Parenthood, a bittersweet adult comedy,  weaves the experiences of several members of the Buckman family. Gil is a sales executive trying to balance a disappointing career with  a pregnant wife, Karen, and three kids with various emotional problems; Gil’s feisty father, Frank, was a workaholic and detached from his children; Gil’s older sister, Helen, is a divorced bank manager with an unsupportive ex-husband; Karen’s daughter, Julie, is still in high school and runs off to marry Todd, her drag-racing boyfriend; Gil’s younger sister, Susan, is married to a scientist, as they painfully fight about the wisdom of having another child; Larry, Frank’s son, is the black sheep, always pursuing get-rich-quick schemes. With Gil’s financial burdens and the prospects of supporting another child, he reaches out to his father. Frank tries to reassure his son as he tells him that “worry for one’s children never ends.”

Steve Martin Gil Buckman) / Dianne Wiest (Helen Buckman) / Mary Steenburgen (Karen Buckman) / Jason Robards (Frank Buckman) / Tom Hulce (Larry Buckman) / Martha Plimpton (Julie Buckman)