Melvyn Douglas gives a stellar performance as an elderly man whose gruffness and bravado masks a highly sensitive and needy person who wants to be loved and taken care of in his old age. The problem is that the people closest to him, his daughter and son, harbor resentments which block their efforts to be supportive and ultimately creates huge and insurmountable conflict, especially for the son, played by Gene Hackman, who cannot reconcile his own personal needs with that of his father's. This story highlights the generational conflict inherent in families and the lack of any viable options to resolve this conflict. Children grow up, leave home and the parents get old, leading to as reversal of roles that neither are prepared or equipped to deal with. In this movie the son remembers his father as being strong and commanding, and now is needy and clinging, which the son cannot accept. This generates feelings of frustration and resentment in both father and son as both reveal expectations that are unreasonable: the father wants his son to stay with him and the son wants his father to stop his clinging, neither of which is going to happen. This movie is an excellent drama which deals with sensitive themes that are presented in a thoughtful and straightforward manner.

The aging Baby-Boomers are faced with exactly the same issues that Gene Garrison and his sister faced in 1970. We are part of the "sandwich generation", caught between caring about our own kids and our aging parents .Our parents are living longer because of new medicines but with what quality of life? A question a doctor tells Gene in the film. We are forced to decide when our aging folks have to start giving up some freedoms, like driving a car. When is the time to put them in assisted living or a nursing facility. Anyone in their 50's or 60's faced with these issues will understand this movie and maybe it will help them face the choices they are forced to make.

I saw this movie as a very young man with a father who was growing very old. Even then it worried me as it reminded me of my relationship with my own father who had complained that we weren't spending as much time together as in my boyhood. Remembering this film now with three grown sons makes me wonder if they suffer from the same contradictory feelings I had for my father at their ages.And this is exactly what makes this film great. It essays the human condition in its stark reality.Quite frankly I wouldn't have seen this film if I didn't know Gene Hackman from his French Connection series. Oh, I knew it would be some kind of very talky drama but just the same I wanted to see how he would do in such a story. He did very well.If you are curious about the title see my question in the discussion board and the compleat answer by Cassandra.If you like themes like this see also Death of a Salesman (the version with Frederic March) and Nothing in Common (Tom Hanks).

After his mother dies and his overbearing father is left alone, a college professor is torn between staying with him or to move away with his girlfriend. At times a very potent and moving story with its share of a few dry scenes. Hackman, Douglas & Parsons are excellent in their roles as father, son and daughter. Based on a play by Robert Anderson.