Yours, Mine & Ours

—1. Overview (multimedia)
—2. Overview Basic (dial up speed)
—3. Reviews and Blogs
—4. Cast and Crew
—5. Photo Pages
—6. Trailers, Clips, DVDs, Books, Soundtrack
—7. Posters (Dennis Quaid)
—8. Production Notes (pdf)
—9. Spiritual Connections
—10. Presentation Downloads

Yours, Mine & Ours is light-hearted fare, aimed at families with small children, and is basically The Brady Bunch for an extended show. Two high school sweethearts reunite two marriages and quite a few years later. Their high school courtship must have been a good one—they’re married within 24 hours of their second ‘date’ 20 years later! The catch: between the two of them, they have 18 children and none of them are happy with their new living arrangement. Will these two ‘star-crossed’ lovers adapt or will their second chance relationship crash and burn?

This movie rolls along in a sugar sweet way, breezing through the absence of their respective spouses, and hilariously depicting the juxtaposition of their attitudes toward childrearing. Dennis Quaid and Rene Russo admirably grin and grimace at all the right times but the problems presented by their marriage seem swept under the carpet. How would two families mesh with two children each, let alone 10 and 8? What right do the children have (when half of them are grown) to speak up? Especially in Russo’s case, it seems odd that she might get married without having a wind chime meeting of the clan. I’m often skeptical of ‘plot jumps’ within the confines of a genre, and I’m skeptical of how this one works—especially if it’s based on a true story (as it’s based on the original Yours, Mine and Ours from 1968.) That point made, let me move on…

So the kids join together to sabotage the marriage and the squabbling that would seem natural comes flying out between their parents. The ability to make decisions jointly erodes as they differ on the varied situations that their children throw at them. He, the coast guard captain, wants discipline and order; she, the purse-designing artist, wants freedom of thought and creativity. (You really could not find two more dissimilar people.) They finally split over the usual breaking point: career or family. He chooses to follow his career dreams and she remains with her children.

This allows for a quaint little tie-in from the beginning of the movie. Quaid tells the story of a sailor who wanted to know his dear lady was true, so he set a light within the house that would show him the way home. As long as he saw that the light was shining out, he knew that she still waited, true to her love for him. So, we see by the end, that her true love doth shine down from yonder tower…sorry, I got lost again! The truth of the fable is that there is a light shining out there, burning in eternal flame. True love, unconditional love, shines forth from God to provide us a way home, a reminder that the love of God is always laid out for us.

So, however you see it, love, forgiveness and positive compromise earmark this family flick. Fans of Quaid and Russo will get to see them smile quite a bit, and many folks will walk away thinking, that Eight is Enough.

—Overview (multimedia)
—Reviews and Blogs