Wholesome ‘Family Tree’ Cuts Out Any Complexity

“Family Tree” is decent but tedious family fare awash with fine sentiments but marred by repetitiveness. There are some solid performances under Duane Clark’s workmanlike direction, but they’re not enough to make the difference. This Curb Entertainment production is for those who insist in wholesomeness above all else.

“Anything worth having is worth fighting for,” says erstwhile small-town developer Henry Musser (Robert Forster), encouraging his older son Mark (Matthew Lawrence) in his efforts to succeed as a high school football player. But the words are not lost on his younger son Mitch (Andrew Lawrence), who’s going through that awkward stage and who finds solace in talking to an old oak near the edge of an open field.

As it happens the community’s last factory closed two years earlier, leaving widespread unemployment. Henry, out of a job himself, has succeeded in convincing a plastics company to locate in the town, constructing a plant on that open field. You got it: The old oak has got to go, but 9-year-old Mitch is prepared to dig in his heels to save his beloved tree, with his neighbors gradually throwing support behind him. He gets unexpected support from a man (Cliff Robertson) who is a stranger to him, a man who has returned to his hometown after a long absence but who will have crucial impact in resolving the impasse.

From the outset it’s clear that this is a send-’em-home-happy movie, which is all the more reason for writer Paul Cantera to provide more complexity. Why can’t the new plant incorporate the tree into its design? Why can’t the community at least explore what’s involved in moving the tree, if possible? What about recycling the old factory that’s now closed? These possibilities are given very short shrift indeed, as father and son keep repeating their clashing stances over and over again.

In any event Forster is quietly staunch as Henry, a community leader who has good reason to sacrifice the oak only to be confronted by a small son in whom he has instilled the virtue of standing up for what you believe. Young Andrew and Matthew Lawrence do well as Henry’s sons, and country singing legend Naomi Judd makes a gracious acting debut as the boys’ loving mother, the one person who is sympathetic to her son’s views.

* MPAA rating: G. Times guidelines: suitable for all ages.

‘Family Tree’

Robert Forster: Henry Musser

Naomi Judd: Sarah

Andrew Lawrence: Mitch Musser

Cliff Robertson: Larry

Matthew Lawrence: Mark Musser

A WarnerVision Films presentation in association with Curb Entertainment of a Curb Entertainment production. Director Duane Clark. Producers Mike Curb and Carole Curb Nemoy. Executive producers Clifford Werber, Quinn Coleman. Screenplay by Paul Cantera. Cinematographer John Peters. Editor Matthew Booth. Music Mike Curb and Randy Miller. Production designer Katherine Vallin. Running time: 1 hour, 34 minutes.

At selected theaters.