User Reviews

"Cousins", a pleasing knock-off of Oscar nominated French "Cousin, Cousine", tells of a man who has an affair with another woman while their partners are doing the same; concomitant relationships, one carnal and the other romantic. Full of quirky Euro-Am ethnic family members, this lively and sweet blast from the past is a light-hearted blend of sentimental, romantic, funny, and poignant moments well worth a first look or revisit.

I loved the 1975 French movie "Cousin, Cousine" (roughly pronounced 'koo-ZAN koo-ZEEN', for the non-francophiles). It was a very funny, very sexy and "tres French" movie.

So I rolled my eyes when I heard of this American remake, especially when I learned that Ted Danson would play the male lead. Nothing against Mr. Danson's abilities, but I assumed the casting of a television star -- "Cheers" was still going strong on NBC at the time -- meant that bigger names had identified this film as a stinker and were staying away.

I was happily surprised when this remake turned out to be as funny, warm and romantic (if a tad less sexy) than the original. In fact, it's nearly the same movie, and in this case that's a good thing. Thankfully Paramount didn't feel the need to alter too much.

Like "Four Weddings and a Funeral" (which came after), most of the action in this movie takes place at various ritual gatherings of family and friends. Danson and Isabella Rossellini play cousins by marriage who are each saddled with attractive but less than desirable mates: hilarious performances by Sean Young and William L. Petersen.

In fact, everyone is good in this movie. It should have led to better movie parts for Mr. Danson, but unfortunately it wasn't a financial success. Lloyd Bridges as a family patriarch is a revelation. Again, if the film had done better at the box office, he might have earned an academy award nomination.

"Cousins" is a large-cast movie that leaves one feeling good without ignoring the pain in life. It's "wedding as microcosm" and everyone has a part to play. It's unusual to see a movie with so many age groups represented, and everyone equal. It's not a teen film, but neither is it an anti-teen film. It's a film about the swirl of life. Babies are born, old people die, couples form and break-up... and all observed from a slightly removed point of view, so that we see ourselves and also see that we shouldn't always take ourselves too seriously.

Don't let your preconceptions keep you away from "Cousins." It's a wonderful little/big movie.

You will laugh, cry and cheer. I thought this was cute and not bad at all. Filled with charm, innocence, drama and romance. I thought it was a nice mix. The casting is great and Danson gives a performance of a lifetime. It is an emotionally uplifting movie that will raise your morale. Unfairly dismissed by some as confusing, this kind of sentimental character piece needs a tight focus so all of the nuances of the characters shine through. I found it entertaining and it left me with a warm, fuzzy feeling. I thought that there was really good chemistry between the two main characters. My rating for this one is 7/10.

Well made American rendition of the 1975 French farce, "Cousin-cousine," with Danson and the enchanting Rosselini playing cousins by marriage who meet at a wedding, develop a relationship and then fall in love. Wonderful performances from Lloyd Bridges and Norma Alejandro help move this glorious film along that glows with humor, warmth and the sheer joy of life.

Beautiful casting & Canadian mountain/lake countryside raise this film above '80s style, depressing home interiors, & French amorality (<-play on words "amor" & "amoral").

Classic European Isabella Rossellini's Gemini charm mesmerizingly packaged in hybrid of famed Nordic actress mother Ingrid Bergman & great Italian pater genes is glorious inside & out in the most layered role (though I'd watch her in anything, like her next-gen doppelganger Juliette Binoche). Here Rossellini reminds me of similarly radiant Irish actress Ellen Burstyn in parallel film "Same Time Next Year" with equally genuine co-star Alan Alda conveying sincerity like Ted Danson enjoyable here in a non-stereotyped role like "Cheers," more like his later "Becker."

Stunning Celtic beauty Sean Young is always intriguing & with a vulnerability surprising in such breathtaking eye candy. Vintage Lloyd Bridges, more handsome & better acting than earlier film styles, allowed engages us in the less callow inner world of seniors while a lad plays his grandson in still 21st Century relevant counterculture c o m e d i e/satire.

This little-altered US version of French "Cousin, Cousine" is not only reminiscent of "Same Time Next Year" but also "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" and "Four Weddings & a Funeral" though not as much heat or heart as those but still a watchable romp through karma leaving us with the philosophical jog that "No man is promised tomorrow"{Bible Book of Proverbs}, so "Carpe Diem/Seize the Day" & when something isn't working, acknowledge it and take advantage of windows of opportunities to try to fix or change but always living your life to the full every minute at every age.

Dance teacher Larry Kozinski (Ted Danson) has teenage son Mitch and is married to second wife Tish (Sean Young) for a couple of years. He goes to his uncle Phil's wedding to Edie. Edie's daughter Maria (Isabella Rossellini) is married to womanizing car salesman Tom Hardy (William Petersen) and they have a daughter named Chloe. Tom and Tish have a fling at the wedding. Later, he ends all of his affairs. Larry and Maria hang out. They suspect their partners' cheating. When Phil dies, Larry's father Vincent (Lloyd Bridges) attends the funeral.

There is a possibility that Joel Schumacher may not be the best choice as director for this type of movie. He's saved by a charming coupling of Isabella Rossellini and Ted Danson. Young and Petersen are good foils. There is so much warmth coming from Rossellini that she is able to drive the story through some melodrama. Her smile can light up the world and it shines through on that train platform.

Okay, that last one, not true, but it's all in the family. It's also the one thing I really took from this: this truly felt like a family. It wasn't a perfect drama about infidelity, but sweet at spots and harmless. Well, except for everyone always talking about killing people. Like a lot of talk about murder.

Insomniacs, alert! If you want to cure your insomnia, than watch 'Cousins.' I took my mother for Mother's Day to see this movie when it first came out - her kind of thing. Some movies and TV shows we adore together, not so with this abysmally tedious flick.

To date, Cousins remains the one and only movie I have EVER fallen asleep in. Me? An avid movie goer. Now that's sayin' something.

My mother had come to the front of the cinema to collect me as I didn't answer her calling. Relieved that I was only sleeping, she was surprised as she loved the flick - each to their own, I see 'Cousins' does have some fans. I am most definitely not amongst their number. As far as tedium goes' Bridges of Madison County' runs a close second - the only reason 'Cousins' trumped it was I actually struggled to stay awake in 'Bridges'. Haha ... that was another of mum's faves. At least we both loved 'Mamma Mia,' 'The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel;' and their sequels and 'Downton Abbey,' 'Tolkien' and several others. However I'll leave her to 'Cousins' and 'Bridges...' to enjoy by herself.

I guess no one likes or hates everything, it's good we are such a diverse species as diversity is the spice of life. No spice in 'Cousins,' sadly! The spice has most definitely left the building!

Watching this wonderful film will make you believe that true happiness is out there, somewhere.The romantic love that gives you butterflies in your tummy. You will laugh, cry and cheer. The casting is great and Lloyd Bridges gives a performance to remember him by. I found it overall entertaining and left me with a nice warm feeling (and a runny nose). Life should be so sweet.

There are some very wistful moments in this movie, and some that are, how shall I say?, raucous, for want of a better word. Still, COUSINS is an enjoyable romance. Fans of AVANTI! and CACTUS FLOWER should definitely check this out.

A parade of tired cliches, beginning with an ethnic wedding, complete with two oafs rating the female guests, a first dance to the theme from The Godfather, and a tiresome teen who dresses like a mafioso wanna be. The main characters have little charisma and seemed to be going through the motions.

But this is another ill conceived English language remake of a foreign language film, so the characters are just a jumble of quirks and tics that the screenwriters think will make the characters feel like real people. Whatever charm the original film might have had was lost.

This film is like fingernails raked across a chalkboard- highly annoying in every way.

I have just watched the movie on TV and after checking the rate on IMDb I have to do my own review about it. I saw the original French movie some years ago and it was a nice movie with that 70's look that I really love and bring a lot of memories from my childhood. The American remake just follow closely the original story. So followers of the original French movie will be happy about it. But this is not just a copy scene by scene. The cast is just awesome. All the actors play their characters so well that the chemistry among them works perfectly. We really believe those cousins are falling in love.....that look, that smile......sometimes they don't need to talk to get the message. And what about the supporting cast...Bravo for all of them. Lloyd Bridges, Norma Aleandro, and of course their grandson and the old lady always complaining about it. Just terrific! The script also improve with a wonderful sense of humor that is never out of place or vulgar. So, if you are looking for a perfect movie to spend a rainy day lying on the sofa, give it a try. It will be in your heart for ages.

I can't put my finger on it, but this is one of my favorite movies. Could be the music, could be the story, but most likely it is the wonderful character development. You know these people by the end of the movie. It is also much funnier than I expected. This movie really snuck up on me, which is probably why I enjoyed it so much. I had never heard of it when I first saw it and was therefore expecting nothing. So, I guess this commentary just doomed the movie to mediocrity for all those who see it for the first time after reading my opinion.

"Cousins" might be my favorite movie love story. As I watched it again last night, I got mad at myself. I realized that I hadn't watched this movie in a while. Shame on me. "Cousins" is excellent. It has a great cast and they all do a terrific job, especially Ted Danson and Isabella Rossellini. The two of them are perfect in this movie. The script is top-notch. This movie is often laugh-out-loud funny. By the end of "Cousins" there's not a dry eye in the house. "Cousins" is in my Top 40 movies list.

This picture has all the elements you need for a great romantic movie. Mostly it will make you laugh and tug at your heart strings.

You really start to feel for Larry (Danson) and Maria (Rossellini). Larry and his wife Tish (Young) care for each other but aren't in love, and Maria and her husband Tom (Petersen) seemed to be trapped together because they have a young daughter.

The story gets started when, at the wedding reception of Maria's mother Edie (Aleandro), Tish and Tom sneak off and fool around together. In the mean time back at the reception, Larry and Maria meet and begin talking, and when their spouses show up together, are both suspicious, but say nothing. Then, the next day, Maria goes to visit Larry to get his opinion of what happened the day before.

From there, we get to go on their journey as they become friends and then, more than friends. And there's quite a bit that will make you happy and sad along the way.

This is a great movie for a lazy Saturday afternoon...

Schumacher has never made a better film; this one is filled with good humor and lovely dialogue, and filmed with great love at a variety of interesting locations. All four principal characters are well-played, with Rossellini a standout because of her character's lovable good nature. A real treat for lovers of comedy or romance, with a perfect, perfect ending.

Most films use reality as a backdrop for depressive themes.

Their underlying message seem to say: Reality is harsh and depressing.

Cousins is one of those rare films that uses reality differently.

Instead of beating us all with the heavy handed notion that anything real equates to reasons to slit our wrists, Cousins, seem to suggest that reality can be also magical.

This in itself is a rare gesture of hopeful dreaming. An all too uncommon trait within the artist to make art that is life affirming in the light that being mortal is fraught with struggle and disappointment.

Make no mistake, this film covers those aspects too. But offers us an alternative to jumping off a cliff.

One line in the film sums up what the film is trying to say - You've only got one life to live. You can either make it chicken sh*t or chicken salad.

As unpoetic as this philosophy sounds, the film itself unfolds poetically with almost ordinary people doing extraordinary things through the magical power of love. They don't even do it by offering flowers but by giving their time and opening up to each other with honesty and good humor.

Love is not just about the big sweeping gestures but about the small things we do... and those gestures are captured here to great affection and effect. Politeness become fashionable again. Gentle unforced love becomes heroic once more.

In a world where reality often means when you're down, you're out... this world captured by Cousins offers second chances.

If you seek a means to see a universe where we can find happiness, true happiness after years of sadness or let downs... without too much sugar coating, or Hollywood sappy endings... I truly believe this film captures such magic in day to day living.

Having no expectations, this movie completely got to me back in 1989. But then, seeing it again around 2000 and now in 2010, it still moves me. The atmosphere, the chemistry between the main characters, the sad eyes of Ted Danson (when he's sad, not all the time of course), the shy but still uninhibited smile Isabella Rosselini can't hold back when in love, the seriousness blended with great humor (like when Marias husband after an upsetting and sad scene with Maria, calls Larry leaving a message to stay away from his wife), the music, the side stories and supporting cast - it's just a witty and intelligent (I rarely find both in American movies) story about true love. A feel good movie that make me think of it for days after I've seen it.

You wouldn't think that Ted Danson would translate well to the big screen, but he is magical in the role of Larry Kozinski. Isabella Rossellini is her usual beautiful, understated, elegant self in the role of Maria. When the two are on screen together, the sparks fly. Sean Young, Norma Aleandro, Lloyd Bridges, Keith Coogan, and William Petersen round out an excellent ensemble. The real star of this picture is the soundtrack. Every time the theme song is played, I cry and cry. It is so beautiful. I could watch this movie every day and find something new every time I watch it. This movie is sly, sophisticated, funny, sad, and very, very real. If you haven't seen it yet, you have missed a gem. It is definitely a must-see.

I can't imagine why this movie has only received a rating of 6 in this database. If you read the comments, everyone liked it. There were so many neat little things going on it in I decided to look up both the director and screenwriter. I want to make sure I see more of their stuff.

I am not a great lover of "art film" and I remember finding Cousin Cousine pleasant but very self-conscious and lacking credibility. This North American rewrite takes itself less seriously and is, to me at least, much more entertaining. The writing is good, the cinematography is good and the principals perform well. Of course, we begin with the ridiculous premise that the husband of the lovely Isabella Rosselini is a lecherous creep and that the more sympathetically portrayed wife of Ted Danson so insecure as to be attracted to him. But we get over this and enjoy the romp. Isabella is, to me at least, beautiful as ever and the supporting cast is terrific. Sean Young, Lloyd Bridges and Norma Aleandro are great but the quality extends all the way down to the short appearance by the plump lady who played the dancing teacher "Mrs Greenblat". This is a fun romantic comedy worth seeing.