''Familiar Strangers'' (formerly known as ''Pretzels & Pills'') is a 2008 film about an American family going through the process of negotiating the changing relationships between parents and children, especially as those children grow into adulthood.

Plot

The film follows the Worthington family through a four-day Thanksgiving family gathering. Brian, who has moved away and kept his distance for the past several years, is reluctantly returning for this family tradition carrying the baggage of conflict with his father, Frank. Frank feels he has failed as a father, having lost the ability to connect with his maturing children. When the children grew to adulthood and created their own identities and lives, Frank replaced them with his pets, new children “who never have to grow up”. The film is populated by Frank and Brian, mother Dottie who holds the reins on this family beneath the surface, brother Kenny who as a twenty-something has not yet found his path, sister Erin who is struggling to find herself after a painful divorce, and Erin’s young daughter Maddy, truly wise beyond her years. Through this story and the conflict and communication that occur, the Worthington family comes to recognize the friendship and love that can exist between parents and their adult children.

Cast

* Shawn Hatosy as Brian Worthington * DJ Qualls as Kenny Worthington *

Tom Bower Thomas Michael Bower (born 28 September 1946) is a British writer and former BBC journalist and television producer. He is known for his investigative journalism and for his unauthorised biographies, often of business tycoons and newspaper pr ...

as Frank Worthington * Nikki Reed as Allison * Ann Dowd as Dottie Worthington *

Cameron Richardson Cameron Richardson (born September 11, 1979) is an American producer, actress and model, who portrayed Chloe Carter on the CBS television miniseries ''Harper's Island'' in 2009. Early life Born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Richardson grew up i ...

as Erin Worthington * Georgia Mae Lively as Maddy

References

External links

* 2008 films 2008 comedy-drama films American comedy-drama films Films set in Virginia Films shot in Virginia 2000s English-language films 2000s American films {{2000s-US-film-stub