It is not deep, but it is fun to watch. It does have a bit more of an edge to it than other similar films.

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

Nepotism in the entertainment business is a double-edged sword. When the right project comes along, it can work very well right to the point when I see these actors playing characters not playing themselves. "The Long Riders", "The Fabulous Baker Boys" and "On Golden Pond" are three very good films that come to mind.While watching "It Runs In The Family", I felt I was seeing the Douglas family (with "guest stars" Bernadette Peters and Rory Culkin) going through the motions. I was not seeing them as the characters they were supposed to play. Was this supposed to be a fictional comedy/drama or a reality show?Michael Douglas was especially embarrassing as the father especially the scene in which he was cavorting with a sexy volunteer (Sarita Choudhury) serving food at a shelter. If they were trying to a funny take off of the scene with Michael Douglas and Glenn Close in "Fatal Attraction", it was not successful.I though Kirk Douglas fared slightly better as the patriarch but, strangely, only when he's in scenes with Diana Douglas (Kirk's first wife and Michael's mother). I thought their scenes alone were the best moments. Although the actors were divorced in real life for many years, I sense that there was a history between the two, especially in the wonderful scene when they dance together. I had a smile on my face anytime Diana was on the screen. She gave the best performance in this very disappointing movie."It Runs In The Family" wants to be another "On Golden Pond". The major problem was the script. I believe the movie could have been a much stronger and more touching film if the script (written by Jesse Wigutow) was better planned. If only the Douglas clan would have waited for a better script.

There might have been a good film project in pairing Kirk Douglas and his son Michael. These two actors have been leaders in their field in more than a half century of movie making. I would have preferred a documentary-style film in which these two legendary performers reminisce about their films, their careers, and their relationship. It is obvious that Michael adores his father. Unfortunately, "It Runs in the Family" was not a showcase for these actors' talents. The film proceeded in fits and starts. Oddly, the storyline was that of a dysfunctional family with many embarrassing scenes, including one jaw-dropper with Kirk and Michael setting a boat ablaze as a funeral pyre with Kirk's dead brother aboard. They flee the scene as the police and fire department arrive. Was this sequence supposed to be funny? The cast is rounded out by such fine performers as Bernadette Peters and Audra McDonald, who are wasted in the film. In their film careers, both Kirk and Michael Douglas consistently showed good taste in their film projects. "It Runs in the Family" was a notable lapse and an unfortunate exercise in self-indulgence.

Maybe it was a mistake to cast all those Douglases in this film, as it predisposes one to view it in terms of its parallels or lack of them with the actual actors' lives. (I guess Rory Culkin was made an honorary Douglas for the occasion -- but then again his own family history more than qualifies him.) If we can leave that peculiarity out for a moment, however, I think we have here a reasonably veridical, if painful, portrayal of a very assimilated New York Jewish family that has lost its way. Or rather, the second generation lost its way, and the third generation never even had a way to lose. It's no accident that the celebration of Passover is one focal point of the movie: it is this holiday that originally bestowed the Hebrews' fundamental identity, against which the infamous Blood Libels were directed, and which has retained the last vestige of "meaning" in the lives of Jews who have abandoned almost everything else. The message of Passover is not only the historical one of emancipation from physical slavery; it is the freedom from enslavement to one's inner demons that comes with dedication to a demanding set of ethics and practices, whether in business or in personal life. That is what the Grombergs have lost, and maybe the Douglases too. The title, "It Runs In the Family" is, I believe, an indictment: it is what has CEASED to run in the family that is bringing this one down.

The type of humor that brings tears to your eyes instead of the silliness that usually passes for comedy these days. I seriously enjoyed watching Michael and Kirk Douglas working together, found the material touching and poignant, and found myself caring deeply about the characters. I don't know about you, but that works for me.