The VO was charming throughout the movie. The whole concept nurture vs nature vs flip in direction was quite obvious from the beginning. Overall a good movie to watch

What a silly waste of 90 minutes. The movie makes no sense. The adults are shown to be supposed scholars, which is far from the case. The only smart characters are the three children. Watching the father encourage his young son to have sexual stimulation by forcing him to watch old vintage photos of naked women was, at the very least, disturbing. And the fact that the boy walks out shows which one is the smart one.Billed as a comedy, I found nothing at all humorous in the story. I am sure there are pseudo-intellectuals who will find hidden meanings and symbolism here, but I found it to be a waste of time.

The title says it all.Good premise poorly executed.Hollow acting, predictable script, flat sets and questionable directing.One nomination for 'Best Forein Poster' from 'The Golden Trailer'. I rest my case.

Greetings again from the darkness. Billed as a comedy, the movie will leave most viewers wondering wherefore art the laughs. Filmmaker Emanuel Hoss-Desmarais and his co-writer Marc Tulin aim high with a grown-up level look at the trials and tribulations of parenting - complicated here by a science experiment gone awry. Matthew Goode plays Ben, the son of a long line of renowned scientists, and Toni Collette plays Catherine, the daughter of two noted physicists. The two nerds (a term of admiration) meet in graduate school, fall in love, and hatch a plan to conduct a revolutionary sociological scientific experiment. In 1977 they convince an arrogant and glory-seeking rich guy named Gertz (Michael Smiley) to fund an experiment with a premise that boils down to their intention of settling the nature vs. nurture debate once and for all.Ben and Catherine plan to take their biological son Luke and turn him into an artist, while at the same time raising two adopted kids contrary to their genetic heritage. Maya, born into a family of "nitwits" will be raised as a Brainiac, while Maurice, born into a violent household, will be developed as a pacifist. It's an interesting set-up that also includes Russian athlete Samsonov (Andreas Apergis) as their live-in caregiver/nanny, and Mrs. Tridek (Fionnula Flanagan) as Gertz's well-meaning assistant.The story jumps ahead to 1989 when Gertz arrives for the 12 year check-up and evaluation. When he deems the children to be "average", Ben and Catherine are devastated. Gertz threatens them with bankruptcy if the experiment isn't successfully expedited so he can publish the desired results. Mrs. Tridek also functions as the narrator who fills in the gaps with some details that might ordinarily leave us a bit confused. Predictability rears its ugly head in the final act, and the film slips into more traditional cinematic story-telling and characterizations. Emotions and greed are the natural responses to the deception that has occurred, and while the adults leave us disappointed, it's at this point where the story finally shifts to the kids and we get to see the winner in the nature vs. nurture battle. Where the film works best is in its look at just how powerful and overwhelming parenting can be, regardless of the brain power and intentions one brings to the situation. Toss in some greed and the power of biology, and the final analysis can't be shocking, even if the film itself doesn't quite live up to its premise.