life to this satirical comedy about a modern American family who agree to be videotape subjects for a "real life" cable TV show.
Smarmy producer Roger Swade (Robby Benson) and his associate Karen (Caroline Goodall) present the Webbers with an offer they can't refuse: in exchange for $150,000 each, the family members agree to move into a new camera-rigged house and have all their activities taped, 24 hours a day. The
father, Gerald (Jeffrey Tambor), is a psychiatrist married for 27 years to Emma (Rita Taggart). Their children--perfect fodder for Oprah-type TV--include Miranda (Jennifer Tilly), an "artist" attempting to plaster-cast a perfect man from selected parts of the guys she encounters during a series of
one-night stands, much to the displeasure of her main boyfriend Josh (Brian Bloom). Spying on her randy nightly endeavors is her morose brother Johnny (David Arquette), who's been obsessed with death and suicide since his girlfriend perished in an auto accident.
The show's camera work and editing are overseen respectively by Mike (Darren Epton) and Billy (Lesley Sachs). "Webbers' World" becomes a big hit, with fans camping out on the front lawn. But after a few weeks, the strain of life under glass starts showing. Gerald, who's been provided by Roger
with a bevy of new, more colorful patients to help keep the ratings up, starts going crazy himself, while Johnny begins to question the entire project and eventually swallows some poison pills sent by an adoring fan. Miranda unveils her perfect-man statue, but Robert interrupts the celebration to
announce that the show has been canceled. While Karen moves in with a new family, the Webbers, richer and wiser, reunite (including Johnny, whose death was faked to "save" his family with the connivance of Billy, who's fallen in love with him) and return to their normal lives.
Taking off from the PBS verite TV series, "An American Family" (which in turn inspired the Albert Brooks comedy REAL LIFE), AT HOME WITH THE WEBBERS manages some surprisingly mordant observations of the media and American lifestyles. In their somewhat demented way, the Webbers really are
typically "American"--at least without the increasingly outre embellishments that the Mephistophelean producer invents in order to boost the ratings. Brad Marlowe's screenplay contains some bright, original passages, but his direction is lackluster, allowing some tiresome overacting. A musical
production number starring Miranda ("Miranda's Song," sung by Robbie Peters) is a pretty cheesy affair. Of the stars, only the squeaky-voiced Tilly succeeds with the blacker elements of the movie's comedy. Good bits are supplied by Alyssa Milano as a rabid fan; Zack Norman as Sledge Hammer, one of
Gerald's psychotic patients (who, in the film's strangest moments, admits to killing his mother); and Luke Perry, who's billed redundantly as "A Famous Teen Idol." Shot in Los Angeles in late 1991, the movie was screened at Houston's 1993 WorldFest film festival and released direct-to-video and
pay cable in 1994. (Nudity, sexual situations, profanity.) leave a comment
