the dramatic comedy cousins has all the necessary ingredients : a witty and whimsical script , inspired performances , a great sense of humor , a large and wonderful cast , and the beautiful scenery of vancouver .
it 's a movie of weddings , marriage , family , infidelity , and
--
oh yes -- love .
like 3 men and a baby , cousins is an americanized version of a french film : 1975 's cousin , cousine .
the plot is complicated , but it goes something like this .
larry and tom are cousins , each of whom is not - so - happily - married .
tom starts an affair with larry 's wife , tish , and to get even , larry and tom 's wife , maria , pretend to have an affair of their own .
soon the pretending turns to love and cousins is off and running .
cousins is populated by a wide assortment of interesting characters and caricatures .
the acting is first rate down to even the smallest supporting role , and virtually every performance deserves mention .
ted danson ( in his first starring film role ) finally gets to play a character with some depth and sensitivity .
while larry may be confident and charming like sam malone on " cheers , " he is also complex and vulnerable , with more between his ears than empty space .
as maria , isabella rossellini is a joy to watch
; she is shy , sensuous , and immensely alluring .
sean young is perfectly cast as larry 's picture perfect wife , tish , a superficial and trendy make - up consultant .
keith coogan , from adventures in babysitting , is wonderfully weird and eccentric as larry 's rebellious son , mitch .
and finally , lloyd bridges in a tour de force performance
is mitch 's rambunctious grandfather ; he provides some of cousins ' best lines and laughs .
like moonstruck , cousins is a mix of drama and comedy .
the film is larger than life and has a keen sense of the absurd .
it understands human nature extremely well and milks it for every possible laugh and heart - tug .
how often do you see a movie where you believe that two characters truly and sincerely care for and love each other , as friends and as lovers ?
well , to its credit , cousins is just such a movie .
let 's hope the french continue to provide us with the inspiration to make films like cousins
a witty and whimsical script , inspired performances , a great sense of humor , a large and wonderful cast , and the beautiful scenery larger than life a joy to watch virtually every performance deserves mention a tour de force performance perfectly cast let 's hope the french continue to provide us with the inspiration the acting is first rate